The New Pornographers

Monsula, “Concession”

Monsula were one of the bands in the East Bay who had a bunch of people from the scene move through (up to and including Five Songs favorite Lance Hahn of J Church) and thus helped really mould the sound of a lot of bands. But even setting aside influence, this is really good stuff, bringing in some post-hardcore to the punk sound of the East Bay. Both Monsula albums were re-issued by Lookout on CD as a single disc, which was a fantastic deal. I suppose you can’t get that deal these days.

Einstürzende Neubauten, “Stella Maris”

Ende Neu felt like a bit of a reset for the band, which makes some sense after one of the founding members departed. There’s a lot more things on here that you’d characterize as songs, even nice ones. That’s not to say that it’s conventional, just that the surface of it is pretty conventional. But as always, Neubauten is in the details, and it’s a good album after you dig in, although they’d get more comfortable in this new format on subsequent records.

Pussy Galore, “Handshake”

Somehow, Pussy Galore manages to sound greasy. Some of that is the trashy production - the clattering drums, the bullhorn vocals, the squalling guitars. But even beyond that, there’s a feel to things that kind of make you feel like you need a bath after listening to it. It’s great!

Killdozer, “Space: 1999”

There’s nothing more reliable in this world than Killdozer grimly pounding away. It’s always going to sound like power equipment being used improperly, and leave you feeling like perhaps you shouldn’t have listened to it.

Descendents, “Victim of Me”

At this point, with the release of 9th & Walnut, the Descendents have now released as many studio albums after their breakup as pre-breakup (4). Does it even make sense to think of their career in two phases any more? I suppose it does, because during the 80s, they put out albums regularly, while these days it takes a while for them to pop up.

The New Pornographers, “The Laws Have Changed”

Maybe the best tune off of the second New Pornographers album, this is such a shiny song. This is a smile turned into music. I sometimes forget about this album, because I love the first one so much, but I really should spin it more.

Einstürzende Neubauten, “Nagorny Karabach”

Alles Wieder Offen (“All Open Again”) represents Neubauten fully completing their new model of creating albums. In 2002, Neubauten wanted to get themselves total creative freedom to create the music they wanted, without any label interference. They managed to get 2,000 people signed up at $35 a piece, which was enough to fund some sessions. Those recordings would turn into Supporter Album No. 1, which I have a copy of somewhere around here. However, the band turned to Mute records to turn it into a full release (Perpetuum Mobile, which re-worked some of the songs from it), which allowed them to fund a tour.

Yo La Tengo, “Raw Power”

Yo La Tengo Is Murdering The Classics is a compilation of Yo La Tengo’s fundraising appearances for WFMU where the band plays whatever songs are requested. You can usually tell when it’s a song they’re more familiar with than others, because they can usually muster more energy in the performance, although they’re game for whatever. Here, they put in a nice run on the Stooges classic.

Today’s list.

CROOKED BANGS, “Out”

I discovered this album via Bandcamp’s Album of the Day feature, which is always deadly. I like it, it’s always nice to pick up on random punk records now and again.

Yo-Yo Ma, “Suite for Solo Cello No. 6 in D Major, BWV 1012: VI. Gigue”

As before, still don’t know anything about this.

Leatherface, “Discipline”

Long-running UK punks Leatherface made ten albums, which is probably about eight more than we actually needed. They play very back-to-basics punk that evokes all the first-wave punk bands from the UK. I’ve got two albums from them, and I’m not totally sure I could tell them apart.

Full on rock today.

Descendents, “I Wanna Be A Bear”

There’s only so much one can say about a 40 second hardcore song.

New Pornographers, “Champions of Red Wine”

From the New Pornographers’ sixth album, Brill Bruisers, this album felt like something of a return to form for the band. I don’t think Challengers or Together were bad, but they didn’t really seem to have quite the same energy as their previous records. This song isn’t a barn burner, but the record overall is quite good.

Spastic noise punk, power pop, third wave ska, rap, bombastic post-rock: this is just about the full gamut for Five Songs!

UFO Or Die, “0 Or 1ers”

Uh, yeah. UFO Or Die isn’t exactly random noise, but it’s not THAT far from it, either.

The New Pornographers, “Centre For Holy Wars”

We’ve heard from A.C. Newman before with Zumpano, but here he is with the band he’s best known for, the New Pornographers. Started as something of a supergroup with Newman, Dan Bejar (Destroyer), and Neko Case (all of whom we’ll hear from with their other acts), the New Pornographers took a while to turn from a lark into a real band. But, they finally put out their debut album, Mass Romantic, and it’s a corker. Fully embracing power pop, it’s one of the catchiest and most fun albums in my collection. And, sorry, if you don’t love “Letter From An Occupant”, you’re dead inside.