Jeff Rosenstock

Public Enemy, “LSD”

Flavor Flav belting out “cancer!” in the first verse always kills me. Also, I always appreciate it when rappers Remember A Guy, with Nick Van Exel getting name checked here.

The Grifters, “Spaced Out”

I’m pretty sure that I’ve lamented this before, but it’s a real shame that the Grifters managed to get to Sub Pop, the relative big time, and only released one record there before breaking up. I suppose they didn’t exactly fit into the general grunge aesthetic (grunty guitars and gruntier singers), but they at least fit pretty well alongside both Pond and the Afghan Whigs, both of whom made the majors. Well, anyway, all five of the Grifters records are worthwhile, with this one being the most polished of the bunch.

Crudbump, “Bite That Butt”

What can you say in the presence of true art?

Screeching Weasel, “Hey Suburbia”

I spend a fair bit of time kind of complaining about Screeching Weasel, and that’s probably a little unfair. This is from their second record, Boogadaboogadaboogada!, and it’s a lot of fun. Yes, very basic punk, but plenty of energy and it gets in and out.

The Isley Brothers, “Tell Me When You Need It Again, Parts 1 & 2”

An oddity of Go For Your Guns is that the first four tracks are all two-part songs. I’m not entirely sure why that was - formatting things for easier radio play, perhaps? We don’t have to worry about that, so we can just let the funk linger in our ears. Isn’t that nice?

Son Lux, “Change is Everything”

Ryan Lott’s project Son Lux went from a one-man project to recording as a full band on Bones, and the resulting input of two more people has resulted in a more expansive and interesting album to me than the previous ones. There’s a lot of this that kind of gives off Flaming Lips vibes, honestly.

Uzeda, “What I Meant When I Called Your Name”

Noise rock out of Sicily, Uzeda have been active for 28 years and made only four albums and an EP in that time, a blistering pace that even Shellac have managed to best. Well, whatever, those albums are pretty excellent.

New York Ska-Jazz Ensemble, “Haitian Fight Song”

This version of the great Charles Mingus song is actually the version that got me to go look up Mingus and learn more about him and buy a bunch of his records. It’s such a great song.

Pallbearer, “Atlantis”

This is the a-side from the Pallbearer single from 2019 on Sub Pop. Thanks to their 2017 record, Foundations of Burden, breaking free from the metal press and getting broader attention, Pallbearer have become the standard bearers of doom metal. But there are certainly times that Pallbearer doesn’t sound like doom metal so much as just plain ol’ heavy metal. Which is totally fine! They sound good, and there’s nothing wrong with just heavy metal.