One thing about Five Songs that I always appreciate is that it always makes me stay in the habit of putting music on when I can. There's just something about always thinking "oh, I could write a post" that sometimes decays into "oh, I could put on some tunes" that I appreciate.
Lungfish, "Descender"
I know what the Five Songs party line is on Lungfish (kinda boring), so I'm going to skip that and just kind of focus on a sense memory. Specifically, I can remember wandering around my college campus not long after getting this album. I was trying to develop a taste for it, so I wasn't doing much other than listening to it and walking around. But it was a beautiful fall day, and I kept walking past groups of kids having a great time outdoors. Three different frisbee games were going on. A hacky sack circle. A volleyball game had broken out. The breeze was blowing, the sun was shining, I was bumping tunes, and I was just kind of watching people having a great time. So even though I am not wild about the album, an association with a perfect fall day from one of the happiest periods of my life still clings to it. This album sounds like youthful innocence and hope. And is also kinda boring.
Kustomized, "Big Trick"
(track 1!) If you're thinking to yourself, damn, that drumming is excellent and also sounds familiar, congrats! Kustomized was started by Peter Prescott, who played drums for Mission of Burma, one of the truly foundational bands of the American rock underground. Kustomized doesn't quite rise to that height, how could they, but Prescott is still great, the tunes are still strong, and the band should be better known than they actually are. And if you're a fan of Mission of Burma who hasn't listened to them, you're in for a treat.
Common, "Be (intro)"
(track 1!) Common's major label debut, Like Water For Chocolate, brought him a ton of attention and centered him as one of the leaders of alternative rap, which I'm loosely taking here as those artists who were setting themselves apart from the Bad Boy Records and similar artists of the time. His followup, Electric Circus, didn't seem to have quite the same critical reception, and personally for me, I thought it was a bit of a drag compared to its predecessor. Just too much going on, and not enough of it was successful. So when 2005's Be came out, I wasn't sure what to expect. What resulted is what I think is Common's best album, although I'm not sure how many others share that opinion. Part of that is the great production that's entirely by Ye and Dilla (the former, obviously, long before his break with reality). Having just two producers helped with the cohesion, the track list was short and focused, and Common sounds like a million bucks. His discursive tendencies, at least when it comes to stuffing extra things onto an album, had been tamed and the shorter album seemed to just result in trimming the fat. Sometimes, less is more, and this album definitely is in that category.
Baroness, "Isak"
Well, we went from the latest Baroness album the other day to the first one. And, in fact, to the song that I think of when I think of Baroness. Ian Cory just wrote about "Brewer metal" in his excellent mailing list the other day, and he noted that this song is in fact the center of gravity for this micro-genre he was exploring. And now, that's what I'll always think of it as. But anyway, it's a banger.
Thou, "The Hammer"
Thou released three EPs (we love EPs here at Five Songs International!) in 2018 leading up to their new album, with each EP exploring a different style. Inconsolable is the folk-ish one, with slow tempos, little distortion, and generally just a quieter approach. The band nevertheless pulls it off with aplomb, giving the impression that they can basically make whatever record they want. And, of course, they would later put out a record with Emma Ruth Rundle, fulfilling the destiny they suggested with this record. Thou can basically do no wrong to my mind.