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Doughboys

La Majeure 1987 (2003)
Does Everyone Stare?

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Contributed by: FortyMinutesWest
(others by this writer | submit your own)

Published on December 2nd 2003

It’s always interesting to see a band billed as the equivalent of another band. In this case, Doughboys are labeled as “Canada’s answer to Hüsker Dü”. That’s quite a boast, even though this band has long since hung them up. Still, this being my first exposure to the band, I was expecting a lot. Luckily, La Majeure 1987 didn’t let me down. Fans of older pop punk should take heed, this one is a gem.

La Majeure 1987 is a compilation of the band’s earliest demos. Even in these early recordings, you can hear a resemblance to Hüsker Dü’s poppier material. The songs on here are melodic, upbeat, and yet still somewhat gritty. The tracks on here basically maintain that same formula, with catchy backing vocals softening things when combined with the gruff lead vocals. It’s not really any surprise that this demo caught someone’s attention and it only leads me to want to hear their other material. These are the kind of songs that leave you singing and humming for weeks after hearing them, many were the times I noticed that I had the third track, “I Remember” stuck in my head.

La Majeure 1987 only has three songs on it, so it is relatively short. However, these songs would otherwise be out of print and this thing can be had for a fairly low price, so if you’re a fan of the band, or just interested in checking them out, this might be worth your time and money. All in all, this is some very choice stuff, if you’re a fan of punk with some pop hooks that doesn’t lose any of its bite; you’re going to want to check this one out. Funny side note: the press release for album essentially said that the bands final material sucked. In fact, that might be close to the actual quote. It’s refreshing (if not a bit strange) to see this kind of honesty instead of seeing ridiculous superlatives heaped upon the band.

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Anonymous (December 5, 2003)

Agreed. They were very ahead of their time. If Crush had come out in 94 or 99, they would have had a much better chance at success.

Anonymous (December 4, 2003)

Stranger from Within is also on the cassette I mentioned in the first post. I can't friggin remember the album name though. I like All Systems Go but not as much. They did grow on me a lot. These guys were soooo ahead of their time.

maverick (December 4, 2003)

Fixed. Don't know where that came from either...

-Scott

boba_fett (December 3, 2003)

but you know he wont.

FortyMinutesWest (December 3, 2003)

I don't know how "These songs" ended up in there, but the paragraph should end after "...stuck in my head." It's weird because the copy of the review saved on my computer doesn't have that bit. Scott, if you could take that out it would be greatly appreciated.