The Xx

Rocket From The Crypt, “I’m Not Invisible”

As a result of Five Songs, I’ve actually been on a Rocket From The Crypt kick lately. It’s been great! I don’t ever see them get mentioned any more, but they kicked ass across seven albums (not even counting the excellent compilations!) and people should listen to them. This is how their final studio album kicked off, and it smokes.

Autoclave, “I’ll Take You Down”

Autoclave was not around long, putting out a couple EPs on Discord before disappearing. But the members wouldn’t disappear - Slant 6 arose from their ashes, but more significantly, this was Mary Timony’s (Helium, Wild Flag, Ex Hex) first band. Imagine doing this in high school! Incredible.

SIX SONGS WOOOO

The Temptations, “Hey Girl”

Goddamn, listen to those strings! With Cloud Nine, the Temptations laid down some of the building blocks of funk, as they departed from the traditional Motown sound and pointed the way to the 70s.

The xx, “Heart Skipped A Beat”

Indie pop band The xx kind of exploded out the door and were critical darlings right away with their electronic take on the genre, especially with the dual vocalists. And it’s here where I admit that a) I can never keep straight who The xx are and b) I clearly bought this at some point and I’m not entirely sure I’ve listened to it before. But I know I’ve read about them at various times! I totally didn’t have to look up stuff about them!