Recorded by: the band, as while this is labelled “demos”, this to me sounds like a rehearsal recording

Shared by: tomzero

Tracklist 

01 For Sure

02-03 Words And Smiles (two takes)

04-05 Supreme Nothing (two takes)

06-08 Unknown #1 (three takes)

09-10 You And Me (two takes)

11 You And Me (bass mix)

12 Puzzle Pieces

13 Tore A Hole

14 Unknown #2

15 Unknown #3 (“Dumb Song”)

16 Sweetheart

This copy is labelled SBD3 meaning master > tape > tape > tape, so it’s not the best, but this does include the *vocal* version of Tore A Hole that Rose stopped singing to because she thought her lyrics are bad, so subsequent live performances of this are instrumental.  

I haven’t done any mastering/cleanup, though there were a few dropouts I patched, as well as clearing out bumps caused by stop/starting recording, it’s pretty much as Tomzero ran these off tape…

I checked against the extant videos since they also have unreleased songs, but the other three aren’t anything that’s out there.

My friend Mike Siou has SBD2 and one day I’ll encourage him to make me a lower-gen copy, but suspect this won’t be a huge improvement. Mike got his version from a fellow concertgoer/fan by the name of “Matt” that we met at a 2016 Guided By Voices SF show, and Matt got his from Rose Melberg.

Listen/download here

Update: Mike kindly provided additional commentary:

• He received these demos in late ’92, and would play them quite frequently in his car, so factor that into getting his copy, it may be worn out!
• Mike saw Tiger Trap nine times in the 1992-93 time frame, starting with Matt’s birthday party at his house, up to their final gig at Slim’s in SF with Velocity Girl around October ’93.
• Mike has a tape from 7/15/93 at the Cattle Club in Sacramento with they playing with Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet, as well as a 4/20/93 show where he was very inebriated
• A full gigography from Mike’s POV:
  • August 1992 – Matt house
  • Fall ’92 – Chico show. Mike noted there’s also a VHS of them with Matt introducing them
  • Jan 1993 – some basement with Karp / Unwound (maybe more Karp). Mike followed up with a note that “Maybe Karp didn’t play the 1/93 Sacramento but I bought a Karp demo tape from someone, who could have been a guy in Unwound. Or from Karp. I did buy another tape that Rose said was awesome but I forget the moniker.”
  • Jan 1993 – like a bowling alley
  • Mar 1993 – chameleon room (Valencia Street) opening for Mecca Normal
  • 4/20/93 – cattle club (no idea how I taped it or who was holding onto the tape / Marantz / mic since I was so intoxicated)
  • May 1993 – cattle club (no taping, ARGH) – the one time I saw them play Supercrush
  • June (??) 1993 – “jazz” club on Fulton Street (next to former Pasquales and across from former Petrinis) by Masonic, Sf (opening Tore A Hole; also played Supercrush; no taping)
  • 7/15/93 Cattle Club with Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet
  • Oct 93 (??) – Slims opening for velocity girl – friend taped with D6 master.