Me Last: Fall Apart With Me

The Posies: Fall Apart With Me

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I grew up listening to Seattle pop kings The Posies and when they announced in 1998 that their fifth album Success would be their last and after a farewell tour they would call it a day, I was more than a little bummed.

But it was probably time for the two singers, guitarists, frontmen and songwriters Ken Stringfellow and Jon Auer to go their separete ways at that point. If songs like Every Bitter Drop, Fall Apart With Me, Looking Lost, Farewell Typewriter, Who To Blame and Fall Song are anything to go by, all was not well within the group. The signs had been there for a while - the song Please Return It on 1996's Amazing Disgrace was written by Ken during a period when Jon contemplated leaving the band.

Success could almost be categorized as a "divorce album", it has a quite bittersweet feel to it and even if you weren't aware that it was the band's last outing you could probably tell intuitively.

After a while though, the formerly inseparable childhood friends gravitated back towards each other and started doing acoustic gigs as a duo, once again as The Posies.

Soon they had recruited a new rhythm section and released new material. To be honest, by then I had outgrown them. Their recent stuff is great, but nothing touches those first five albums that shaped my teen years.

You First: You Avoid Parties

The Posies: You Avoid Parties

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My first encounter with The Posies was a radio broadcast of a live show in early 1996 at the club Gino (R.I.P.) in Stockholm.

Having read glowing reviews of their then current album Amazing Disgrace, The Posies had gotten my attention and I made sure to tape the show (I still have the tape!) and I've lost count of how many times I've listened to it. From the opening chords of Dream All Day to the Nirvana/Jimi Hendrix/The Who style instrument demolition at the end of Burn & Shine, every second was mesmerizing.

I soon bought Amazing Disgrace and two of the previous albums - Frosting On The Beater (1993) and Dear 23 (1990). While all three are great Dear 23 have always had a special place in my heart. It's so wonderfully overproduced, glossy and pretty even your grandmother would like it.

All Apologies: Apology

The Posies: Apology

[purchase]

And I asked again
Would it be alright for me
To acquire someone else's disenchantment?
I could reconnect to another time and place
Reconsider letting loose and running rampant

Take me back
Teach me
Take me back
Apology
I never meant to be and I won't take much with me

Just an open mind and a second nature
Don't forget you might just drink the water
If it illustrates the nonesuch nomenclature

So push the button ring the bell
Behold your tongue it's served you well
Enough to bring you here, won't you please

If we fall to touch

There will be no backlogged time
You can make believe it like a bunch of postcards
And the stones will read in a modest fashion
Don't expect too much - you might be disappointed