Helmet

Otis Redding, “Love Have Mercy”

Man, Otis was really a force of nature.

The Presidents of the United States of America, “Froggie”

This insistent fever dream of a tune is an excellent example of why the Presidents were so much fun. It keeps barreling forward with on its rhythm section, and the lyrics don’t make any sense at all, but it takes those elements and transforms its nonsense into…not sense, but into something that rhymes with sense. It’s weird, but not for the sake of being weird. It’s weird because that’s how weird it needed to be to tell the story of a frog ruined by rock stardom. No weirdness is wasted.

Flop, “Anne”

If you’re a longtime reader/listener of Five Songs, first, I deeply apologize. But second, you’re probably tired of me moaning about how Flop was unfairly ignored when they were active. Well, guess what? They were! I’ll keep saying it, because dammit, the world needs to know.

Also, I thought the name of this album was & the Fall of the Mousesqueezer for a really long time until someone on Usenet corrected me.

Anti-Flag, “A New Kind of Army”

Love that anthemic punk rock sound. This is a classic winning formula here, and it feels wrong to be listening to it on an earbud instead of through loud speakers.

matt pond PA, “Bring On The Ending”

Been a minute since we’ve had matt pond PA around here. This is from 2004’s Emblems, a glossy, shiny pop album full of gentle but catchy songs. There’s a real Shins feel to this, which is definitely a compliment. Anyway, they aren’t exactly breaking new ground here, but it’s a pleasant listen.

Goblin Cock, “Something Haunted”

I’m sorry, nothing I’m going to say is going to change anybody’s mind here. Either you were 100% in when you heard the name “Goblin Cock” or you were not.

Helmet, “Pure”

As Helmet moved further away from their Amphetamine Reptile days, their sound just progressively got cleaner and cleaner. I mean, it’s still distorted guitars and all, but it was all kind of clockwork stuff eventually. Whether it was triangulation to try and capture a bigger audience or not, I think it didn’t serve them too well. This song is a pretty good example, this would have been much noisier in earlier days, with maybe a big squalling guitar solo or some wild screeching or something. Instead, there’s just kind of a few yells from Page Hamilton, and that’s more or less it. I can’t exactly call it tame, not really, but it’s…domesticated?

Boris, “Party Boy”

This kind of sounds like a Death From Above 1979 track, a demonstration of the range that Boris have displayed over their long and incredible career.

The Shins, “Red Rabbits”

I’m not going to rehash my schtick with the Shins here (you can read it here), but I’ll instead note: I could have sworn I had a copy of Chutes Too Narrow (which is not this record), and I do not appear to have it in the library. Did I not rip it? Did I lose it? It’s the sort of question that kind of haunts me a little. How many records failed to make their way into my library or got lost during its peripatetic journey to its current home. Was I going to listen to it? Not the point!

Rocket From The Crypt, “Guilt Free”

The essential insight of Rocket From The Crypt, that garage rock is even more fun with a saxophone involved, is an elemental truth of music. It’s a lesson that more bands should learn.

The Mr. T Experience, “Our Days Are Numbered”

Like, this is a perfectly good song. But, let’s add a sax and see how it smokes!

Helmet, “I Know”

I’m going to avoid the obvious joke of saying this song needs a sax. It absolutely does not. It just needs to be cranked to tooth-rattling volume to be perfect.

Devin the Dude, “Do What You Wanna Do”

You’re never going to guess what this song is about! (It’s weed.)

The Pixies, “All the Saints”

23 years passed between Trompe Le Monde and Indie Candy, time where Frank Black spent a lot of time making records with a whole lot of people that weren’t the Pixies. But by the time he got around to making records with them again, it was only a partial reunion. Kim Deal didn’t return to the band, and as much as I like Santiago and Lovering, the first record really sounded like yet another Frank Black project and not the Pixies.

Pete Rock & CL Smooth, “For Pete’s Sake”

From the stone-cold classic Mecca And The Soul Brother, this song is typically excellent. Every song on this record hits hard, it’s incredible.

PJ Harvey, “Ascending”

squinting Yeah, I suppose that this IS an ascending track, isn’t it?

Thantifaxath, “The Bright White Nothing at the End of the Tunnel”

Sometimes, you just want black metal, unadulterated by other genres. We don’t always have to mix it up with everything else! Thantifaxath does that well, and this hits the spot.

Helmet, “Better”

Helmet’s debut album on Amphetamine Reptile Records was a savage and self-assured record, and they backed it up by touring heavily and blowing people away. Then, Nirvana blew up huge and the major labels started looking for heavy rock acts to sign to satisfy a market suddenly hungry for them. Every single one of them landed on Helmet, and a ferocious bidding war erupted. Interscope were the winners, signing Helmet to a million dollar deal and sending them into the studio. As a teaser, they released a CD single with three of the songs from the upcoming album (including this one) along with one live track, and I got to see what Helmet would sound like with serious dollars behind them. The answer? Helmet!

The Roots, “Becoming Unwritten”

Rising Down is fantastic. But this song is just an interstitial thing.

Army of Juan, “Chicken”

We’re deep into Moon Ska’s bench here with this band, who released one album in 1997 and then disappeared. It never caught on with me particularly, and I’ve never heard anybody else mention it, so thank you for bringing this one up, shuffle.

MU330, “Ireland”

MU330, meanwhile, might be obscure today but at least put out multiple albums and I have actually seen them brought up by someone who isn’t me. This comes from Crab Rangoon, which was released right in the middle of their career, and is probably their best record.