Obscure bands

good list bondmap--i still listen to robin lane and the spinanes. i've never heard of some of yours--any of 'em especially worthy?

marty, love tractor was actually an athens ga band, tho sounding nothing like rem--great stuff nonethteless. your reference triggered recall of some other mostly-forgotten athens bands like pylon and swimming pool qs, who still sound pretty contemporary.
staying south, i'll toss in two alabama (mississipi?) jangly guitar bands of particular merit, the primitons and carnival season; both on spotify and well worth checking out

ghosthouse, i can't believe that you (of all people) haven't actually heard the meat puppets--really one of the great alt bands of the 80s. II and up on the sum are their indisputable classics; their later major label stuff was good but started veering from their unique brainfried desert psychedelia into a more commercial zz top-ish direction.

arcam, good list--some of your picks have stumped even the most obsessive of us.

judging from the foregoing recs, many of you would dig the new zealand bands from the flying nun label--most of these are (thankfully) available on spotify:
the clean/david kilgour
bailter space
tall dwarfs
the verlaines
3Ds
jean paul satre experience
the bats
most of these bands share a guitar-based, sorta fractured folk/rock sensibility not too far removed from early rem or velevet underground; a few get more into the heavier/electro side. all are worth hearing.