Panopticon, “Bodies Under The Falls”

This is one of the three epic (10+ minute) songs on Kentucky, where Panopticon really lets the black metal blast out. But even among the fury, he takes the time to have that interlude in the middle. It’s just a super interesting fusion. Listen to the…flutes? pipes?…on the outro. Just good stuff.

Ezra Furman, “Love You So Bad”

I knew exactly zip about Ezra Furman when his 2018 album Transangelic Exodus showed up on some end of year lists. I know slightly more than zip now, with the thing I’ve learned: this album rips. Listen to this, this is basically a Cars song but with cello, which is bitchin'.

Willie Nelson, “Are You Sure”

We’ve had a couple tracks from this record, which is Crazy, The Demo Sessions. Every time it comes up, I’m reminded how much I like this, and then I go look at his discography, get intimidated, and kind of give up. Not very laudable of me, I suppose.

Let’s Go Bowling, “Rude 69”

See, the beginning to this song is the sort of thing that got people dismissive of the third wave. There’s no real point to adding the “rude 69!” bits to the song other than to just have the whole enterprise be all smirky. Other than that, it’s a totally reasonable instrumental. Well, whatever.

9353, “East of Sudan”

This is really pretty avant-garde for the punk scene of 1984. I mean, sure, there were plenty of post-punk bands working in kind of adjacent spaces, but this is still pretty far out there.

Imarhan, “Ehad Wa Dagh”

We’ve had Imarhan on here before, but as always, I feel kind of inadequate writing about bands from other cultures that I’m not familiar with. Sure, I can write about, say, punk bands from the US plenty, but I guess I’m not really up to the task of writing about a rock band from Algeria, esepcially as they’re clearly blending their own influences with those of rock. It’s very cool stuff, though.

The Emotions, “My Honey And Me”

This comes to us from early in the third phase of Stax Records’ life, after they reached an arrangement with CBS Records. This period still contains plenty of fantastic songs, but Stax was also on a slow decline. Luckily for them, they had plenty of space to decline in to.

The Jam, “Start!”

I wonder if I could play this on the bass? I should try. (I cannot.)

milo, “pure scientific intelligence (quantum)”

This track sounds like at least three different songs being played simultaneously, which is delightful.

Bananagun, “Out of Reach”

One of the things that the Internet promised us is that we’d be connected to people all over the world, opening up new cultural horizons. That’s mostly worked out by allowing all the worst people in the world to find each other, which isn’t exactly a positive development. However, it did connect me to multiple folks in places like Australia and New Zealand, who sometimes recommend music to me like Bananagun. So, I guess it’s all a wash.

Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet, “You Spin Me Round ‘86”

The rare Shadowy Men track with a voice on it! Very little, mind you, but judged on a curve, it’s a ton.

Pond, “Magnifier”

Great stuff so far today! I’ve sung the praises of Pond repeatedly in this space, but seriously: this album (The Practice Of Joy Before Death) totally rules. If you want to listen to more, you can hit up the tag, but just fire up the album.

The Slackers, “Married Girl”

One of my favorite songs from one of my favorite bands. The bits where the band lays out and Vic Ruggiero comes in first, I love that move. Just a delightful song.

Revolting Cocks, “Crackin’ Up”

During industrial’s commerical heyday, Wax Trax was one of the biggest labels in the scene. One of the things that folks associated with the label did was remix the bands, not just the music. The Revolting Cocks were one of those recombinations, featuring the core Ministry folks and a bunch of other associated people. They were intentionally sillier than most of the other bands in the scene, with the whole thing kind of being a big joke. Occasionally they would produce good stuff, but mostly it ends up being a little bit tedious.

NoFX, “Six Pack Girls”

Another track from the bootleg Maximum Rocknroll, which wasn’t authorized by the band and contains a bunch of pretty poor quality stuff. Not great!

Claw Hammer, “Uncontrollable Urge”

This is such a good song, goddamn. Claw Hammer really nails it, too. Uh, not a lot else to say here, really.

The Ocean, “Pleistocene”

I’ve meditated on pretension here before, so I’ll spare you all that guff again. But just for a moment, please admire the hubris involved in naming your album Phanerozoic II: Mesozoic | Cenozoic. It’s a really good album, though, so whatever.

Jan Jelinek, “If’s, And’s and But’s”

I honestly think that Jan Jelinek might be the artist I can consistently identify the fastest in my collection. That glitch is just so recognizable. Also, love the grocer’s apostrophe’s here!

Crunt, “Unglued”

Been a while since we’ve had them here. (checks) We’ve never had them here! Crunt were a side project of Kat Bjelland (Babes in Toyland), Russell Simins (Jon Spencer Blues Explosion), and Stuart Gray (Lubricated Goat). They produced one album, which rips, but that was it unfortunately. It’s basically totally forgotten at this point, but it’s a good time.

Bad Brains, “Re-Ignition”

Greatest hardcore band during the 80s has been a common argument through the years. A lot of the time, it comes down to a preference between the east coast (Minor Threat), the west coast (Black Flag or the Dead Kennedys), or the midwest (Hüsker Dü). I know I first encountered this argument on Usenet in 1991, and it hasn’t really stopped. But if you asked for the best hardcore album, there was often an extra one that people would mention. I Against I didn’t exactly fit the mold of those other bands, and given how many other genres get blended in here, I’m not sure it totally qualifies as a hardcore album. Kind of the same way I’m not sure that the Minutemen qualify. Nevertheless, it’s a hell of an album, and I can understand why people put it in the company of so many other classics from the 80s.