Hot Snakes

Hot Snakes, “Plenty For All”

Hot Snakes! Hot Snakes! Hot Snakes!

The Wedding Present, “Flying Saucer”

Compare this tune with the Cinerama song from yesterday. It’s a simpler arrangement, but fundamentally the same type of song. But this feels so much better because the focus is where it belongs, on Gedge’s voice and guitar. This comes from Hit Parade 2, which documented the second half of the Wedding Present’s 1992. They put out a single every month, collecting all the tunes on two records. While a bit uneven compared to the albums from that time (as you might expect), they still have a bunch of great material on them and are both worth your time.

Stubborn All-Stars, “Lieutenant”

The first Stubborn All-Stars record definitely had their laid-back ska groove going, but I think they took it up a notch on the next record. That said, if you’re looking for something pretty traditional, bordering on rocksteady, you can do a lot worse.

The New Bomb Turks, “Never Will”

After an absolutely raging debut record, the New Bomb Turks followed it up the next year with another ripper full of garage punk. It’s pure adrenaline, with sawtooth guitars and snotty vocals leading the way. Alas, they’d land on Epitaph for their subsequent records, and the cleaned up version of the band isn’t quite as fun.

Hot Snakes, “Braintrust”

The third Hot Snakes album certainly announces itself with authority. “Braintrust” opens up my favorite record from them, with a song that would absolutely sit right at home on one of the legendary Drive Like Jehu records. Which is a high complement!

Nine Inch Nails, “Get Down Make Love”

As with most industrial dance acts, there were a bunch of singles released with Nine Inch Nails’ early work, usually featuring a bunch of remixes and the occasional half-assed b-side. This is one of those half-assed b-sides, in this case from the “Sin” single (which included three pointless remixes of that tune). But, you know, high school Josh was nonetheless kinda intrigued by it.

Some nice stuff today.

Hot Snakes, “Think About Carbs”

Listening to just the right channel on this song is kind of magical. Just Rick Froberg howling along with the drums except for the occasional burst of guitar until you get to the end. Just listen to those toms! Hell yes! Hot Snakes wooo!

Foetus, “The Ballad of Sisyphus T. Jones”

From Hide, this is Foetus at his bombastic, ridiculous best. I like this mode of Thirlwell’s, of making over-the-top songs that sound like songs from corny movies, but through a funhouse mirror.

Great one today!

Run The Jewels, “Early”

Run The Jewels 2 is just perfect. El-P’s beats have never sounded better, Killer Mike’s rhymes have never soudned better, the guests are fantastic. It’s just such a great album, one of the highlights of music this decade.

Hepcat, “The Secret”

It’s a repeat! Still, Hepcat is always welcome around here.

Minutemen, “Martin’s Story”

I always feel like categorizing the Minutemen as a hardcore band is such a bad idea. They get lumped in there because they would occasionally take that tempo, and of course they were labelmates with a bunch of hardcore bands. But they’re so much different, so much more open to experimentation. Just listen to this!

There’s nothing special about today. Sorry about that, after yesterday being our first special and all. Just some tunes for you.

JD And The Evil’s Dynamite Band, “My Beach, My Waves, Fuck Off!”

Funk revivalists on Soul Fire records, you’ll encounter few artists quite as dedicated to re-creating the feel and experimentation of the original funk scene as these folks. There’s only one album from them, though, and I don’t really know much more about them than that.