Posts

Flop, “Regrets”

I sometimes think about what band I would wave a magic wand and just make famous. The bands that have the widest gap between my love for them and the wider perception of the band. At this point, if you’re a close student of Five Songs, first: what are you even doing? Why? But, you can probably guess some of these bands. Hammerhead, for instance. Pond (the one from Portland). The Slackers. Bands that I adore that never really moved the needle. Well, add to that list Flop, who tossed off pop rock as effortlessly as anybody ever has.

Vampire Weekend, “Unbelievers”

Vampire Weekend’s third album was a return to form to my ears. Contra was a little bit too scattered, and sounded a little bit tired, and just didn’t quite hang together. But Modern Vampires of the City had some of that ineffable charm back, with this song serving as a good example. This could easily have gone on the debut album, and that’s a high complement.

Flying Saucer Attack, “Rainstorm Blues”

Hmmm. I wonder what I’ve said about Flying Saucer Attack in the past? I’m sure I had opinions. I am also not going to look. I shouldn’t have to do all the work here! I tag these things, go look it up yourself!

Ghostface Killah, “The Champ”

This production from Just Blaze (you can tell it’s him because he announces it in the track, in his his trademark understated manner) needs to be played at maximum volume to be properly appreciated. Just trust me on that.

The Spinanes, “72-74”

Been a while since we’ve had The Spinanes, the duo of Rebecca Gates and Scott Plouf, who put out three albums in the 90s before disbanding. Defined by Gates’s lovely songs and a generally spare sensibility that ran contrary to the prevailaing approach in rock (especially for a Seattle band), this stuff holds up really well today. This is from the third and final Spinanes record, Arches and Aisles, which has the biggest arrangements on it, but is still pretty uncluttered.

NoFX, “Dinosaurs Will Die”

By the time they reached 2000’s Pump Up The Valuum, it was clear that NoFX were dedicated to never evolving for any reason. Which just makes them writing a song about the impending destruction of the music industry for, uh, not evolving just that much funnier. At any rate, this is where I got off the train with NoFX, I figured I had more than enough music from them.

The White Stripes, “Fell In Love With a Girl”

White Blood Cells still strikes me as such an unusual breakout album. The White Stripes didn’t particularly soften their approach or anything, it’s still the same kind of garage rock they’d been making to this point, and yet it really got huge. I’m not sure why them and not some other act.

Tune in to this space tomorrow when I will be baffled by other commonplace things.

METZ, “Drained Lake”

The closest that noise rock ever really got to any kind of mass popularity was in the late 90s, when the grunge tide lifted up the boats of related acts like Helmet and some folks got major label contracts. But this stuff is intentionally abrasive, and none of it every broke through for good reason. While some grunge acts and followers became huge, noise rock went right back into the underground. But, happily, there’s still bands like METZ keeping the flame alive, and this is even from 2017! Recent! Although, again: I listen to the same shit, even if some of it was made not long ago.

Couch Slut, “The Mouthwash Years”

That ascending chord progression in this track, on the heavily distorted guitar, is a perfect summation of noise rock. Just really nails it.

Mattiel, “Sent It On Over”

Mattiel’s first, self-titled, debut record made a lot of noise among music critics on its release. And it’s easy to see why, it’s a very confident record with a ton of style. It certainly sounds like its own thing, and I think a lot of critics (and me!) prize music which finds its own path. But, all that said, I don’t know that I really care for it. It doesn’t really stick with me, and I don’t find myself wanting to explore it that much.

Built to Spill, “The Plan”

Built to Spill’s three album run culminating in Keep It Like A Secret is one my very favorite peaks of any band, ever. Doug Martsch’s songs were all incredible, there was heart, catchiness, tons of surprises, it’s just incredible stuff. Not only that, but they were able to pull off tight pop songs and epic tunes with equal aplomb. My favorite is actually the middle record, Perfect From Now On, which is…uh, perfect. But they’re all tremendous records.

Wolves in the Throne Room, “Face In A Night Time Mirror - Part 1”

All four of the songs on the debut album from Wolves in the Throne Room go over 12 minutes. Although it’s very black metal, even from the beginning there were a lot of non-standard moves. The clean vocals on this track, for instance, not to mention the pastoral interlude. Metal has always played around with folk, and there have been other bands that have merged the sounds, but Wolves in the Throne room do a better job of that sort of thing than most.

Black Flag, “Loose Nut”

When I finally got around to listening to Black Flag, I didn’t really know much about the band other than they were a legendary hardcore band, and that was kind of it. I wandered into a record store and just bought one of the records, this one, kind of at random. Little did I know that outside of the classic Damaged, their discography is kind of a mess. Loose Nut doesn’t seem to be anybody’s favorite Black Flag record, coming as it did during an extremely productive time for the band, with all the records in this period suffer a bit from kind of stretching things out. At this remove, I’m still of that opinion. Damaged and My War are the ones breaking new ground, and the rest of them are pretty hit-or-miss.