Stars After Stars After Stars: Pictures

Reviews of "The Very Thing That You Treasure"

"Beautifully crafted, laid-back pop songs as sunny as a fresh summer's day, and as melancholy as mid-fall, Spike Priggen's The Very Thing That You Treasure is a delicate, yet sophisticated acoustic pop record."
Alex Steininger
In Music We Trust
"The Very Thing That You Treasure, Priggen will tell you, has been a lifetime in the making. Quite frankly it’s been worth the wait."
Kurt Hernon
Bangsheet
If there is any justice in this teen-popping world, The Very Thing That You Treasure won't get lost on the streets. It's a sweet little treasure that deserves a home.
Carrie Havranek
SonicNet
"The Very Thing that You Treasure is, quite simply, an amazing album. From the first track, a gorgeously reverby, jangly pop ballad called "Every Broken Heart," you know you're into something good. Priggen's voice is kind of nasal and a little bit awkward, but there is a gentleness to it that is immediately charming."
Scout
Delusions Of Adequacy
"Next time I'm getting over a terrorizing, head-over-heels heartbreak, The Very Thing That You Treasure will be in the driver's seat, helping me cry myself into the nearest telephone pole. Until then, this unbelievably depressing CD will be sitting on my shelf, safe from unsuspecting ears that can't deal with its gut-wrenching power. Priggen definitely has issues with chicks, as several tunes (including "Every Broken Heart" and "She Used To Be My Baby") highlight a borderline obsessive-compulsive singer-songwriter bloodletting his emotions onto a recorded medium. Priggen has a way with words, and his exceptional lyrics weave intricate tales of desperation and loss that somehow, by the disc's end, inspire a sense of hope and yearning. Nonetheless, this potent collection of tear jerking, honky-tonk pop tunes is a marvelous expression of calculated emotional outbursts. Medical authorities should be contacted immediately, as this CD should only be allowed into your CD player with a prescription from your local psychiatrist."
Andrew Magilow
Splendid E-zine
“To be blunt about it, this is a brilliant LP, and as debuts go ranks right up there with those of Marshall Crenshaw, Big Star and The Pretenders. It’s full of indelible hooks and I just want to keep playing it again and again and again…One of the year’s best”
Toast Magazine
“Turns simple phrases around gorgeous melodies and into moving pop poetry”
Mean Magazine
“Gloriously melancholy. Worth every minute of the ride.”
Power Of Pop
“The very definition of bittersweet”
Joey Sweeney
Time Out New York
"His lyrics seethe with John Lennon's anger (and wit), but most often, and most brilliantly, they hinge on the sort of forlorn melancholy that Chris Bell made so affecting."
Red Tunic Troll
Amazon Customer Review
"In the finicky music world, Spike Priggen may well be destined to skirt around the perimeters of success for a few more years to come, but his satisfying songs are already worthy of a wider audience. Priggen's debut, The Very Thing That You Treasure, finds the accomplished musician joining the alt.country fray as a less cocky version of Ryan Adams. Two of the better offerings, Every Broken Heart and Outtasight take to the sort of countrified twang that R.E.M. tried for on 1991's Out Of Time. .. It is welcome news that Priggen has already set to work on a follow up."
Rip It Up Magazine
"Priggen's songs are so melodic and throw up so many surprises both lyrically and sonically that it is hard not to love everything on this record.All of the tracks have been a favourite at different times so it is hard to pick out a standout song. It changes from the opening 'Every Broken Heart' to everything in-between that and the last song, 'So Good To See You', a strange psychedelic ballad full of weird effects and mellotron.
Pennyblack Music Website
"In truth it's hard to single out tunes for praise when all 12 tracks are consistently solid. This is a 'song' record, an album that's not about glossy production or sampled drum beats. Spike Priggen writes damn good songs, and that's what you'll find on The Very Thing That You Treasure."
Barfly.com
"Not the most rock 'n' roll of names, and one most likely that most of you have never encountered before, but then 'The Very Thing That You Treasure' isn't the most rock 'n' roll of records. In fact, the debut from New York based multi-instrumentalist Priggen is a wonderfully vibrant melting pot of eclectic pop rock styles that will have power pop fans drooling.
Classic Rock (UK)
"Starting with a chorus of “Every broken heart is just like the first one”, Priggen shows his perfect hand early. Matching Teenage Fanclub with Matthew Sweet, he can’t help but sound like Big Star – which is even better! Irresistibly ragged production and endlessly bittersweet guitar solos will have you singing every line, and feeling like you wrote them all yourself. Proof beyond question that the one thing you can never grow out of is a teenage crush."
TNT Magazine (UK)
"It's an album of confidant versatility, and the two years it took to record are evident in the sound of the material, the care that has been given. So often these days music can seem meaningless, vocals tossed away with a cheap rhyme, but not here."
Logged Off Website

Photos: The Hello Strangers @ Danceteria - 1983 (Nicole Willis, Spike Priggen, Mark Mulcahy, Joel Potocksy)

Thanks to Charles Rosenberg for sending me these photos he took of my band The Hello Strangers playing at Danceteria. This was one of only 2 gigs we did with this line-up (the other was in New Haven, CT at The Grotto a couple days before), which was a combination of the original Hello Strangers line-up (Me and Nicole Willis and various drummers & percussionists- Jean Caffeine & Mark Mulcahy mainly) and the band that played on my LP The Hello Strangers - Goodbye (original Miracle Legion members Mark Mulcahy & Joel Potocksy).

Posted by Spike on Oct 20, 2011 at 02:06 PM in Pictures, Scrapbook, The Hello Strangers | Permalink

Photos: The Excerpts (1980)

The Excerpts, Circa 1980, New Haven, CT. Jon Brion, Spike Priggen and Dean Falcone. Photos by Claude Bell. Thanks Claude!

Posted by Spike on Nov 03, 2008 at 12:03 PM in Pictures, Scrapbook, The Excerpts | Permalink

TV Neats 9/27/81

TV Neats 9/27/81
New Haven Green
New Haven CT
Photos By Ian Churchill
A Flickr Photo Set
More On TV Neats

Posted by Spike on Dec 08, 2005 at 06:52 PM in Pictures, Scrapbook, TV Neats | Permalink

Me And Bun E

Here's me and Bun E Carlos in the front seat of my (since deceased) 1977 Volare Station Wagon. We're on our way to Brooklyn's "Fireproof Recording" where Bun E played on 8 Spike Priggen tracks in one day (nice going Bun E!). 6 songs are on my new all-covers CD "Stars After Stars After Stars" and there'll be 2 more on my next all originals CD (working title "There's No Sound In Flutes").

Posted by Spike on Jun 13, 2005 at 11:02 AM in Pictures, Scrapbook, Stars After Stars After Stars | Permalink

Shielded By Death Volume 3

This is so weird. I never thought I'd have a "What's New" item about a band I was in 25 years ago, but I just figured out (through a discography on this site) that a song I wrote (and sang) when I was like 14, "Pushing Buttons" (for the band I was in then, TV Neats) is on a compilation CD called Shielded By Death Vol. 3 on Bacchus Archives Records. Not only that, but another TV Neats song (written by band leader Ricky Rondo) is on "Meet Me In The Time Tunnel – Obscure Powerpop From The Land Of The Lost 1978-1985" from the Japanese "Wizzard In Vinyl" label. And both songs have gotten airplay. On cool stations!
Now I don't know who, if anyone, gave anybody permission to put this stuff out, but it's pretty funny that someone would wanna. That doesn't mean I don't want my 8.5 cents per record (which I've recently found out is the standard royalty rate- 'cause I'm having to pay it to all the artists I cover on my new record!).
Mp3 of "Pushing Buttons" is here . Now I gotta go figure else what other songs of mine are out there on records I don't know about.

Posted by Spike on Feb 18, 2005 at 01:57 AM in Pictures, Scrapbook, TV Neats, What's New | Permalink

The Lonely Crowd

In 1994 I spent about 6 months in Europe, playing gigs in London, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Paris (singing covers in an Irish Pub). I spent several months in Scotland altogether and Malcolm Ross and I formed a cover band called "The Lonely Crowd", after a book I found, which was pretty popular in dodgy pubs all over Edinburgh. Every gig Paul Haig (Josef K) would get up and sing a Velvets Medley and Jo Callis (Rezillos/Human League) got up and played some Chuck Berry style guitar at one gig.
Picture Caption: Me, Malcolm Ross and Billy Buckley in our cover band The Lonely Crowd.

Posted by Spike on Jan 22, 2005 at 10:04 PM in Malcolm Ross, Pictures, Scrapbook | Permalink

The Lean-To's/ The Streams

The Lean-To's was a band formed by my friends Joe Rees (who I'd known since high school) and David Brooks (who I knew from my 1 year at SVA), I played bass and Jim Balga drums. After the Lean-To's disbanded, David started The Streams, with me on bass and Jeff Weiderschall ("Baby Huey" and original member of Miracle Legion) on drums. The Lean-To's had 1 7 inch single and a bunch of unreleased recordings. The Streams had several 7 inches and a slew of unreleased recordings.
Photo by Kathleen Cei.