Wednesday Wadio: Tribe’s ‘Joyride’.

“The problem was that no one outside of Boston got the memo on how great they were. They made an appearance on Conan O’Brien, but it looked as though Tribe was going to remain a local treasure rather than a national one.“

As it relates to my personal era, I look at Boston music in threes. The high school years were chock full of Big Dipper, the Pixies and Tribe. I recently asked if anyone had a copy of Here at the Home, to which one friend replied – yes! I finally made it over to her house last night, and was absolutely pumped to spin that sucker once again. HATH is out of print, as is its follow up, Abort – and it had been 10 years since I’d had a listen.

Imagine my surprise then today when I took a shot in the dark and looked them up on YouTube. Joyride (I saw the film) is a song off of their second last album, and it’s not so bad. I would have much rather found Daddy’s Home or Rescue Me, but it’s truly amazing to me that a Tribe video is available at all. I’ll take it.

There is precious little Tribe info available online, although I do know that their last ever show was in 1994 and lead singer Janet LaValley has always been very easy on the eyes. One should never say never, however, and a friend of the band recently told me they would be reforming in 2007 for a few local Boston dates. Guess who’ll be there? Go on, guess.

Abort saw many of the best songs on HATH re-recorded, with “better” production values and Pixies producer Gil Norton twiddling the knobs. It is a solid album from start to finish, and I think where Tribe really stood out were their harmonies and Spectre-esque soundscapes. However I always preferred the stripped-down, dirtier versions from HATH, and I want to repeat my request for a copy. Come on people, this is Boston, afterall.