Anything On Your Mind?
We’ve now gone backwards all the way to high school, my junior/senior year, 1990. A thing I haven’t really brought up before now is that I was in debate in high school, which formed the backbone of my social group. Most of my close friends in high school were also in debate, which provided plenty of time to hang out with them, during tournaments, travel, and the time we spent prepping. I still hang out with some of those people all the time! Debate was an incredible boon to me, opening me up from being an incredibly shy kid to someone who can be comfortable talking to crowds. The things I learned in debate have served me better than anything else I learned anywhere else in high school or college, I think. I was a reasonably successful person in debate, with some high points (winning the junior varsity division of a very large tournament in Berkeley) and low points (missing qualifying for nationals by one place on at least three occasions), but overall, the experience was such a precious thing to me. And playing cards on debate trips really cemented a lifelong love of cards.
Musically, there’s also a connection to debate, in that I was able to learn about bands and releases from the other people at debate events, as there was always plenty of down time at these things. For a kid from Spokane in those pre-Internet days, word of mouth was precious and exposure to kids from different schools really helped amplify how many bands I learned about. I’ve told the story before, but as an example, I first encountered Public Enemy when a kid named Blake played “Fight the Power” on a bus on the way to a debate tournament in Spokane, which is an incredibly white way to discover that band. Mostly, what I was listening to was a lot of California punk, such as the Dead Kennedys and the Descendents, along with various industrial bands such as the Wax Trax stable. Looking at the chart, I have only 8 of these in the library, but that’s not really that surprising.
What Are You Listening To From 1990, Josh?
A sampling of albums from my library from 1990.
I guess I would be remiss if I didn’t mention They Might Be Giants here. Flood came out in 1990, early, and I encountered it in Hastings Entertainment when they were playing it in the store. I heard the band, and realized I’d heard them before when a kid at debate camp the previous summer (yes, I went to debate camp, shut up) played Lincoln. I had been intrigued but forgot to ask him who the band was, so it was an unsolved mystery to me. I heard Flood, realized it was the same band, and picked up the record right then. That started a very long musical relationship.
Strap It On, Helmet
One more AmRep release. Helmet’s debut record is by far the most famous record released by AmRep, although I encountered it after that Tar record from last time. Helmet started building up serious buzz after the release of this record, with featured performances at festivals and glowing writeups in magazines. And then, in the post-Nirvana environment of 1991, they were the subject of a bidding war that did eventually see them signing to a major label with a seven-figure deal. The next couple records are ones I like a lot, but they’re no longer really noise rock. They’re too clean, and are something more along the lines of groove metal or similar. So this album, with its noisy production (courtesy of noise rock genius Wharton Tiers) and squalls of guitar, stands apart from the rest of their career. I don’t know how much people who like Helmet have gone backwards all the way, but they should, because this one is still a banger and still my favorite from them.
99%, Meat Beat Manifesto
Meat Beat Manifesto really pulled in influences from basically everything. From hip-hop to industrial to techno to every kind of electronic music, Jack Dangers and company made something that was entirely them. There was a lot of confusion with their early discography, with their first intended release being lost in a studio fire, and then those tracks got reworked for Storm the Studio (which was tracked in an odd way), and then the material got re-worked again in Armed Audio Warfare. So this album is the first straightforward release from the band. And it’s a banger - a fun blend of noise, techno beats, distinct hip-hop touches, and an anarchic approach to sounds.
Too Dark Park, Skinny Puppy
Does anybody know about Skinny Puppy any more? Industrial act Skinny Puppy were a more intentionally abrasive act than most of their contemporaries, unafraid to use outright unpleasant sounds and extreme vocal distortions to construct their songs. They could sometimes get a little repetitive in their earlier albums when they were a little more dance oriented, but I think they really put it together with this record. There’s still an underlying groove to many of the songs, with something like “Tormentor” being almost funky, and it’s just a startling album to listen to.
Let’s Talk New Releases
Records come out every week, and there’s no way to stay on top of them. This isn’t a comprehensive look at everything, just a few things that have caught my ears out of recent releases. Any impressions here are very early!
It’s been a little bit since we’ve done new releases, and truthfully, there aren’t that many albums from 1990 that I think would be interesting to write up, so let’s do some new things!
Too Much Heaven, Bug Bath
I genuinely don’t know how to describe this. From moment to moment, it always reminds me of at least three different bands, and those specific bands change constantly. I asked Megan what it reminded her of, and she had kind of the same conclusion. We decided in the end that this is what you get from a band that listened to their parents’ 90s music collection obsessively when they were kids. Whatever they sound like, it’s a lovely throwback to 90s underground rock and I like it a lot.
Towards Rebirth, Ripper
This is thrash out of Chile, and it is indeed a ripper. The first track worried me a little, was this going to be really symphonic? But no, my worries were quickly disposed of. This is just straight-up thrash: fast-paced nasty riffage and fun shreddy solos. This is done really well, and you need some of this kind of thing in your metal diet, keeps you grounded. The fiber of the metal world.
Lima Echo Crack!, Brokenchord
I’m going to level with you: I don’t know where I found out about this. Don’t seem to see it in a Bandcamp writeup, don’t see it in my mailing lists, can’t find any mention of it anywhere. If I found this from you and didn’t credit you, I’m sorry! But it’s a good time - like maybe if you took some of Beck’s wooziest moments and made them 25% more fuzzy, or, I dunno, trip-hop Mac DeMarco. Hmm, I’m not sure that seems appealing. Well, you can listen to it below.
Five Random Songs
Yes, it’s the “classic” five random songs format. It’s been told before on this blog many times, but basically, on an old forum, people would post the last five songs their shuffle pulled up. I liked it, so I made it into a blog. And now, here we are.
“Inzombia”, Slant 6
Back in the day, Slant 6 would get lumped in with riot grrrl bands, which really doesn’t do anybody any favors. But in the mid-90s, if there was an all-women underground rock band, our less enlightened music outlets would just dub them riot grrrl. Slant 6 didn’t sound anything like riot grrrl bands, sounding more like early new wave than anything else. Yes, there was some punk in their formula, but same with early new wave. Their second album, which this is from, is even more in the direction of new wave than the first. This is the closer from that album, and it’s not really a typical song from it, although I’m not sure there really is a typical song from it. Very interesting band.
“From When Yr Just Happy To Be Alive”, kid606
At some point “ur” replaced “yr” as the lazy abbreviation for “your”. “Yr” was for sure the preferred way in music for a long time, which I think was probably mostly the influence of Sonic Youth (“Expressway to Yr Skull”), but you hardly ever see “yr” any more. I suppose texting killed it? I’m going to try and forget I ever contemplated this, this is a very dumb comment.
“Fleeting Youth (An Audible Life)”, DJ Shadow
We’re really leaning towards a contemplative list today, huh?
“Do The Brown Nose”, The Dead Milkmen
There are so many things from this song that rattle around in my empty skull, just to emerge at various triggers: “Aw, ladies and gentlemen, you should all be rounded up and shot, that was terrible”, “we hail proudly from Fargo, North Dakota”, “You! Yes you! Here’s a dime! Run out and call the PMRC!”, “even you tuna lips”, any time somebody mentions an Erlenmeyer flask. I might have listened to too much Dead Milkmen as a teenager.
(NB: I got a track from a band I don’t want to mention here because I discovered they were huge assholes after I had bought some of their music. I should probably remove them from the library! Moving on.)
“Furnace Hibernation”, Ulthar
So much for the contemplative list, huh? Ulthar is Lovecraft inspired blackened death metal, and I guess you can hear that? Well the blackened death metal part. The Lovercraft influence can be harder to discern without a lyrics sheet. I’ve got a couple albums by them, and I liked the second of them (2023’s Anthronomicon) better.
Josh, What Are You Doing Here?
I’m just writing about music. A structure like this blog helps me get my thoughts out, and it’s a way for me to explore my own music collection through various lenses. My sincere hope is that some folks out there find some new music they love. That’s all I’m up to. Sincere thanks to everybody who sends me feedback, with news that they’ve found a new favorite especially fun for me. There’s no monetization, no metrics, no ads, no promos, no nothing. Just some static web pages, some links, and my scribbling. If you want to support it, just shoot me a note! Thanks for reading.
Some Better Places To Learn About Music
Check these folks out, you’ll learn more for sure. In no particular order: To The Teeth, Wolf’s Week/Plague Rages, The Devil’s Mouth, Burning Ambulance, Lamniformes Cuneiform, Hex Records, See/Saw, Starkweather, Treble Magazine, The Quietus, Stereogum.