Crackerbash

Calexico, “Voices in the Field”

For a split second, at the beginning of this track, there’s a burly menace to the sound that the seasoned Five Songs reader/listener would suspect is going to descend into some nightmare basement howling and guitarpocalypse. But no, it’s just Calexico being a little dramatic at the start of this tune.

Calexico has always taken inspiration from their surroundings, and they’ve taken on the habit of recording their albums in different places in order to change up that inspiration. As a result, they’ve moved away some from the habitual desert sounds some on their latest records.

Yo La Tengo, “Raw Power”

Yo La Tengo Is Murdering The Classics is a compilation of Yo La Tengo’s fundraising appearances for WFMU where the band plays whatever songs are requested. You can usually tell when it’s a song they’re more familiar with than others, because they can usually muster more energy in the performance, although they’re game for whatever. Here, they put in a nice run on the Stooges classic.

Crackerbash, “Bad Karma”

I know we’ve had Crackerbash on here before, but by way of reminder, they’re a forgotten punk/power pop band out of Portland who were active for just a little while in the early 90s, producing a very good album and outstanding EP, along with a few singles. Then, right as the music scene in the Pacific Northwest blew up, they disappeared. Like fellow Portland band Pond, their stuff stands out by having more of a melodic sense than some of the more dour bands of that time and place.

Nice one.

Gaunt, “Powder Keg Variety”

The formula is so simple. Just big guitars, big choruses, and a fun tune. It’s Cheap Trick, basically. But, dammit, it’s still delightful, and I can’t get enough of this. I miss Gaunt, y’all.

Metallica, “The Judas Kiss”

The formula is so simple. Just big guitars…aw, fuck it.

Crackerbash, “Chesham”

The formul[gunshot]

One of the things I always liked about Crackerbash is is how rubbery their bass always sounded. It’s so propulsive, especially when it separates a little from the main guitar line.

Some good stuff today.

Crackerbash, “Trinkets”

Sub Pop rock artists out of Portland, Crackerbash were part of the very prolific Pacific Northwest scene in the early nineties that still flew below the radar. While they only made one self-titled album and one amazing EP (Tin Toy), they were excellent for their short run, and don’t deserve to be totally forgotten. There were several bands out of Portland from that time frame that deserved to be bigger - these guys, Pond, the Spinanes.