Todd Newman and the Leatherwoods To Win You Back Reverb 1988

Todd Newman and the Leatherwoods To Win You Back B/W Downside of an Eightball Reverb 1988 CAT# REV701

I've been hearing legends concerning Todd Newman since hosting a power-pop show on KJHK. His songs were a must have per Lawrence power-pop enthusiasts.

So, up until finding this one, the hype has been building in my mind. Legendary Lawrence, KS power-pop, so good you can't find his 7"s anywhere. Then I got it and I'm like, meh, this is pedestrian.

Not to say it isn't good, it's enjoyable. "To Win You Back" has a great harmony on the chorus, but the rest could have been a Romantics song buried away on a second side of one of their albums and people might point it out as a highlight. The amount of swearing on the B-side, "Downside of an Eightball" is impressive. All the curse words paired with a power-pop balled is kind of humorous, but I'm not sure Todd Newman was trying to be funny.

Interesting bit about the band, formed in Lawrence, presumably as Jayhawks attending school (the 7" even thanks KJHK). The drummer of the Leatherwoods was Tim O'Reagan, who would move off to Minnesota and join the influential alt-country band, The Jayhawks, Coincidentally, Newman lives in the land of 1000 Lakes as well.

FULL 7"

The Pedaljets Today Today Twilight Records 1988

The Pedaljets Today Today Twilight Records 1988 CAT#TR017 Promo Copy

Man, fantastic band with a fantastic record.  I revisited this after listening to the most recent Pedaljets release and am really surprised this LP never found it's way into my personal rotation at any given time.  I remember it being a lot more angry, but it's pure pop.  All solid, crunchy, 80's punk...very similar to the scene that was happening in Minnesota with the Replacements and Husker Du.

I mean seriously, if you want all the emotion and hooks of the Replacements, but would rather have the tightly wound pop-punk of Husker Du as the back drop, this is your album.  The Mats got a little too sloppy, the Husker Du got a bit too wound up, this is a perfect compromise.  So much so, it's kind of the Pedaljets' downfall as it became too easy to say they were riding coattails.

Reading the promo material that I got along with the record, it indicates the history of the band dates back to 1983 when founder, Mike Allmayer, was a DJ at the legendary KJHK 90.7 at Kansas University calling out for musicians with the same interests.  Once he was able to establish the band, it appears they relocated to KC gigging locally, then after the release of 7" in 1987, they started to tour nationally.

This album, for obvious reasons and warranted comparisons, got them zine famous (the next LP would be as close as the band got to a "breakthrough").  All the cool kids were digging on it and band was touring nationally, gigging with previously mentioned Minnesota scensters.  It's a fantastic album, unfortunately, it doesn't get the kind of later-day, underground, punk rock praises as other locals like the Embarrassment or the Micronotz, but it's certainly deserving of it.