Discography

Pell Mell Discography

This discography compiled by Michael Roeder, copyright 2001. Compiled in part from a 1995 discography which has since been removed from the Geffen Records site and from information gathered from the liner notes of It Was A Live Cassette and from The Trouser Press Guide to ’90s Rock. Special thanks to Bob Beerman and Jon-Lars Sorenson for corrections.

Albums

Live Cassette

Indoor Records: IN002 (1982)(Cassette)
Starlight Furniture Co.: *7 (2001)(CD)

  1. Spanner
  2. Some Things We Do For Fun
  3. Dad’s Top Drawer
  4. Shirts and Skins
  5. Estacada
  6. Food, Clothing and Shelter
  7. Almost Happy
  8. All This And More

Recorded live July 14, 1982 in Portland, Oregon by Concert Audio. Mixed and Produced by Steve Fisk, Peter Randlette and Pell Mell. Reissued as a limited (500) CD in 2001 on Starlight Furniture Co. as It Was A Live Cassette

Members: Robert Beerman, Bill Owen, Jon-Lars Sorenson

The Bumper Crop

Rough Trade/Sixth International (Never Released, recorded in 1984)(LP)
SST Records: SST 158 (1987)(LP, Cassette, CD)

  1. Week of Fire
  2. Dad’s Top Drawer
  3. All This and More
  4. 6 9 or 20
  5. Love Trek *
  6. Alligator Stomp #
  7. My Three Sons #
  8. Estacada
  9. Cinecitta
  10. F T B *
  11. Pet Dub *
  12. Chroma-key Beach *
  13. Work, Health, & Love

From the SST Release notes: “Recorded in 1983 and 1984 in San Francisco, California except those marked * which were recorded live at various locations on the West Coast in 1984 and 1985. Those marked with # were recorded in 1981 in Seattle, Washington.”

Members: Robert Beerman, Steve Fisk, Greg Freeman, Bill Owen, Jon-Lars Sorenson (bass on tracks 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, & 13)

For Years We’ve Stood Clearly As One Thing

K Records: (1985)(Cassette)

    Studio Side:

  1. Week of Fire
  2. All This & More
  3. Dad’s Top Drawer
  4. Estacada
  5. 6, 9, or 20
  6. Cinecitta
  7. Work, Health, and Love
  8. Barn Dance
    Live side:

  1. Fuck the Boss
  2. Pet Dub
  3. Chrom-a-key Beach
  4. Business 80
  5. Love Trek
  6. Bubble Prawn
  7. Beat Cut
  8. Par Avion

90 Minute Cassette from seminal Olympia record label K. Includes the Bumper Crop sessions and live material. According to the SST Bumper Crop liner notes, For Years has “different versions of these songs and more….”

Members: Robert Beerman, Steve Fisk, Greg Freeman, Bill Owen, Jon-Lars Sorenson (bass on Studio Side).

Flow

SST Records: SST 278 (1991)(LP, Cassette, CD)

  1. American Eagle
  2. Breach of Promise
  3. Bring On The China
  4. The Devil Bush
  5. Smoke
  6. Aero
  7. Flood
  8. Little Blue Dance
  9. Signal
  10. Blaming the Messenger
  11. Mopping Up

From the liner notes: “These songs were written and arranged by mailing tapes between Seattle, Ellensburg, San Francisco, New Haven, and Philadelphia from Winter 1989 to Fall 1990.”

Members: Robert Beerman, Steve Fisk, Greg Freeman, Bill Owen, David Spalding

Interstate

Geffen Records: DGC 24807 (1995)(LP, Cassette, CD, Limited Ed. Orange Vinyl)
Flying Nun Records: FN 337

  1. Nothing Lies Still Long
  2. Revival
  3. Anna Karina
  4. Saucer
  5. Pound Cake
  6. Constellation
  7. Blacktop
  8. Butterfly Effect
  9. Drift
  10. Vegetable Kingdom
  11. Ether
  12. Floating Gate

Members: Robert Beerman, Steve Fisk, Greg Freeman, David Spalding

Star City

Matador Records: OLE 288-2 (1997)(LP, CD)

  1. Sky Lobby
  2. Salvo
  3. Orange Roughy
  4. Interloper
  5. Smokehouse
  6. On Approach
  7. Upstairs
  8. In Polka Dots
  9. Everything Must Go
  10. Lowlight
  11. Headset
  12. Field of Poppies
  13. Gelatin
  14. Coral

Members: Robert Beerman, Steve Fisk, Greg Freeman, David Spalding

Singles/EPs

Rhyming Guitars

Indoor Records: IN 001 (1981)(12″ 45)
SST Records: SST 158 (1990)(LP, Cassette, CD)

  1. New Saigon
  2. Spy vs Spy
  3. Par Avion
  4. Red Rhythm
  5. Week of Corn*

Originally Released on Indoor Records. Remixed at Pace Video Center in 1988 for re-release on SST. “Week of Corn” track assembled by Steve Fisk is on the SST release.

Members: Robert Beerman, Arni May, Bill Owen, Jon-Lars Sorenson

“Bring On The China”/”Smoke” 7″

SST Records: 913 Limited Edition White Vinyl (1991)

“Cloverleaf”/”Hey, Hey, Hey” 7″

Lather Records: Lather 019 (1998)

Split 45 with Acme Rocket Quartet on Bay Area Indie label Lather Records. “Cloverleaf” is an unreleased track from the Interstate sessions.

Compilations

“Catwalk” and “Red Rhythm”

Trap Sampler Compilation LP; Trap Records: Trap 007 (1981)

“Spy vs Spy”

SubPop 5 Compilation Cassette (1981)

“Some Things We Do For Fun”

SubPop 7 Compilation Cassette (1982)

“The Country and the City”

The Lives of Lhasa Compilation LP; Lhasa Productions (1984)

“Cinecitta”

No Age Compilation LP; SST Records: SST102 (1987) (LP, Cassette, CD)

“Bring On The China (Demo Version)”

Step, Step, Steppin’ on Satan’s Foot Compilation CD (included in Bananafish Magazine)

“Don The Beachcomber”

Rock Stars Kill Compilation LP; Kill Rock Stars: KRS 221 (1994) (LP, CD)

“Swoon”

Kids In The Hall– Brain Candy Film Soundtrack; Matador Records: OLE 13-2 (1996)

Also included in the movie were “Average Bubble” and “Blowfish” which did not make the soundtrack album.

“Conversation”

Nigh Compilation CD; Castle Von Buhler: CVB 008 (1997)

“Conversation” is an unreleased track from the Interstate sessions.

“8 to the Breeze”

Yeti #2 Magazine and CD; (2003)

4 thoughts on “Discography”

  1. Do you know if the Rhyming Guitars album or any of the songs on it can be purchased in digital form?

  2. Hi Paul,
    At this time Rhyming Guitars is not available for purchase as digital download. In fact, none of the SST catalog (where this was reissued) is currently available for download. SST Records/Greg Ginn would have to decide to release it to The Orchard (who has the digital rights to the SST catalog).

    Should this change, I’ll update this site. Thanks for reaching out!

  3. Hi there. Just listening to Flow at the moment and it got me thinking about Pell Mell. I think it would be awesome if there were some sort of “unreleased/b-sides” compilation. Just a wish I have for this often under appreciated band. I see there could easily be at least 10 songs that I’ve never even heard compiled together — including soundtrack work, 7″ singles, etc… Could something like this ever happen? Seems like Pell Mell are due for a resurgence! Thanks so much! — Joe R., Ohio.

  4. Hi Joe,
    Thanks for the comment and thanks for stopping by! Bob Beerman is the keeper of all things Pell Mell, and he has a collection of unreleased songs– mostly from Interstate from what I have seen and they are great songs. The most recent songs I have in the discography (The Yeti Magazine track, the split single) are from those.

    Bob would like to take advantage of the Pell Mell back catalog, but right now the releases are owned by the labels, and they don’t seem to be very interested in a reissue campaign, though I could see labels like Omnivore Records, YepRoc and others being in a position of licensing them. Interstate is probably the most likely release to get it considering that “Nothing Lies Still Long” was a pretty visible song. Flow/Rhyming Guitars/Bumper Crop are all held by SST.

    An expanded reissue of Interstate with the outtakes would be really great– especially if it included the Green Monster documentary tracks.

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