P. Miles Bryson

Stugots, “Ooh Poo Pah Doo”

This is from an EP called Soupy Sales, a slab of fun, guttural noise rock. This tune, the closer to that EP, is different, as it’s a cover, was recorded live, and is just kind of a straightforward rock song. You can’t really tell that much about the band from this.

Skinnerbox, “I’ve Got To Know”

This is from the final Skinnerbox record, released after Moon Records imploded. It continues King Django’s approach of mostly playing it pretty traditional, although there are some punk elements here and there, some dub, some rocksteady, just lots of bits to keep things fresh.

Mantar, “Eternal Return”

I long ago ran out of stuff to say about Mantar, so let’s just have a close listen to this. The shift up to the double-time drums fifty seconds in is nice. And a nice change in the gallop shortly after the vocals kick in. There’s a restlessness here, where they’re refusing to totally settle into a groove, which is kind of nice. Although sometimes the fun of music like this is a nice punishing rhythm. Views differ, apparently even in my head!

Helium, “XXX”

Amazingly, despite having Mary Timony show up here with Ex Hex, Wild Flag, Autoclave, and even as a solo artist, we’ve never actually had her show up with the band she’s most famous with, Helium. That ends today! If you couldn’t tell with my following her career across five different acts (maybe the most of any artist in my library!), I’m a huge fan. And I really do love her later work, but Helium is my favorite of her bands. It’s indie rock, yes, but the songs are really interesting and just so well done. I think this song speaks for itself, though.

Bullfrog, “Mark After Dark”

We’ve had Bullfrog here before, but as a reminder, this is one of Kid Koala’s many projects. Most of their album is pretty straight ahead funk, but they mix in some other stuff, such as the tune here which closes the album.

The Meters, “Running Fast”

Hell yeah, Meters! Fire On the Bayou is the last essential Meters record, as it was followed by a poor disco record and an OK funk record. While I tend to prefer their earlier, non-vocal stuff, this is still a great record.

Keeping that streak alive.

Grandaddy, “The Warming Sun”

I sometimes wonder why some bands don’t connect with me. Grandaddy, for instance. Highly regarded by lots of people, so they’re a good band by most measures. They are mining a similar vein as Wilco, who I love. They obviously know what they’re doing. And yet? Nothing. It’s not clear why that is, how the aesthetics of Grandaddy just don’t turn my crank. But there we are.