Less Than Jake, “Bridge and Tunnel Authority”

This was a companion piece for Anthem, one of the best Less Than Jake records. They took a bunch of unused material from that record, polished it up, and released it as an extra album. And, honestly, there’s not really that much drop off between the two albums. As another set of tunes from their strongest period, it’s a welcome addition to the library.

fIREHOSE, “Sometimes”

I know I bang on the drum every time fIREHOSE comes up, but I don’t care: it’s such a shame that people didn’t seem to give them a fair shake after the Minutemen. This is such a good tune! This album is really good (If’n)! fIREHOSE’s first three albums are all flat-out great.

Mogwai, “Heard About You Last Night”

Compare this to the Radiohead track from yesterday. Yeah, both contemplative, almost meditative. Plenty of space in both compositions. But this one feels like it has a point, like it’s going somewhere, not just an unfocused noodle.

The True Loves, “Kabuki”

Soul band from beautiful Seattle, this was one of those occasional finds from when I found myself trapped in a vehicle without Bluetooth and heard something good on KEXP. (Specifically, a U-Haul I was driving from Kingston to Bainbridge Island.) It’s a delight, of course, and I wish I had some way other than just serendipity to find something like this. Oh well!

The Slackers, “And I Wonder?”

In my mind, The Question is my least favorite Slackers album. I’m not really sure at this point exactly why. I adored Redlight (it’s still one of my favorite ska records), and I was super geeked for the follow-up. And something about it didn’t quite sit right with me. And I just kind of didn’t listen to it much and filed it away. It’s not that I fell off the band, mind you. The next studio record, Wasted Days, is ALSO one of my favorite ska records. I still eagerly buy everything they put out, love a bunch of their records, have seen them multiple times…but I’ve never really gone back to try this album again. Just one of those blind spots. I should really fix that!

Pop Will Eat Itself, “Bulletproof!”

After the anarchic fun of Cure For Sanity, which got some popular attention particularly on dance floors, their followup (The Looks or the Lifestyle) came out the next year trying to cash in on the popularity. But while there was a surface similarity, it all felt kind of pro-forma. Lots of chanting, repetitive lyrics gestured at being anthems, but nothing really lands on the record, and it should really be ignored.

Mission of Burma, “Red”

Signals, Calls, and Marches, the 1981 debut EP from Mission of Burma, is one of the foundational texts of what was known as college rock and eventually became indie rock. It’s a touchstone that many, many following bands would evoke and echo. It’s not really punk, not really post-punk, certainly not hardcore, but has parts of all those sounds. Mission of Burma would release this and an album in their original incarnation, and then unexpectedly pop up 22 years later with a new run of three (excellent) albums.

Clipse, “Virginia”

As always, the real attraction of the first Clipse record isn’t so much their rhymes, which are fine, but that lovely “produced by the Neptunes” label. And, yeah, this is great.

The Mortals, “Everything But Time”

Part of the Estrus stable of garage rock bands, the Mortals put out three records in the early to mid 90s, without making too many waves but certainly landing on my radar. This comes from the first of those records, Ritual Dimension of Sound, and is a reasonable representation of their sound.

Chuck D, “Generation Wrekkked”

In 1996, Chuck D released his first solo record, Autobiography of Mistachuck, which differs from a Public Enemy record primarily in that Flavor Flav wasn’t involved at all. Because Chuck D was always part of the Bomb Squad, and therefore was involved in putting together the beats, and of course his stentorian voice was always the driving force behind PE, the record really just kind of fits in with the other mid-90’s PE records. Probably better than He Got Game, maybe not quite as good as Muse Sick-N-Hour Mess Age.

200 johns, “the sun is a h0t m4ss”

Did you know that you needed hyperpop covers of They Might Be Giants songs? I didn’t, until I heard this this EP. And I realized, yes, I very much needed hyperpop covers of TMBG songs.

Nitzer Ebb, “Godhead (remix)”

I was just saying Nitzer Ebb hadn’t aged particularly well to a buddy yesterday! And, you know, it hasn’t particularly. But again, this is part of the whole thing where industrial dance also was just endlessly remixed and re-released, which didn’t help anything. Although there is one remix of “Lightning Man” (on ONE of the multiple singles for that song) that I remember as absolutely ripping. However, I lost that EP, and I haven’t listened to it in ages and had kind of forgotten it until now. I could still pull up the riff from it in my head though.

P.D.Q. Bach, “Six Contrary Dances, S. 39: VI. Moving right alongo”

P.D.Q. Bach, the parody composer, makes truly dumb music that can largely only be appreciated by smart people. Or, maybe more accurately, culturally educated people. The truth is, I sort of catch only a subset of the gags in it, because I’m nowhere near knowledgeable enough in Western classical music to get all of it. But even if you don’t catch all the jokes, the music itself is pretty fun even without them.

Hot Snakes, “Braintrust”

The third Hot Snakes album certainly announces itself with authority. “Braintrust” opens up my favorite record from them, with a song that would absolutely sit right at home on one of the legendary Drive Like Jehu records. Which is a high complement!

Nine Inch Nails, “Get Down Make Love”

As with most industrial dance acts, there were a bunch of singles released with Nine Inch Nails’ early work, usually featuring a bunch of remixes and the occasional half-assed b-side. This is one of those half-assed b-sides, in this case from the “Sin” single (which included three pointless remixes of that tune). But, you know, high school Josh was nonetheless kinda intrigued by it.