Terrace Martin Presents the Pollyseeds

Hoover, “Electrolux”

Hoover were a post-hardcore band with a single album on Discord in 1993 along with a few singles. There are a lot of forgotten gems in the Discord catalog, with albums getting overshadowed by the more famous releases on the label. Fugazi’s In On The Kill Taker released in 1993, for instance, which I think is the best post-hardcore record ever made. So it’s easy to see how this thing might not get noticed. And, yes, there is plenty of influence here from Fugazi. But, hell, that’s not a bad way to take your cues. There’s a little Drive Like Jehu here also, so yeah, this is good stuff.

Army of Juan, “Late Night Dining”

I wonder how many ska-punk bands put out one record in 1997 and were never heard from again? I’m sure there have been comparable fads in music, but it’s hard for me to think of something quite comparable in my lifetime, where a style peaked so hard and petered out so quickly. Grunge wasn’t the same - the peak lasted longer, and a number of the grunge bands continued being popular even post-peak (like Pearl Jam), not to mention important bands still being revered today (such as Nirvana).

Clipse, “Virginia”

As always, the real attraction of the first Clipse record isn’t so much their rhymes, which are fine, but that lovely “produced by the Neptunes” label. And, yeah, this is great.

The Mortals, “Everything But Time”

Part of the Estrus stable of garage rock bands, the Mortals put out three records in the early to mid 90s, without making too many waves but certainly landing on my radar. This comes from the first of those records, Ritual Dimension of Sound, and is a reasonable representation of their sound.

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, “Cowboy Coffee”

The Bosstones’ second album, More Noise and Other Disturbances, is really where the band hit their stride. The ska and punk were really in balance on this album, with plenty of both livening things up.

The Game, “Intro to the Documentary”

Yup, that’s an intro.

Two Inch Astronaut, “At Risk Student”

Last time they came up, I thought to myself: dang, this is a good song. And I’m pleased to say that I picked up another record from them in the interim, including this song. Still good! Put one in the win column for Five Songs!

And the beat goes on!

Terrace Martin Presents The Pollyseeds, “Wake Up”

From Sounds of Crenshaw, Vol. 1, this album is from producer Terrace Martin, who is best known for his work with Kendrick Lamar. On this album, he also has other folks in the Lamar orbit, such as Kamasi Washington (whose playing on the sax you’re listening to). A mix of R&B and jazz, it’s a very interesting album, and absolutely worthy of further exploration, although don’t expect anything as banging as, say, “LOYALTY.”