The Posies - Classic or Dud?

Ken's other band The Disciplines are releasing their 2nd album, Virgins of Menace, in February, and it is way way better than Blood/Candy

Saw them open for and then play behind Brendan Benson a few weeks ago and they had THE absolute cheesiest and lamest onstage banter I have ever heard. The jokes were brutally bad. But hell if they weren't a great backing band for Benson.

Are there any Posies songs that sound even remotely like "Coming Right Along?" Because that's one great song right there. I should mention I generally dislike "power pop."

I love the sound of that, esp Auer's guitars, tone etc

Frosting has a few other songs that are not quite as spare and brooding as that but not far off -- other songs in their catalog that hit that spot to some degree: Terrorized, The Certainty, Fall Song, Please Return It, You Avoid Parties, Throwaway, Every Bitter Drop, I Guess You're Right. they've always had a bit of goth in them. and the demos on the At Least At Last box set and Ken's lo-fi first solo album give you a sense of what they might've sounded like with less pop and polish in their sound.

Thanks! I will check those out.

And xp yeah, that guitar tone is just perfect. He's playing in a really weird tuning too iirc

Terrorized, The Certainty, Fall Song, Please Return It, You Avoid Parties, Throwaway, Every Bitter Drop, I Guess You're Right

And Flood of Sunshine, for fuck's sake! Am I the only one who thinks this song is epically epic?

Yep...not sure how much of it was touched upon at the time but Jon A wasnt exactly a slouch on the guitar.

Frosting's sound is really kind of singular in the Posies catalogue.

"Flood" is cool but it feels a little more like a groovy classic rock epic than what I was trying to articulate about those other songs.

Frosting is a great union of band and producer, also Mike Musberger is a Bonhamesque beast of a drummer, always felt like it was a shame that he was only with the band for 2 albums, one of which didn't make much use of his power.

Yeah, "Flood" does feel more classic rock than most Posies (certainly the least "power pop" of anything on Dear 23), but it's got a psychedelic mystery and sense of space that fits with "Coming Right Along."

Incidentally, this thread inspired me to do a Posies A to Z today. I'm up to "K" at the moment (their cover of "King Midas in Reverse").

http://www.thestranger.com/blogs/slog/2015/05/22/22262371/seattle-music-community-stunned-by-untimely-death-of-darius-minwalla

Minwalla was only a member of the band for 14 the last years, and didn't play on any of the Posies records anyone cares about, but still sad.

blood/candy is a great record imo, their best since frosting maybe

very sad news. i took time to warm up to him since i was such a huge fan of the 2 drummers the Posies had in the '90s, but the 2 or 3 times i saw them live he did a great job with the old songs and hit some of the other drummers' fills that a lot of replacement drummers would never bother to learn. he's also all over Jon Auer's solo album (where he's credited as Darius "Take One" Minwalla, which seems like one of the most flattering nicknames a drummer could hope to have).

The picture of Ken Stringfellow on Spotify appears to be a pic of Alex Chilton?

Anyway- time for a vinyl reissue of Frosting?

"Help Yourself" from Dear 23 has so many cringey turns of phrase, but I love it anyway. Bless its little heart.

yeah there are really a lot of precious overly clever lines on the first two albums, became more intermittent after that

tbf, when I was 18, I thought it was some of the smartest stuff I'd ever listened to.

New album "Solid States" out next month.

Posies albums this century haven't really been on par with Ken and Jon's amazing solo stuff but this seems promising. First song "Squirrel vs Snake" features the line "I'm a furry, I'm a brony, I'm a breeder."

And here it is: https://soundcloud.com/theposies

I bought the Posies best-of this year, exactly the amount of Posies I wanted.

I once spent a nice evening chatting with Jon Auer, cool guy.

I thought the last Posies LP was their best since Beater tbh.

Watching them now on the 30th anniversary tour in Paton. This is wicked fun.

Great interview with Jon and Ken by Stevie, looking back on the band's history
http://thequietus.com/articles/25476-posies-interview

Mike Musburger is back on drums!?! I didn't know, now I'm a bit pissed off I didn't go see them last week :-/

Tempted to get the Frosting expanded reissue, lots of extras!
http://omnivorerecordings.com/shop/frosting-on-the-beater/

This was the second band I ever saw live. And it was based on them being played so much on 120 Minutes (Dream All Day). Also think back in the day Seventeen magazine did pretty good record reviews (Posies, Jellyfish, Teenage Fanclub, Camper Van B).

I am pissed off that I am missing them in London tomorrow due to work (and also, slightly, that I plumped for the vinyl reissues, which don't have the extra tracks) (but it will be good to own Frosting on vinyl again years after giving my OG copy away for love)

They celebrate 30th anniversary? But "Frosting on the Beater" was yesterday! Additionally they are in Berlin when I am not there! And they play in the nice Kantine am Berghain. Such a small and cosy location.

Horrifying.

https://kuow.org/stories/as-sexual-misconduct-allegations-dog-ken-stringfellow-of-the-posies-the-band-breaks-up

That's a terrible story, I'm glad those women came forward and that Jon Auer joined in their condemnation. It was also disorienting to see Scott Miller alluded to in that article (fortunately not as an abuser).

damn, that comes out of nowhere. never saw the posies, or rem with stringfellow. but definitely never will, that's for sure

It's telling that his band mates, who likely know him as well as anyone, immediately announced a break up when this came out. Which begs the question: what, if anything, were they aware of *before* the story came out? And I suppose the same thing can be asked of the members of R.E.M., with whom Stringfellow spent a lot of high profile time.

given that his exes had to compare notes about their private experiences to put this story together, the idea that any of this was conducted in public seems unlikely to me.

also that's a weird tangent to take this discussion, that IMO detracts from the original story

Are you talking to me? I don't understand.

What the band mates knew or didn't know doesn't seem exactly relevant to the rest of the story at the moment, is what I think sleeve is saying. Breaking up doesn't exactly beg the question either. You're jumping to conclusions a bit.

Coulter got word to the other Posies, including Jon Auer, who co-founded the Posies with Stringfellow. When Auer heard that his friend Kristine Chambers was among the women making an accusation, he called her right away. They spent nine hours talking over several days.

"I left the Posies very quickly after hearing from Kristine about what happened to her,” Auer wrote by email. “What she described to me was super disturbing, and it made my position immediately clear.

Like, this is exactly the right thing to do. And doesn't suggest to me at all that Auer had any indication that it was happening.

Michael Stipe is cancelled

I didn't mean to read too much into it or jump to conclusions, just that Stringfellow, according to the article, already had something of a reputation:

"And yet, Stringfellow had a reputation for pursuing women, and for bragging about having sex. Was it just locker room banter? Those who toured with him say now that they didn’t question it at the time."

I just found it surprising that his friends and bandmates in the Posies and REM, with whom he spent several months/years/decades on the road, in the studio, and so on, might have recognized at least some of the aforementioned behavior but not picked up on anything even more unseemly and/or illegal. Auer's first response (to his credit) was to hear out a victim and then break up the band, which shows how seriously he took her accusation, which made me consider that in addition to hearing out the victim maybe he might have already had an inkling, knowing at least some of Stringfellow's predilections. I concede that could be construed as jumping to conclusions, but while I suppose it's possible that somehow Stringfellow kept that side of him secret for decades, I think it's also possible that his fellow Posies or REM guys (and crew, etc.) maybe turned a blind eye, or that it fell under the rock and roll sex n drugs omerta. Or at the least didn't recognize (willfully or not) his behavior as being as bad as it apparently was.

(Heck, it was never fully revealed why Jefferson Holt left the REM team, was it? There were rumors it involved sexual harassment complaints, but they've managed to keep details under wraps.)

FWIW, I could totally imagine Stipe making it through all those years without even knowing Stringfellow's name.

sleeve otm -- speculation about who knew what and when is distracting from what actually did happen, which is clear from the link posted. I'm disappointed, I liked The Posies and at least one KS solo album. Add to the list of things I wish I didn't know bout men who make music I like :-/

Someone posted this on the TFC FB group, from the recent Posies drummer:

"Thanks for your message on TFC post. It wont let me reply. Someone commented that we must have known. I understand the assumption. But just so you know, we did not know. Yes, lots of women we’d see ken with but always appeared consensual. Even upon asking ken, he said he had an arrangement with his wife that allowed for that. As soon as we learned, we all left the band — prior to there being any mention or pursuit of an article. It’s a real shock, and devastating. And I appreciate your support through this. ❤️"

Thanks for that.

As soon as we learned, we all left the band — prior to there being any mention or pursuit of an article.

This was confirmed by Kristi Coulter, who I'm FB friends with and who is quoted near the end of the article, via a comment from her yesterday. As soon as the news hit both Auer and Siragusa were all "Fuck that and fuck him," as per the article, well before it ran.

That's sort of what I meant initially, that it all had to be so bad that they jumped ship and disbanded well before it all became public knowledge, back when I guess the accusations originally got back to *them*, though I wonder why news of the band breaking up waited this long. I saw that the drummer left "earlier this summer," and Auer August 4th. That was over two months ago. I suspect Stringfellow runs the Twitter account, because scanning back from present to August there's mostly announcements of solo gigs but afaict no mention of being, er, a solo act.

This is...involved.

https://www.facebook.com/babsmitchell/posts/10158318573672231

Wow.

Julie Gordon
It does not exonerate him, but it shows another side. This whole me too /cancel culture era of trial by newspaper article or gossip column troubles me. Just as I still am able to enjoy the humor of Woody Allen, I am sure I will continue to enjoy the music of the Posies.

Ugh.

This is...involved.

https://www.facebook.com/babsmitchell/posts/10158318573672231

what is it?

That's nonsensical to me; it's like Barbara Mitchell is saying, "this is the big chance to get public revenge against Ken Stringfellow, so my non-rape grievances should have been aired out in this article also"?

I mean it sounds like the dude was severely abused growing up and he’s probably repeating some of those same actions…when do we start offering help instead of just shaming these people? For me I’d say as soon as he owns up to it as the total denial line isn’t going to work for anyone.

sic:

Barbara J Mitchell:

just because it's karma doesn't make it true.

of all the people in ken's life, there's a good chance i have the biggest ax (ex?) to grind, as someone who has occupied positions ranging from best friend to manager to girlfriend to best friend to persona non grata.

KUOW reached out to me for this story. i told them the truth.

none of that is reflected in the story that's now published and circulating.

in fact, the reporter i talked to told me last night that i'd never told her that i had been in a romantic relationship with ken - which was one of the FIRST things i told her in clarifying our complicated relationship.

this is interesting, given the fact that the the quote about his charisma - attributed to an ex-girlfriend - came directly from my lips, quoting his ex-wife.

as i texted the reporter this morning, if they wanted to do a character assassination all they would have needed to do is talk to me and kim warnick. as i told ashley in the beginning, i've had a front row seat for some terrible behavior on ken's part - but none of that involved control issues or physical violence.

and admittedly, ken and i were not on speaking terms for a decade and a half. i can only speak to my own experience. so i gave them brian olson's info (as one of ken's close friends and a psychologist) and they never reached out to him.

if you're going to claim you objectively - as journalists - reached out to corroborate stories, why only seek out one side of the story?

and erase the voices of several of ken's partners - those of us who weren't having affairs with him but were in actual and publicly recognized relationships, which puts us in a significantly different category than the women in this story.

on my birthday in 2001, i tried to kill ken with a set of keys to our rental car for a number of reasons that are both hilarious and tragic.

if anyone has wanted him tried in the court of public opinion, it's me.

i think this whole story is shoddy journalism,.i have proof - am proof - and i will never trust the bylines of anyone associated with this story because they didn't follow the actual story.

i was raped by an ex who was also emotionally retarded/abusive. his name was darren, not ken. the reporter knew this - knew i had perspective and wanted justice served.

and yet.

i am friends with all four of ken's other significant exes. i contacted all of them. we all said the same thing - "not his m.o., doesn't seem like him."

did you read that in the article?

i strangely feel the energy that fueled the me too movement - the paralyzing anger that happens when your voice is ignored and/or distorted.

I TOLD THE TRUTH AND NO ONE LISTENED.

if you need reasons to hate ken stringfellow, just ask.

just do your fact-checking before you hit "publish" or "post."

before you react to shoddy journalism.

yes, he's a dick. just not the one portrayed here.

trust me; i KNOW.