Descendents

NoFX, “The Longest Line”

This is from a 1992 EP, also called The Longest Line, so from the White Trash, Two Heebs, and A Bean era. This is basically my favorite era of NoFX, probably due to how old I was at this time. There’s no real reason for anybody to really care about this EP though.

The Slackers, “Stereo On”

This is from an EP also, the 2013 release My Bed Is A Boat. Unlike the NoFX EP, though, I can heartily recommend this. It’s not so much that it’s notably better than any other Slackers, but that basically everything they’ve released is good.

The Queers, “From Your Boy”

We’ve been over this, but it’s been a while: yes, this is shameless Ramones worship. Yes, it’s incredibly sophomoric. Yes, you can do much better.

The Decemberists, “Rox in the Box”

After The Hazards of Love, the Decemberists stepped back from the increasingly elaborate prog-folk thing they had going on and made a much more straightforward folk-rock album with The King is Dead. As a fan over that super ornamented stuff, I found the record a bit of a disappointment. It’s pleasant enough, and I’m not sorry to listen to it, but it’s not one I seek out often.

It’s not great today.

Ghostface Killah, “Woodrow the Base Head”

I like the way that the music keeps coming in and out of this interstitial. That’s about the best I can say.

Jean Grae, “Fade Out”

The last track from her debut record, Attack of the Attacking Things (which is an amazing name), this album established Grae as an excellent new artist in hip hop. Her rhymes were really interesting, often twisty things, and it made for a pretty different record from most of what you could hear at the time. The only problem with her is that she just hasn’t made very many records. And this song is kind of short.

Good one today! Well, if you ignore that we have a rap skit.

De La Soul, “Skit 5”

The closer for De La Soul Is Dead, the final skit that imagines some bullies discovering stealing the album and deciding it blows. De La Soul was clearly reflecting on a break they were attempting from the first album, of trying to shed their image as rap’s flower children. While De La Soul Is Dead contains plenty of shimmery, bouncy, light tunes, it also features darker material like “My Brother’s a Basehead” and (especially) “Millie Pulled A Pistol On Santa”, a tragic tale we’ll talk about when it comes up.

Today!

Dale Crover, “Hillbilly Math”

Here we find Dale Crover playing one of the most straightforward rock songs that he’s probably ever been involved with. I guess you can see how this might not really be a Melvins song, and I’m not sure it’s really necessary, but whatrever, it’s totally fine.

Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, “Such Is Love, Such Is Life”

We’re in 1963 with this song today. Frankly, Smokey is sounding a little Chipmunk-y on this song, making this a little less than the best from him.

We finish on a couple of great notes here.

They Might Be Giants, “B19 Spare The Rock (bumper)”

It’s a bumper that was included with a Dial-a-Song download package. Not much else to say.

Descendents, “Coffee Mug”

And this song from the Descendents isn’t a whole lot longer than that bumper! The Descendents were fueled by coffee, including what they called the “bonus cup”, described by Bill Stevenson: “We took ⅓ of a cup of instant coffee grounds, added some hot water, threw in about 5 spoonfuls of sugar, and proceeded to play 10 second songs. The Bonus Cup became a part of everyday Descendents life”.

Full on rock today.

Descendents, “I Wanna Be A Bear”

There’s only so much one can say about a 40 second hardcore song.

New Pornographers, “Champions of Red Wine”

From the New Pornographers’ sixth album, Brill Bruisers, this album felt like something of a return to form for the band. I don’t think Challengers or Together were bad, but they didn’t really seem to have quite the same energy as their previous records. This song isn’t a barn burner, but the record overall is quite good.

Make! The most! Of my! Toe toast! Hey, while we’re giggling over this first Descendents track, a Five Songs correspondent pointed out the existence of this masterpiece, which is really breathtaking.

Descendents, “Enjoy”

A couple albums into the Descendents’ snotty punk career, the casual observer might have wondered if they were ever ACTUALLY going to grow up, despite an album title declaring otherwise. With the opening track of Enjoy, the band gave a definitive answer. An ode to bodily smells of all types, “Enjoy” was defiantly sophomoric in a way that exceeded even the low maturity standards of their first few releases. I will say this, the little descending baseline is very memorable.

Final rules are available for Fox in the Forest, if anybody wants to check them out. Reviews have started coming in and they’re very positive so far. I’m sure I’ll get clobbered soon, but it feels good right now.

Oh, you came for music?

Steady Earnest, “Wear You To The Ball”

Steady Ernest is a side project of an assortment of Boston-area area ska musicians, most notably Dan Vitale of Bim Skala Bim on vocals. Overall, with Vitale’s involvement, it sounds a lot like Bim Skala Bim - pretty straightforward ska patterned after two-tone bands like The Specials. I think Bim Skala Bim is great, and Steady Earnest is where you go after you’ve gone through their discography. Out Of Line is the album to start with for this band.

Just narrowly missed “Buffalo Soldier”, as played on a xylophone today. Dodged that bullet! Here’s what we do have today.

Taylor Swift, “Style”

I try to not be totally ignorant of current pop music, but let’s be honest: I usually am pretty ignorant. Every now and again, though, I’ll just pick up an album that’s been getting really good reviews, and I’ll often enjoy it as a break from the usual grim frowny stuff we typically have around here. All of which is a long way of saying that, yeah, this album is pretty good.