Dead Kennedys, “Soup Is Good Food”

This is the song that let me finally crack the Dead Kennedys. I think there’s an adjustment, for me at least, as music gets faster and more challenging to find something you can pick out that lets you understand it. This song, as a relatively slow one and one where it’s easy to understand what Jello is singing, is the one that let me kind of get what they were up to. And from there, now that I had a rosetta stone for the band, I was able to catch up to the rest of their catalog.

Tackhead, “Ticking Time Bomb”

Is industrial funk a thing? There are bits and pieces of Tackhead that remind me of industrial, but it’s also very electro-funk. At the time I encountered this, I wasn’t sure of the combination, and it sounds incredibly of its time at this point, but I think I might be better inclined towards it today. I dunno, maybe I’ll spend some time with the record.

The Aquabats!, “Robot Theme Song”

Yup, that’s a robot theme song.

clipping., “Story 2”

CLPPNG, the first full record from clipping., was a record with the band still kind of piecing together what they had. It would be on the next album (Splendor & Misery) that everything would come together perfectly, but there are still times on this album where things still seemed a little awkward. The individual pieces, especially Daveed Diggs, were often spectacular, but the best was yet to come.

Yautja, “The Spectacle”

Yautja are chameleons with different styles coming to the fore in their albums, but this song is also kind of a chameleon. There’s some heavy noise rock here, some grind-y bits, but with those sections kind of distinct here, shifting between them easily.

Elbow, “Leaders of the Free World”

A rock song like this really needs to justify six minutes.

9353, “Famous Last Words”

I do think it’s pretty funny when American punk bands have accents like this. It seems particularly odd when it’s this far removed from the original punk scene.

The Mighty Mocambos, “The Spell of Ra-Orkon”

I really like song titles that sound like a D&D adventure. Especially when they’re instrumentals, as that means you’re not being subjected to lyrics that sound like a D&D adventure.

Love Battery, “Easter”

Love Battery’s Dayglo is one of the best albums from the grunge scene, a swirling psychedelic masterpiece that stood out at the time and only gets better with age. Before their masterpiece, many of the ideas were present in Between the Eyes, a record that featured many of the same wah-soaked moves that they would soon perfect. The bottom isn’t quite as firm, so the record isn’t quite as good, but it’s still an excellent listen.

Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard, “Tralfamadore”

One day, I will discuss this band without mentioning their name. Today is not that day. Hee hee!

The Ethiopians, “Give Me Your Love”

A thing that’s magical about good rocksteady is that it can make it feel like the sun is shining, even if it’s 10:30 at night, you’re tired, and your eyes are itching due to allergies. You know. Hypothetically.

The Regrettes, “Pale Skin”

There’s a very strong throwback feeling to the Regrettes’ first album. Everything in here reminds me of another band, even if I can’t always put my finger on what that band is. Exactly which band shifts pretty constantly, but there’s always something there. It’s kind of déjà vu, but music. Uh, déjà entendu?

Cave In, “Come Into Your Own”

If I told you that there was a band called Cave In, and that they were showing up on this blog, you’d probably have some picture of what they sound like that would involve one or more things howling. I doubt you’d picture something that sounds like this. Kinda feel like it’s false advertising.

El-P, “The Overly Dramatic Truth”

A thing you can’t often say about El-P’s compositions is that they’re pretty. It’s just not a goal he often shoots for, although he’s capable of it if he chooses. This beat, though, sometimes could be described as such. There’s a certain poppiness to it that doesn’t often show up in his work.

Idlewild, “These Wooden Ideas”

It’s not always clear ahead of time if an album or band will click or not. Reviews and comparisons can take you only so far, and until you sit down with a record and really try it out, you’ll just never know. On paper, Idlewild should have been up my alley. And this is fine, but there’s no spark for me. I suppose it’s good that surprises still happen in this process, otherwise it would be mechanical and dull, and those exciting times when something is perfect for you are worth seeking out. I mean, if our tastes were predictable, we could build ourselves big recommendaiton engines, and people would just sit around and listen to whatever the machines suggest. Thank god that’s not going to happen!

Otis Redding, “Love Have Mercy”

Man, Otis was really a force of nature.

The Presidents of the United States of America, “Froggie”

This insistent fever dream of a tune is an excellent example of why the Presidents were so much fun. It keeps barreling forward with on its rhythm section, and the lyrics don’t make any sense at all, but it takes those elements and transforms its nonsense into…not sense, but into something that rhymes with sense. It’s weird, but not for the sake of being weird. It’s weird because that’s how weird it needed to be to tell the story of a frog ruined by rock stardom. No weirdness is wasted.

Frank Black and the Catholics, “I Gotta Move”

A thing I admire about Frank Black is that his songs always sound so distinctly like him. Whether with the Pixies, as a solo act, with the Catholics or whatever, he always sounds like Frank Black. It’s not just the voice, either, it’s his guitar, how he constructs songs, everything. His records might vary in quality and inspiration, but they always sound like they came from him.