Galaxie 500- Dean Wareham, Naomi Yang and Damon Krukowski- made all sorts of waves with a trio of albums between 1988 and 1990 (Today, On Fire and This is Our Music) before splitting up in 1991. On Fire in particular got acres of coverage the music press, Dean's high pitched vox and slowcore psychedelic guitars matched by the gentle push of the bass and drums, from opening song Blue Thunder through to the closing Isn't It A Pity (a George Harrison cover), forty minutes of reverb- laden, spectral, fragile splendour.
In 1990 while in London they were filmed playing for MTV's 120 Minutes, a three song excerpt here opening with a cover of The Velvet Underground's Here She Comes Now, a brief bit of self- conscious interviewing, Tell Me and finally Strange (both from On Fire).
The same year they played Club Lingerie in Hollywood where they performed their cover of Ceremony. On the whole, New Order's songs don't end up being covered well but Galaxie 500's version of Ceremony is stunning, a slowed down version that summons the spirit of both Joy Division and early New Order. A studio version came out on the Blue Thunder EP in 1990
As an extra, in 2021 Dean released his first solo album since 2014, a record titled I Have Nothing To Say To The Mayor Of L.A. which had everything you'd want from a Dean Wareham album, warm indie guitar songs, good lyrics, Dean casting his eye over the state of the USA under Trump (among other topics) and Dean's distinctive voice.
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