Get ready to blast the sweet sounds of “Massachusetts Afternoon†on your vintage record player, because Pitchfork reports that SNL/Portlandia star Fred Armisen is releasing a series of 7†singles from all the amazing fake bands he played in during his time at SNL called “Hometown Heroes.†The first single is available on February 18th through Drag City Records and will include the above unforgettable Blue Jean Committee song as well as “Embrace Me†by The Fingerlings, a band featured in Dana Carvey’s 2011 hosting gig. Fingers crossed that we’ll get to hear A Taste of New York and The Bjelland Brothers’ classic sparkling apple juice song in the near future. Click through to watch the Blue Jean Committee perform as well as read Drag City Records’ amusing press release.
Around the biz, it’s well known that most celebrities have quirky little fetishes: Kristen Stewart and her armpit licking, Richard Gere and his gerbils, Heather Mills and her stump. Then there’s Fred Armisen, who gets his kicks with ear play - by listening to obscure records, of course! Fred’s got an immaculately curated collection of them, one we felt should naturally be shared with others. So with great pleasure, we introduce a new 7†single series dedicated to regional music stars of decades past, artists who share the common experience of hitting the big time, at a purely local level: Hometown Heroes.The first in this series is a split featuring two distinctly different artists. The Blue Jean Committee were the proud products of the late 70’s Northampton, Massachusetts music scene. Comprised of some of the most sought after local session musicians, the group was most defined by Richie Cornish’s busy talk-singing lyrical style. The gently soulful “Massachusetts Afternoon†celebrates the time in ones life when independence, friendships, and the autumn sunset seem to go on forever.On the flip, from Bath, England, come The Fingerlings, a prolific synth/post-disco band who released twelve EPs between 1981 and 1983. Typically, a group such as this would have been formed at an art college, and The Fingerlings were no different. Their aesthetically meticulous nature earned them a reputation for creating some of the most elaborate and expensive 12†EP covers ever to be produced in the UK. “Embrace Me†is the jam, a huge local hit, its lyrics evoking imagery of neon framed cities like Paris and Berlin.