Sorry about that, I kind of got out of the rhythm of doing this daily. I’ll get there!

Pigs, “Massive Operator Error”

I’ve been listening to a lot of noise rock recently. It’s a genre that really opened my ears up to a lot of possibilities, what with encountering Big Black pretty early, and then being huge into the Midwest scene in college. Weirdly, it’s kind of comforting to me to go back and lean kind of heavily on this genre again.

Well, it’s been an interesting seven months, I guess. I stopped updating Five Random Songs because I was doing another blog (Game & Tonic) and that was taking up my time. And then, uh, a global pandemic hit (you may have heard about it!), and my creativity just went to shit.

So, yeah. Without any fanfare, I’m back. I wanted to listen to more of my music, simple as that.

Leatherface, “Scheme of Things”

UK punk band Leatherface play it pretty much straight ahead, but they do a nice job with it. The thing that’s hard to adjust to is Frankie Stubbs’s voice, which is rough, to put it mildly. But, this entire album (Mush) is pretty good overall, and it’s worth giving it a try if you like this song.

Screeching Weasel, “Claire Monet”

Sure, why not. Apparently it’s Punk With Vocals You Really Have To Adjust To Day around here.

Zion I, “Radio”

Zion I always incorporates other styles of music into their hip-hop, and here, we’ve got something that kind of sounds kind of like conventional adult contemporary rock. Maybe there’s a reason other bands haven’t tried this sort of thing much?

Elvis Costello, “Party Girl”

From the extras on the deluxe reissue of Armed Forces, I sort of wish that the first bit here turned into the live version of “Surrender” from Cheap Trick. Or, uh, “Jimmy James”, which used the sample from the live version of “Surrender”.

The Regrettes, “Hot”

The Regrettes’ debut record from 2017, Feel Your Feelings Fool!, is a delightful slab of garage rock. Like any good garage rock, it’s full of energy, hooks, and attitude. This kind of record is perpetually welcome as far as I’m concerned, and I really recommend it.

The Birthday Party, “Figure of Fun”

Groundbreaking post-punk band The Birthday Party, featuring a young Nick Cave, in a lot of ways set the template for noise rock. While there are plenty of bands after them that kind of sound like them, or tried to, there aren’t really any predecessors that I’m aware of. One of the truly inspirational bands in music history, at least for the kind of stuff I listen to.

Tortoise, “TNT”

One thing I’ve always loved about Tortoise is their willingness to name songs things totally different from what they might sound like. A song called “TNT” should sound like, I dunno, an AC/DC knock-off, not a cerebral post-rock tune with a trumpet solo.

Secrets of the Sky, “V”

That’s the Roman numeral for 5, not the letter. All of the songs with Roman numerals on this record are little interstitials. I, uh, remember listening to this record several years ago, but that’s the extent of what I remember.

The Flaming Lips, “Assassination of the Sun”

We here at Five Songs are big fans of EPs, when bands treat them seriously. You get a good chunk of new material, enough to be satisfying, but they often come out as a surprise. It’s good stuff! This comes from Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell, an EP that came out in the wake of Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots, so during their peak period. The remixes of songs from Yoshimi are fine, whatever, but getting four new tunes from this period is fantastic.

The Evens, “Dinner With The President”

After Fugazi went on hiatus (I refuse to say they’re broken up!), Ian MacKaye started a band with his wife, Amy Farina, on drums. They play as a duo, playing a stripped down indie rock that still has touches of Fugazi’s post-punk. It’s not as incendiary, but there are definitely pleasures to their records, so it’s worth checking out.

The Roots, “Stay Cool”

Flipping the same Al Hirt sample as De La Soul’s “Ego Trippin’”, this kind of call back to hip hop history is the sort of thing that the Roots did regularly, which was always a pleasure. And, of course, Black Thought kills it, providing one of the highlight tracks on The Tipping Point.

The Range, “1804”

The Range makes electonic pop, mostly, but the interesting bit is that the vocals are sampled off tracks from YouTube. It gives the entire album a little bit of a strange feel, but one that is welcome to offset all the shiny, shimmering music.

Ruder Than You, “Skahall Connection”

So, yeah, this is from an album called Horny for Ska. The management would like to apologize.

Clinic, “Welcome”

A cut from Clinic’s second album, it retains the same chilly, distant tone that the first record had, while kind of cleaning things up a little bit. It’s still a strange, off-kilter record. Especially the use of those vintage keyboards, which always lends an otherworldly feel to their songs.

Bullfrog, “Mark After Dark”

We’ve had Bullfrog here before, but as a reminder, this is one of Kid Koala’s many projects. Most of their album is pretty straight ahead funk, but they mix in some other stuff, such as the tune here which closes the album.

The Meters, “Running Fast”

Hell yeah, Meters! Fire On the Bayou is the last essential Meters record, as it was followed by a poor disco record and an OK funk record. While I tend to prefer their earlier, non-vocal stuff, this is still a great record.