If the name The Springfields doesn’t mean much to you, you’re probably not alone. One of three different bands Ric Menck and Paul Chastain had going in the ’80s (the others being Choo Choo Train and Bag O’ Shells), it was their only collaboration with Menck center stage and singing. They only released five singles before the project ended—a quiet life for a small indie pop band.
Yet here they stand, with Slumberland Records lovingly collecting their scant but glorious discography. Singles 1986-1991 fully frames the Springfields; two earnest dorks from Champaign, Illinois offering a loving and deeply earnest tribute to shiny jangle pop both of the ’60s variety (their name was curbed from an early Dusty Springfield band), and their fellow power-pop revivalists of the late ’80s. “Sunflower,” the opening cut from their debut single and many people’s first introduction to the band, is sublime, from the earworm opening riff and shuffling drum beat to the layered melodies that were uncommonly advanced for the DIY records of the time. It’s immediately evident why the band would go on to release singles on the indie pop titan Sarah Records.
Their output is slim, but every song is this good. On “Wonder,” Menck sings with childlike astonishment at the betrayal of a lover; “Reachin’ For The Stars” effortlessly shifts from power pop to a psychedelic outro that also doubles as a sly demonstration of the serious chops underneath these three-chord songs. “Scatter Good Friends,” the last song recorded under the Springfields name, is the only deviation, a melancholic meditation on past mistakes performed entirely on acoustic guitar. But even here Menck’s knack for bittersweet melody shines through.
Of the 12 songs that make up The Springfield’s discography, nearly half of them are covers, from the obvious choices like the Hollies’ “Clown” to covers of contemporaries like Primal Scream and The Clouds. But Menck and Chastain were so attuned to melody that less knowledgeable listeners would be forgiven for thinking they were all originals. The uncharitable read would be to suggest The Springfields were nothing but the sum of their influences. But they infuse Matthew Sweet’s “Are We Gonna Be Alright?” with quiet ache that only comes from having lived through what you’re singing about.
Menck and Chastain would still collaborate after finishing the Springfields. They became bigger and louder under the name Velvet Crush, a project that would do well and would even get signed to the home of several of their influences, Creation. Yet The Springfields remains maybe their most treasured work, and for good reason. Indie pop, as maligned as it is for its simplicity, is at its most glorious when artists make something that sounds both timeless and sincere. The Springfields, over a few brief years and with only a few people noticing, pulled it off.
Buy: Rough Trade
