by Stewart Mason
The Posies’ first release, originally self-released on cassette in early 1988 but reissued by the noted Seattle indie Popllama later that year, was a duo record by Ken Stringfellow and Jon Auer. As such, it’s the most low-key of the group’s original releases, with a rough, homemade charm that sounds all the more refreshing to those familiar with albums like the majestic, Hollies-like Dear 23 or the grungified Frosting on the Beater. The vaguely folky songs have echoes not only of Chris Bell’s post-Big Star solo recordings, but the occasional hint of Jonathan Richman (especially on "Ironing Tuesdays") and even, dare it be said, Simon & Garfunkel. (From the beginning, Stringfellow and Auer had their choirboy harmonies down cold.) Though Failure is probably still the least-known of all the Posies’ albums, it contains at least two all-time Stringfellow-Auer classics, the impassioned "Believe in Something Other (Than Yourself)" and the wistful "Paint Me." Failure is a terrific album, made more so when one thinks of how thoroughly this set of winsome folk-rock and psych-tinged set of pop songs went against the grain of the late-’80s Seattle scene.