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The Embarrassment were not as storied as The Feelies, and they certainly
never approached the Talking Heads' popularity. But they almost
belong on that same level of greatness. Here's where I'm supposed to
say what a shame it is that more people don't know about them. Well,
they were from Wichita, poor things. But their fans (and perhaps the
band itself) have yet to come up with one cohesive anthology. These
muddy live tapes, culled from three dozen shows, only add to the
confusion. Except on the 1:17 bundle of nerves "Song for Val," all
the peculiar angles in their sound (particularly Bill Goffrier's
guitar, which spoke to you like someone whose mind was working faster
than their lips) get rounded out by the club din. Eight of the 19
tracks are covers, way too much considering none of them are up to
the band's affectionate take on "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough." In
short, in this collection they sound like a justly unstoried garage
band. So start (slowly) with Bar/None's messy two-CD comp
Heyday from 1995. If you get that life-affirming twist on the
guitar-bass-drums verities from it, proceed here.
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