The Meters

The Gotobeds, “Calquer the Hound”

Indie rock out of Pittsburgh, the Gotobeds’ third album, Debt Begins At 30, sounds fanastic. There’s a real kind of Discord-y/post-hardcore thing going on here, which as you all know goes over well here at Five Songs HQ. This is actually the first album I listened to from them, and kind of forgot to go backwards, and I should really fix that.

Nine Inch Nails, “Came Back Haunted”

After his burst of productivity in the mid/late 2000s, with three albums in four years (four if you count Ghosts, which you should not), Trent Reznor did his usual thing and went away for five years between NiN albums. Unlike previous pauses, he was still making music. He was doing film scores and releasing music as How To Destroy Angels. But he came back to NiN and released Hesitation Marks in 2013, featuring a whole bunch of guest artists and a sound that is probably as close to Pretty Hate Machine as any other record he’s done. Much more sophisticated, of course, but fairly upbeat (as these things go) and kind of bouncy. It’s a fun record, which is not something you can say about most NiN records.

Stereolab, “Changer”

Switched On collected a bunch of early Stereolab singles, before they had really developed their sound fully. It’s more guitar-forward and less drone-heavy than their later music would be. I think it’s not as essential as their later records, but it’s an interesting comp, and worth going back if you’re already a Stereolab fan. We’ll discuss thme more when they come up again.

Mr. T Experience, “Tapin’ Up My Heart”

In Dan Ozzi’s excellent Reply All newsletter, Dr. Frank of the Mr. T Experience ranks his own records, and places this album at the top of the list. I actually usually think the previous record (and #2 on the list) Love is Dead is their best work, but hey, who am I to argue?

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.

Y’all, I’ve listened to that Hello, Summer album three times since it popped up randomly here, and folks: it’s good. Real good! I love that my own blog is teaching me about music…from my own collection.

Less Than Jake, “She’s Gonna Break Soon”

What makes late model Less Than Jake work is that, yeah, it’s more or less just standard pop punk with horns. But it’s catchy, cheerful, energetic, and just the musical equivalent of comfort food. It’s not exactly ambitious, but there’s space in my world for well-crafted music like this.

Strange mix today, but some great stuff.

The Meters, “Here Comes The Meter Man”

I hope one day to make a sound even half as cool as the noises that Ziggy Modeliste is making on the drums on this song. You get those ten hour loops on YouTube of every annoying noise on the planet, can I get a ten hour loop of the drum break on this song? (Answer: probably, yes.)

Nice one.

Gaunt, “Powder Keg Variety”

The formula is so simple. Just big guitars, big choruses, and a fun tune. It’s Cheap Trick, basically. But, dammit, it’s still delightful, and I can’t get enough of this. I miss Gaunt, y’all.

Metallica, “The Judas Kiss”

The formula is so simple. Just big guitars…aw, fuck it.

Crackerbash, “Chesham”

The formul[gunshot]

One of the things I always liked about Crackerbash is is how rubbery their bass always sounded. It’s so propulsive, especially when it separates a little from the main guitar line.

Today’s set is, frankly, a mess. The hazards of the random number generator.

Andrew Bird, “The Water Jet Cilice”

210 songs in my collection from Andrew Bird, and this stupid thing picked a repeat song. Sure, we get Six Songs today, but come on. I do feel like the number of repeats I’ve seen is higher than I would expect. I also know that humans are TERRIBLE at estimating the randomness of a system and related probabilities. I should work it out for real.

Today’s play list.

Head of David, “Wolf”

Oh god, this is a bad song. I’m so, so sorry, if anybody is listening to this. This is like something straight out of the cheesiest fever swamps of power metal, but with no ridiculous flaming guitar solo.

Burning Airlines, “A Song With No Words”

Much better! One of the slower songs from Burning Airlines, but still with that little keening guitar line to keep things interesting. And I love the way that they recorded the bass for their albums.