For some reason I always bunch Ned’s Atomic Dustbin, Thousand Yard Stare and Carter USM in a trinity of musical memories that are ring fenced by the sight of grown men in long shorts. For all I know Thousand Yard Stare may not have even worn the bermuda like threads but whenever I cast my mind back to tunes such as ‘Comeuppance’ the knee rubbing garments hove into my minds eye. TYS were from David Brent country but looked much further northwards for their baggy inspiration. Apart from the loose grooves the band were also capable of firing a volley of jangling hooks into the air. ‘Comeuppance’ has a languid style defined by the open ended riff, a ratatat beat and Stephen Barnes droll yet impressive vocals. It still sounds quite suave to these ears but perhaps it’s just the rose tinted effect at work. KD
Thousand Yard Stare – Comeuppance
More Info: Unofficial & Myspace
Buy Songs: Thousand Yard Stare
Year: 1991
Slightly unrelated, but Carter did a couple of one-off gigs there recently in the UK – partially to promote their new anthology. Be fun to see them on stage again. Still, will just have to settle for MBV reforming!
As the author of the site in question I should point out that the link you have for the “official” TYS site is anything but – I’m just someone who has good memories of their music, and lots of old TYS vinyl. But thank you for the link anyway!
Mr P, Consider yourself Un’d!
The “unofficial” has moved – now at http://pip.host22.com/music/yardies.shtml