Hum

Die Warzau, “Funkopolis”

Die Warzau mostly got lumped in with other industrial dance acts, mostly due to a name that looked like an industrial band and a vocal style that sounded like Nitzer Ebb after some vocal lessons. But in retrospect, there’s really very little that connects them to other industrial dance. There’s nowhere near enough noise, it’s not chilly enough, there’s no disaffection on display. This is just dance music that somebody has darkened ever so slightly.

The B.U.M.S., “When She Walked”

We’ve had this record show up before, but In Wanna Smash Sensation should have been an absolute classic pop punk record. Cheerful and breezy, great tunes, great production from Kurt Bloch behind the boards, it’s just a delight all the way around.

Hum, “Pinch & Roll”

This comes from the second Hum LP, but the first one that really started to get them attention. Electra 2000 was distributed by Cargo Records, getting it into a lot more hands. It would lead to a major label deal, a couple of well-recieved records, and eventually an outstanding reunion record after 23 years. But going back to this album, it’s a very good indie rock record, a good picture of where the underground was in 1993, and worth a listen to see where a long-lived band really got rolling.

When this posts, I’ll be at the charity gaming tournament The Gauntlet, probably losing at Caylus and Ponzi Scheme. Should be a good time! While it’s too late to donate to my team, it’s never too late to donate to the fine folks at Treehouse. Here’s today’s playlist.

Crystalized Movements, “By Unseen Hands”

Psychedelic noise band Crystalized Movements was mostly Wayne Rogers, seeing how far guitar noise could take him. By the time they hit their last album, Revelations From Pandemonium, they were at the top of their form. At the time, I remember thinking that that album was the best record of 1994, a year that included amazing albums from Drive Like Jehu, Portishead, Nas, Jawbox, Jawbreaker, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, and Green Day, among others. I wouldn’t hold that opinion today, probably taking the Nas record first, but it still says something. This track is from an earlier album, where you can hear that psych/pop/noise aesthetic really starting to coalesce.