Therapy?

Rocket From The Crypt, “Good Bye”

RFTC almost in a Smashing Pumpkins kind of mode here. Can’t decide which band would be more insulted by that comparison.

Señor Coconut, “Pisco Control (Jive Electico)”

Señor Coconut’s album of Kraftwerk covers done in a Latin style is a delight, a charming re-interpretation of the Kraftwerk originals that really highlights the beating heart at the center of those shiny, robotic songs. Alas, the first Señor Coconut record (this one, El Gran Baile) is sort of a testing ground for some of those ideas of merging electronic music with Latin style, and it’s not nearly as much fun.

Made it to May! Seemed like April lasted for double the usual days this year.

Minus the Bear, “Lotus”

I’m not sure I would have placed this in the past, but you know what? I’m getting some pretty heavy Yes vibes off of this.

The Bruce Lee Band, “Mr. Hanelei”

Sometimes, I wish I was enough of a professional to click onto my own tags and read what I’d already written about bands. But, I’m not, so I have to rely on my own crummy memory. I don’t want to repeat the same stories about bands, but I also don’t want to work any harder than I do for this thing. So here we are, I’m writing nonsense and you’re left with a meta comment here instead of something useful. Or even “useful”. Well, anyway, the song is over!

Buzzcocks, “Lester Sands”

The Buzzcocks were one of the best of punk’s first wave, but unlike a lot of the other greats of that scene, they didn’t totally disappear. The went away for a while, but re-formed in the early 90s, and then started putting out an album every few years. This is from their self-titled 2003 record on Merge, a fitting home given how many Merge bands were inspired by the Buzzcocks (especially Superchunk). It’s pretty nuts-and-bolts punk rock, but Pete Shelly and Steve Diggle are always worth listening to.

Therapy?, “He’s Not That Kind Of Girl”

Therapy? were kind of an industrial metal band, kind of an alt-metal band, kinda punk at times, I guess, sorta grungy…I guess they were just kind of heavy, you know? They were often pretty sardonic, which again sort of aligns them towards industrial metal, like the Revolting Cocks or Ministry. I guess there’s some Butthole Surfers here too.

Well, whatever - this is from a singles collection released in 2000, pulling together the usual grab bag of stuff. It’s not bad, but also pretty unnecessary.

Medeski, Martin and Wood, “Hey-Hee-Hi-Ho”

If my search is to be trusted, there are about 102 blog posts on this site indicating that I don’t know shit about jazz. Sad that I’m so ignorant, given that I actually listen to a fair bit of it.

Calexico, “Black Heart”

My favorite Calexico record. If this song doesn’t grab you, I’m afraid to inform you that you’re hopeless.

Therapy?, “Nausea”

Therapy? was a band that kind of got tagged with an alternative metal label during the early 90s. It kind of makes sense - this isn’t as gritty as grunge, and it’s not robotic enough for industrial metal, but it also doesn’t really have any markers of any of the genres of metal going at the time. This is from Nurse, a record that got them signed to a major label. It’s a decent record, although I’ll confess I haven’t thought about this band in ages.