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Today’s music.

Algiers, “untitled”

The last track from their self-titled debut album from a few years ago, Algiers combined furious post-punk with a whole host of other influences, fusing into a wholly original album. It was one of the very best albums of 2015, and proof that there were still surprises left in rock (of course, I’ve always thought that). They followed it up with another great album a couple years later, and are one of the bands that I really hope keeps going for a while. Hopefully we’ll hear plenty from them around here as well.

All over the map today.

Dr. Ring-Ding & The Senior Allstars, “green pepper”

All I can think about for the intro to this song is that this is authentic third-wave gibberish.

Chain Reaction, “Even If”

Well, it’s happened again: I have no recollection of how this metal album ended up in my collection. As I re-started paying attention to metal, about nine or so years ago, I ended up with a few grab bags and bundles, and I didn’t always digest every album in them. I think this must have been included in one of them.

Damn, good one today.

PJ Harvey, “Hair”

Last time we heard from PJ Harvey, we got “Sheela Na Gig” from Dry. That song smokes, of course. And this is the song right after it on that album! What I’m trying to say here is that this record is amazing.

Ne’er Do Wells, “Green Blooded Love”

I think I’ve mentioned this before, but there was a period of time where I bought more or less everything Lookout Records put out. This wasn’t a great policy. Aside from ending up with considerably more pop punk than I needed, there was some pretty low wattage stuff down roster on that label. This album being a good exhibit. This is from a split LP, and as you can hear, this is just straight ahead vintage rock. It’s inoffensive, but also pretty unexciting.

Today!

Mu330, “Around You”

There’s sort of a darker edge to this song, with the horns especially, which is fairly unusual among the third-wave bands that were Mu330’s peers. Of course, this isn’t ska, this is rock with horns.

Beck, “Strange Apparition”

Mostly, I look goofy, funky Beck more than the other versions of Beck, so I’m more drawn to those albums where he lets that side loose. The Information is the followup to Guero (which is one of the ones I like), so I was clearly hoping for more of the same. And, it’s not really the same. It’s not as loose, as spontaneous. But, you know, some of it works. Listen to how beautiful the production on this song is!

Hot damn, some great songs today.

Sleep, “Some Grass”

Sleep is one of the titans of doom metal, as we’ve talked about in the context of High on Fire. But, alas, this is just a little throwaway on Sleep’s Holy Mountain, so we’ll have to wait for another day to really bear witness to the majesty of their good stuff.

The Delgados, “Witness”

The Delgados came out of the same Glasgow scene that birthed Belle & Sebastian and Arab Strap. And, like Belle & Sebastian, their take on pop evolved from something more folk oriented to something much more orchestrated. This comes from The Great Eastern, the peak of their discography, although they were always good.

Three months in the books, three months of Five Songs every day! And we’re still rollin’!

The Clash, “Remote Control”

Have we talked about the Clash’s debut album yet? What separated the Clash from so much of the rest of the new punk scene is that the Clash brought more than just energy and fury to their music. And while early punk should be lauded for how egalitarian it was, and for its emphasis on just getting out there and doing it, the Clash really demonstrated what happened when you took that DIY ethos and married it to some tremendous songs.

Four new bands! And a reminder, if you have thoughts about the future of Five Songs, let me know!

The Counts, “Pack Of Lies”

There are endless great soul records out there from the 70s, and even with how many of these records have been revived by hip-hop artists, there are always still more to discover. J-Zone has mentioned several times that What’s Up Front That Counts by the Counts is one of his favorites, and goddamn, of course it’s great. Also, dig that bit that Dre flipped on “Who Am I (What’s My Name)?”!

We’re a couple of weeks away from the first birthday of Five Songs. I’m thinking about changing up the format a little. Anybody have any thoughts? Here’s today’s music.

Freeway, “Hear The Song”

While I think Freeway usually has great beats, this is not one them. This song just feels kind of disjointed.

The Dead Kennedys, “I Am The Owl”

This comes from the second Kennedys full-length, Plastic Surgery Disasters, which is probably the album in their discography that I hear the least about. It’s not the debut, which was the most purely hardcore of their albums, and it doesn’t have as much of the baroque strangeness of their later releases. But, like all their albums, it’s still very good, and worthy of listening to.

I had to upload three of these songs myself. You know you’re in for the good stuff!

Lawsuit, “Thank God You’re Doing Fine”

I just noticed now that I have a typo in the song title for my rip of this song. Huh. Anyway, Lawsuit were a local band that my friend Bill encountered in Davis, CA. They played a super fun sort of horn-and-bongo-driven rock. They never got any kind of national profile at all, or really anything outside of California, but they put out an album and EP that are both brilliant. One of the band member, KC Bowman, has showed up here before. Paul Sykes, the singer who also contributed to the songwriting, in particular was a real treasure. His mix of bounciness and despair was unique, and there’s nobody really quite like this band.

Today!

Bob Marley, “Fussing and Fighting”

I find myself listening to early Bob Marley more than his later, better produced stuff. Something about the raw nature of these recordings really appeals to me.

Buzzkill, “Me”

Are Buzzkill sending up Slint here? I think they might be sending up Slint. We haven’t had Slint yet. I used to sit around in the dark in my dorm room in college and listen to Slint’s Spiderland and just feel so goddamn sorry for myself. It’s really good, y’all!