Is there any love for Flop and/or Rusty Willoughby?

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In high school I loved this band; I've regularly pulled their three great albums out over the past ten years and my enjoyment hasn't diminished even slightly. I fear they've been forgotten in the Seattle post-Nirvana glut but time has treated them well; despite the bombastic pop/punk production, Rusty Willoughby's songs stand out as brilliant, strange gems among the mire.... I've tracked down some Pure Joy stuff and liked it (especially Getz, the Worm) but I have never met anyone else who shares my passion for Flop. Anyone? Anyone?

j fail (cenotaph), Monday, 2 October 2006 12:28 (nineteen years ago)

yes there is:

I Have Never Heard These Bands Who Have Recorded For Sub Pop

scott seward (scott seward), Monday, 2 October 2006 12:37 (nineteen years ago)

hahaha, not really though. but sorta.

scott seward (scott seward), Monday, 2 October 2006 12:38 (nineteen years ago)

Give 'em a shot! Especially their final album, "Whenever You're Ready".

j fail (cenotaph), Monday, 2 October 2006 13:04 (nineteen years ago)

"Regrets" did get some MTV play. never heard Pure Joy, but the Flop were pretty cool. Willoughby's song structures could be quite unusual. much more ambitious than per the power-pop par.

Ghost Bear Junior High Attendance Party (Ghost Bear Junior High Attenda), Monday, 2 October 2006 13:11 (nineteen years ago)

I liked the three Flop albums well enough at one point. Then a few years back I played them all again, went, "Hmmm," then ripped and sold them all.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 2 October 2006 13:15 (nineteen years ago)

Random! I was searching threads for this band just yesterday, mostly because I was wondering what ever happened to Rusty. Did he stop making music?

At a certain point about 12 years ago they were one of my favorite bands. "Whenever You're Ready" has loads of tiny pop gems on it (Regrets, The Great Valediction, Eat, Night Of The Hunter). Same goes for "Fall Of The Mopsqueezer". And they put on some of the best live shows in Seattle while grunge was decomposing in some Capitol Hill alley.

cosmo vitelli (cosmo vitelli), Monday, 2 October 2006 17:19 (nineteen years ago)

I really like Whenever You're Ready...haven't heard anything else by them.

Destroy A. Monsters (Destroy A. Monsters), Monday, 2 October 2006 19:01 (nineteen years ago)

he has a web site.

flop is one of my favorite bands of all time.

maura (maura), Monday, 2 October 2006 19:29 (nineteen years ago)

I meant to say "World of Today", which is actually their final album and incredibly underrated.

j fail (cenotaph), Monday, 2 October 2006 20:22 (nineteen years ago)

Oops. I didn't see that you also used the word "gems" in your original post. Shame on me. I checked Rusty's website. All I gathered from it was that (it's likely) he's still alive, and maybe he's writing songs and/or poetry.

cosmo vitelli (cosmo vitelli), Monday, 2 October 2006 20:32 (nineteen years ago)

I bought "Whenever You're Ready" few weeks ago for 0.99$ in Djangos.com plus 4$ of shipping to Poland. Since I've loved "JUlie Francavilla" song for 8 or 9 years I was rather dissapointed with the whole album. But it's funny that someone remembers this band.

Florian Znaniecki (pyotreck), Tuesday, 3 October 2006 10:46 (nineteen years ago)

I dig Flop. My friend Ric was supposed to be curating a tribute comp or something... don't know whatever happened with that.

BlastsOfStatic (BlastsofStatic), Tuesday, 3 October 2006 13:05 (nineteen years ago)

Woolworth, great one.

Hugo Lovelace (Hugo Lovelace), Tuesday, 3 October 2006 17:41 (nineteen years ago)

first side (them old vinyl days) off the fall of the mopsqueezer was GREBT

joan vich (joan vich), Wednesday, 4 October 2006 07:12 (nineteen years ago)

I had Whenever You're Ready and World of Today when they were newish (mid '90s), but they went the way of hundreds of other cds in the great purge of 1999. Wouldn't mind hearing them again now, because the nostalgia's setting in.

Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Wednesday, 4 October 2006 07:51 (nineteen years ago)

I think the arrangements and production are maybe Flop's downfall - the pop-punk sound makes it feel dated and a big marginalized. The few songs with acoustic guitars really allow the beauty to shine through, and I wonder how he would be received now if he had a more pitchfork-friendly backing band.

j fail (cenotaph), Wednesday, 4 October 2006 11:32 (nineteen years ago)

two years pass...

I miss Flop they were so classic!

Goofus vs. Gallant (Drugs A. Money), Sunday, 19 October 2008 04:30 (seventeen years ago)

two years pass...

Night of the Hunter just came om random.What a great song.I had forgotten all about Flop.

You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike. (hugo), Saturday, 29 January 2011 20:20 (fourteen years ago)

Whenever You're Ready is such a great album, I really need to listen to more stuff by this band...

lol at the witch trials (Drugs A. Money), Sunday, 30 January 2011 02:53 (fourteen years ago)

I think the dated power-pop sheen gives the songs teeth, but my favorite thing is how they'll switch thing up like mid song ALL THE TIME!

lol at the witch trials (Drugs A. Money), Sunday, 30 January 2011 02:54 (fourteen years ago)


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