WALT MINK - Miss Happiness - Lp- 1st UK Press - 1992 Overlooked Rare Gem

$

102

VINYL =  VG+ / JACKET = Very Good Plus. 1st Press (UK only, no vinyl release in the USA).
NOTES:

Marc Bolan understood the creative potential of setting wimpy vocals against decisive rock choogle, but the power pop groups that followed the leader in the ’70s (Milk ‘n’ Cookies, Shoes, 20/20, etc.) and beyond reduced the electric offensive to tightly compressed guitar distortion that, in its gentle little-tiger roar, stayed as pretty as the singers’ fey voices. Not Walt Mink. The trio — formed at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota — pushes the walls of soft and strong so far apart that it’s sometimes hard to believe the audible evidence of what’s going on.

John Kimbrough (son of Murphy Brown actor Charles Kimbrough) manages the feat of singing like he’s about to doze off after inhaling too much helium while playing guitar with a kinetic fervor that would make Jimi Hendrix kiss the sky. Armed with an equally explosive, turn-on-a-dime rhythm section-bassist Candice Belanoff and drummer Joey Waronker (whose sister led that dog and whose father was president of Warner Bros. Records), Walt Mink debuted with Miss Happiness. The album is a marvel of winsome melodies set like precious jewels atop churning walls of intricate rock. In conception, the attack owes more to the fill-every-corner pressure of speed metal than the look-at-us-we’re-cute world of pudding bowl haircuts. A couple of songs coagulate into thick puddles of shapeless gunk, but the best ones soak up several generations of rock style and carry it safely through Walt Mink’s distinctive abyss. The funk-accented “Miss Happiness,” the slabby “Love You Better,” the nothing-of-the-sort “Quiet Time,” the naggy “Smoothing the Ride,” the railroading “Croton-Harmon (Local)” and “Showers Down” are all thrilling results of the band’s original something-for-everyone formulation; a startling cover of Nick Drake’s acoustic wisp “Pink Moon” collates divergent decades and sensibilities into a spectacular artifact.

NOTE: All records are U.S. pressings unless otherwise noted)
Records are visually graded under many bright lights. Any questionable marks are played at 1.5g tracking. Record Grading: SS (Still Sealed), Near-Mint (near perfect), Excellent (Just a few signs that the record has been played keeping it from being NM), Very Good Plus (VG+ = A used, reasonable copy. Will show several signs of play but still perfectly good). Very Good (VG = Record will show quite a bit of signs of play. Will likely have some surface noise, especially at the begining and in quite passages. Should play without skipping). I do not sell records below VG grade unless they are scarce or for the jacket).

Shipping Info

All orders are processed and shipped within 2 business days of receipt. I package and ship my vinyl records with the greatest care, using extra-thick packaging and the vinyl is taken out of the jacket to prevent seam splits. Lps are shipped in poly sleeves as well.

Domestic Shipments






USPS Media Mail LP Only Shipments $4.50 for 1st LP + $0.75 each additional LP Mixed Shipments $4.50 for 1st LP + $0.75 each additional LP / $0.25 each additional 45 International Shipments Air Mail LP Only Shipments $21.00 for 1st LP + $5.00 each additional LP 45 Only Shipments $15.00 for 1st 45 + $1.00each additional 45 Mixed Shipments $21for 1st LP + $5 each additional LP / $1.00 each additional 45

Note: Double LPs, box sets, etc. will incur additional shipping costs as indicated above.