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The Streets, “Who Got The Funk?”

Is…is it the Streets?

The Grifters, “Covered With Flies”

I periodically see “forgotten bands of the grunge era” and similar articles, because I’m old and I read old person things. Those articles invariably dig up one or two interesting bands (Love Battery, say), four different Pearl Jam predecessor bands, and then a couple bands that always sucked but the writer saw in a club early and thus has an irrational fixation on them. And you know who nobody ever mentions? That’s right, the Grifters. Who ruled and are now forgotten.

ALL, “Honey Peeps”

By the time they hit 1997’s Mass Nerder, ALL was on their third singer across seven albums, but the band still basically sounded the same. This was finally the album where I realized that I was very much done with them. The previous record (Pummel) had some awful lyrics, and I really wasn’t sure why I picked this one up. Kind of force of habit, really. At any rate, with the Descendents also having been resurrected by this point, ALL really served no purpose.

Mix Master Mike, “Positive Contact (Mario C remix)”

This is a remix of a track from Deltron 3030, the great left-field hip-hop classic featuring Del tha Funkee Homosapien and Dan the Automator. Mix Master Mike took that and turned it into this remix, which…isn’t as good as the original. Oh well!

Artie Shaw, “Frenesi”

When my oldest started playing the clarient, I decided to try and pick up something which might inspire her, so I grabbed this compilation (The Essential Artie Shaw). And while I don’t think she cared about it at all, it’s a perfectly enjoyable listen.

Benton Falls, “Sad Like Winter Leaves”

We don’t get a ton of emo around here. Not because I dislike it, but I think mostly because when emo has had its various peaks, I was kind of listening to other stuff, and sort of missed out on a lot of it. I’m definitely the target audience! I’ve sat in a completely dark room listening to Slint’s Spiderland, which is extremely My Emotions Are Hard To Handle. At any rate, I generally like emo, and Benton Falls’ two albums are really very good. And: special shout-out to that song title. That is TREMENDOUS hustle right there. Primo sad boy shit.

Pigs, “Bug Boy”

Side project of Unsane bassist Dave Curran, it’s easy to see the lineage here. This is just pure noise rock in the NYC form, all splattered riffs and yelling. So, yeah, of course I like this. Both Pigs albums are totally worth listening to if you’re a noise rock person.

Iron & Wine, “Pagan Angel and a Borrowed Car”

Iron & Wine is one of those acts where I always enjoy listening to his stuff, and simultaneously have trouble distinguishing it. If you asked me what made this album (The Shepherd’s Dog) different from his other work, I’d have to kind of shrug a little bit. It’s all good, but it’s tough to say what my favorite is.

Eugenius, “Breakfast”

The Vaselines’ leader, Eugene Kelly, formed a new band (called Eugenius) that got plenty of attention due to Kurt Cobain’s cheerleading for the band. Well, for the Vaselines, anyway. At any rate, that’s how I ended up with this album (Oomalama). And, well, it’s fine. It’s power pop, and plenty tuneful, but hard to get too excited about.

Sloan, “Before I Do”

Meanwhile, if you’re going to listen to power pop, you might as well just listen to Sloan instead. You can’t wave your hands without hitting a “they should have been big!” profile of Sloan, so I’ll save the space here. I’m not Canadian, so I’m not legally allowed to write that story anyway. Twice Removed is fantastic, anyway.

Kool & the Gang, “Funky Man”

The second Kool & the Gang record was a live album, including a couple tunes from the first record, but mostly otherwise new songs. They followed it up with another live record with more new material, which was an interesting move. Anyway, both live records rule, like all early Kool & the Gang material.

The Beatles, “Please Please Me”

It’s pretty fascinating that the band went from this to Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in just four years. I guess that sort of rapid evolution can happen when you release nine albums in those four years.

Fall Out Boy, “Saturday”

Pop punk is one of those genres that never really changes or evolves, and just relies on sappy emotion and snappy songs. You really need to nail the catchy songs and the energy or it’s going to come across as limp or manufactured. When done right, though, it’s delightful. That said, the first couple Fall Out Boy records totally nail it, so happy for this to come up.

Mad Caddies, “Nobody Wins at the Laundromat”

When ska-punk just kind of turns into punk with horns, I start some losing interest. Sure, it can still be good, but there are a lot of great straight-up punk bands that they’re going to be competing with. I’m not that desperate for horns.

Calexico, “Cumbia de Donde”

OK I LIED GIVE ME ALL THE HORNS I NEED THEM RIGHT NOW

Edge of the Sun is one of the more, uh, sunny albums from Calexico’s later career. This bouncy tune is the most sunniest of the lot, but it’s by no means alone being charming. If you’re a big fan of Feast of Wire (which you should be), this is a pretty good one to go to next.

Hayaino Daisuki, “Haiiro Ikotsu Gakidou”

A side project of Discordance Axis’s Jon Chang (that’s him howling), Hayaino Daisuki translates to “I like speed”. And, you know, fair enough. Personally, I enjoy the thrash rhythms and the flaming guitar solos. It’s not meant to be anything other than a lark, but it’s an excellent lark.

Bear vs. Shark, “What A Horrible Night For a Curse”

I’ll spare you all my questioning if this band really exists again, and just listen to it along with you all.