The True Loves

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.

Circus Lupus, “Pop Man”

Post hardcore band Circus Lupus put out two albums in the early nineties, and I probably don’t have to mention that this is a Discord album. The most obvious feature is Chris Thomson’s rambling, half-shouted/half-sung lyrics, but looking past him, Arika Casebolt on the drums is the real highlight. Of the two albums, my favorite is this one, Solid Brass.

The Austerity Program, “Song 17B”

I’ll say, it’s a very good bit to have all the tracks on your album named either “Song N” or “Untitled”.

The True Loves, “Kabuki”

Soul band from beautiful Seattle, this was one of those occasional finds from when I found myself trapped in a vehicle without Bluetooth and heard something good on KEXP. (Specifically, a U-Haul I was driving from Kingston to Bainbridge Island.) It’s a delight, of course, and I wish I had some way other than just serendipity to find something like this. Oh well!

The Slackers, “And I Wonder?”

In my mind, The Question is my least favorite Slackers album. I’m not really sure at this point exactly why. I adored Redlight (it’s still one of my favorite ska records), and I was super geeked for the follow-up. And something about it didn’t quite sit right with me. And I just kind of didn’t listen to it much and filed it away. It’s not that I fell off the band, mind you. The next studio record, Wasted Days, is ALSO one of my favorite ska records. I still eagerly buy everything they put out, love a bunch of their records, have seen them multiple times…but I’ve never really gone back to try this album again. Just one of those blind spots. I should really fix that!