Descendents

I’ve been getting that itch again. It comes and goes, the urge to write here, and it’s unclear what’s causing it. I think it’s a combination of Music League, finding a new music newsletter to subscribe to, and getting some tunes corralled for a music library for my daughter. But whatever it is, I decided to jump back in here!

Which is when I discovered that this blog needed updates badly, and I wasn’t entirely sure how to get it upgraded, and the next thing I know I’m rebuilding the server, re-figuring out how to configure stuff…nobody cares. Anyway, I think it’s working again? We’re gonna find out, because it’s time for Five Songs! Back in the saddle baby! How in the hell do I write these things?

Deerhoof, “Department of Corrections”

I don’t buy every Deerhoof record, because that would probably be too much Deerhoof. But I do own five of them, because it’s all delightful stuff that I enjoy listening to. It’s a balance, and I feel pretty good about where I landed.

Whiskeytown, “If He Can’t Have You”

This is good. I like this. I should listen to more country.

Descendents, “Good Good Things”

While I know that people mostly love and remember the hyper-caffeinated juvenile stuff, which of course I enjoy as well, I think that I might enjoy when they recorded more serious songs more. Yes, part of that is just the contrast, but they really could do melancholy quite well.

Alleged Gunmen, “Showdown at Sundown”

I don’t remember getting this, it’s apparently from 2004, so it wasn’t some random Bandcamp find. They don’t seem to have any links to other bands in Discogs, despite sounding very familiar. And, I’m sad to say, it’s a depressing thing to search for right now, so I guess I’ll leave it at that.

Common, “Be”

Be didn’t break open new ground, not really. But it’s such a good album from start to finish. It’s my favorite from Common because everything is just dialed in perfectly. This is just the intro song, and it goes incredibly hard thanks to that upright bass and the sweet strings, and Common just relaxing into it and slinging his verses. I listened to this twice while I was making this list.

Lungfish, “My Fool Heart”

I’ve kind of run down Lungfish often enough here to make it clear that I’m not a big fan, so I won’t rehash it. I do wonder occasionally (usually whenever they come up here) if I’m missing something by not going for their later albums and seeing if my opinion would change.

And then I realize that I do have a couple later albums, and had just forgotten that they existed. Whoops! I already answered this for myself.

Japandroids, “Younger Us”

Lots of music gets described as “anthemic”, and I’ve sometimes wondered what people mean by it. I think for me, it describes something that you want to shout along with, preferably with other people. Not sing, mind you. Shout. That’s an anthem, something to get you pumped up. The song has to ring, you know? Japandroids, of course, perfectly fit that template. How could you not want to shout along with this?

Serpent Column, “Pantheoclasm”

The other day, Plague Rages Podcast was complaining that there’s no great term for this sort of band, which isn’t really death metal, not tech death, just really out there, chaotic, and dissonant. I proposed “omnicore”, and honestly, that’s not such a bad term.

Queens of the Stone Age, “Tangled Up In Plaid”

Lullabies to Paralyze is a record that kind of ties together the strands of their previous albums. It kind of picks up the psych of Rated R, the musculature of Songs for the Deaf, the stoner vibes of the self-titled, and pulls it all together into a single record. It’s a consolidation of their skills that allowed them to kind of tie a bow on period of their career, allowing them to really go nuts with their next record.

Descendents, “Victim of Me”

At this point, with the release of 9th & Walnut, the Descendents have now released as many studio albums after their breakup as pre-breakup (4). Does it even make sense to think of their career in two phases any more? I suppose it does, because during the 80s, they put out albums regularly, while these days it takes a while for them to pop up.

The New Pornographers, “The Laws Have Changed”

Maybe the best tune off of the second New Pornographers album, this is such a shiny song. This is a smile turned into music. I sometimes forget about this album, because I love the first one so much, but I really should spin it more.

Sleep, “From Beyond”

While doom metal in general traces back to Sabbath for inspiration, a lot of modern doom looks to Sleep’s Sleep’s Holy Mountain, along with a few other influences like the Melvins’ sludgiest work. This album really set the template though, which its ethos of staying exactly as slow and pounding as it wants to be. Much of metal had been getting faster and faster over the years, and the proof that you could be heavy while not trying to set any speed records really sunk in to a lot of bands. But even ignoring the influence, this stuff still smokes. But slowly.

Crudbump, “My Dick’s On The Phone [Explicit]”

I don’t normally include the “[Explicit]” tags on songs, but I think you all need that warning when we’re facing something as nasty as Crudbump.

Has-Lo, “Got My Mind”

This is from Has-Lo’s tribute to Prince Paul, The Paul Tape, an instrumental record in the style of the legendary producer. And if anybody hasn’t encountered it yet, Open Mike Eagle’s podcast, What Had Happened Was, is tremendous and has an entire season with Prince Paul.

Boris, “Spoon”

2011 was an insanely productive year for Boris, with four albums showing up that year, all of them being unusual in some way from their standard. To the extent that Boris has a standard. Anyway, this is from New Album, which continues in the grand tradition of Boris albums being named things that are a pain in the ass (one of the other 2011 albums was called Heavy Rocks, which is the second time they’ve named an album that). At any rate, New Album is sort of a remix, with much of the material here being reworked songs from Heavy Rocks (2011) and Attention Please (another of the 2011 releases). If this is all confusing, welcome to the Boris discography!