Pond

Hammerhead, “Evil Twin”

Hammerhead’s initial three-album run with Amphetamine Reptile is probably my favorite on the label, and it’s the second and third albums (Into The Vortex and Duh, The Big City) that are the real prizes. The first record is good, but the latter two are two of my favorite noise rock albums by anybody ever. But it wasn’t like Into the Vortex just thundered out of the sky out of nowhere. It was heralded by the 1993 EP Evil Twin, which showed how much of a step forward Hammerhead had taken. What stands out to me is how propulsive it sounds. Hammerhead is going places, and nothing is going to stop them, and they will just run you over if you’re in the way. That sense of groove moderates the aggression into something that is compulsively listenable to me.

Pond, “Filler”

As always: not the Australian band, but the grunge-adjacent band from Portland. And also, as always, I’ll recommend all three Pond records as being some of the finest from the grunge scene, peripheral as they were. This tune is off their worst album, but it’s still a solid slab of rock.

P.D.Q. Bach, “The Preachers of Crimetheus: Ballet in One Selfless Act, S. 988: I. Prologue (Bottomless Sorrow; Topless Gaiety)”

There’s a referential thing going on in most P.D.Q. Bach albums, where he’ll call back to figures and bits from prior in the album, and listening to single tracks kind of blunts what he’s up to. So I’ll just recommend sitting down with an album (this one, 1712 Overture & Other Musical Atrocities is a fine choice) and sitting with it.

Bim Skala Bim, “Set Me Up”

This is another one of those songs that has a tremendous sense of place about it in my memory. This came out early in 1995, in my last year of college, and my friend Miranda and I listened to it over and over sitting in the lounge of my dorm. We’d get my roommate’s Super Nintendo with the floppy drive going, and fire up a bootleg copy of Super Bombliss and spend the afternoon blowing each other up. I can picture the crappy TV, the empty pizza boxes, and my shitty toaster in the corner of the lounge. It’s a gift for a piece of music to call up such a vivid memory like that, and I can become Captain Cheap Tetris again, if only for a couple of minutes.

Rancid, “Ruby Soho”

As an unabashed Operation Ivy guy, I was always a little disappointed with Rancid. They always just seemed a little more dour, a little less tuneful, and a little less fun. That said, the album of Rancid’s that I like enough to listen to pretty often is …And Out Come The Wolves. Just listened to it earlier today, actually!

Clem Snide, “I Got High”

This song is from The Meat Of Life, which I think is the better of the two albums from the second incarnation of Clem Snide (the other being Hungry Bird). It’s a warm, comfortable album, with the usual sweet (and subtly dark) songs from Eef Barzelay. It’s not the album to start with, but it’s a solid record.

Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet, “You Spin Me Round ‘86”

The rare Shadowy Men track with a voice on it! Very little, mind you, but judged on a curve, it’s a ton.

Pond, “Magnifier”

Great stuff so far today! I’ve sung the praises of Pond repeatedly in this space, but seriously: this album (The Practice Of Joy Before Death) totally rules. If you want to listen to more, you can hit up the tag, but just fire up the album.

Hot Chip, “One Pure Thought”

Hot Chip is dance music, basically, with some nice melodies. But while this is perfectly nice, it’s never really clicked with me very much, and I just have the one album from them. I guess the closest thing I listen to regularly is LCD Soundsystem, and it’s not totally clear why I prefer one over the other.

Pond, “Perfect Four”

As always, a quick clarification that this is the rock band from Portland in the mid-90s, not the Australian band in the 2010s. Pond more-or-less arrived fully formed with their first, eponymous album. While their songwriting would get sharper, this album is still chock full of excellent rock. That they should be claimed by the anti-grunge vortex is one of the shames of the 90s.

Dām-Funk, “Floating On Air”

One-man band Dām-Funk does a nice job of collaborating with a wide range of interesting folks, often to fine results. This cut is the first peak on Floating on Air, featuring Flea and somebody called Computer Jay. It wanders around a little bit, but I’m totally fine with that in my electro-funk.

Calexico, “Victor Jara’s Hands”

2008’s Carried To Dust was a return back to the sounds of their best album, Feast of Wire. (As an aside, it was super gratifying when the band themselves agreed with my opinion, proving that Five Songs is never wrong.) It’s actually super admirable that Calexico will try out different styles on their records, but I’m also not sorry to get a second helping of that super lush, dusty beauty either. As always, Calexico kind of sounds like they’re making a soundtrack to a movie that doesn’t exist.

Here’s today!

Skankin’ Pickle, “Hit My Brain”

Yes, the band is named Skankin’ Pickle. No, there are essentially no depths that the third wave wouldn’t sink to in terms of naming themselves. Yes, this kind of sounds like an outtake from an early Chili Peppers album. But, you know what? They had some good tunes! They really did! One day we’ll get them (today is not that day).

Mike Park of the band also went on to found Asian Man Records, who are, somehow, still going. So have some respect! Or at least as much as you can muster for an outfit named “Skankin’ Pickle”.

Fantastic one today!

J-Zone, “Zone For President”

More old shit from J-Zone! I mentioned his persona last time, but here you can really hear the cheapass side of things. Also, dig that circus beat! And the shots at internet losers. All good stuff!

Pond, “Forget”

Pond’s third and final record, Rock Collection, came out on a major label, which probably did it no favors. While Sub Pop would know what to do with a band like this, when Pond didn’t hit it big quickly with this record, Sony basically just forgot that it existed. It’s a shame, because it’s a an excellent album full of rock gems like this, all of them at least a little off-kilter. There’s also some really touching songs on here as well. Overall, a lost gem.

Some good stuff today.

Pond, “Wheel”

My favorite bands to highlight here are those that haven been largely forgotten, maybe because they were on the periphery of their scenes, and never really left the kind of critical mark that makes future listeners discover them among the thousands of bands of the past. Portland’s Pond is a great example of that. Pond began making records for Sub Pop during the height of grunge, with their first album coming out in 1993. It was a great time to get discovered, yes, but it was also a hard time to stand out among all the bands chasing fame. Like Flop, Pond just got lost in the suffle, and they deserved better. Their first, self-titled album was, yes, pretty grungy, but it was also tuneful in ways that hinted something greater to come. And their second album, The Practice of Joy Before Death, fulfilled that promise. Fantastic songs, great, jagged guitars, just an amazing record. One of my very favorites to come out of the entire grunge scene. They recorded one more fantastic record, Rock Collection, for a major label before breaking up. All three albums are worth your time.