HUSKER DU- WAREHOUSE: SONGS AND STORIES

This record is a bullshit detector of sorts. Ask a fan what the best Du albums are in order. If they immediately dismiss this and Candy Apple Grey as the weakest material and place Zen Arcade anywhere higher than EVERYTHING that came after it, they are not Husker Du fans, they are elitist hardcore nerds who only listen to Husker Du because history tells them to. Obviously Zen Arcade boasts some of the band's best songs. Too bad they are wedged among too many tracks of amphetamine-fueled (literally) hardcore that doesn't even read at the same level as Die Kreuzen, Negative Approach, Minor Threat... etc.

In my opinion, Husker Du are a pop band. They played hardcore because it was initially inspiring but these boys always flirted with melody and when they did, it yielded their most compelling results. Go figure that by the time of their 1985 one-two New Day Rising and Flip Your Wig (HERE) there were almost no remaining traces of hardcore. Why then does this band hold so much weight in the mythos of American Hardcore? Well, they were on SST, their brand of hardcore was thee fastest you could get for '81... and really, most of the hardcore acts they played alongside, who were largely responsible for championing the boys, were fans of all music, not just the hardcore exploding across the country. No one of any musical worth likely criticized the band for writing pop songs, probably because those songs were so fucking good. Besides, if you watch live footage from the mid 80's, Husker Du were clearly a force to be reckoned with even when playing a mid-tempo ballad like 'Dianne' or a straight pop tune like 'Terms of Psychic Warfare'

All that aside, this is their final album and it sounds it. The production sounds flat and unfinished, there are too many songs to warrant a double-LP and some of the performances leave something to be desired (Bob, where are the solos?) BUT like Zen Arcade this set has some amazing songs, with Bob's pop-mastery finally starting to take the shape it would in Sugar and his solo work. If you like pop and guitars then hey, this'll be a cool listen. If not, just keep telling yourself Landspeed Record is better than Damaged

HERE

POLVO- TODAY'S ACTIVE LIFESTYLES

This is a solid record. Whether or not it's outstanding is up to the listener. Consensus is that Polvo never bettered it while the opinion among people I've actually talked to IN REAL LIFE is that Exploded Drawing is perfect... to be honest, this is more focused and thus, gets my vote.

If you don't know, Polvo were among the many bands active in the legendary North Carolina indie scene of the early-to-mid 90's. Unlike more conventional Superchunk or Archers of Loaf, Polvo were very into no-wave and Sonic Youth but still had that distinctly 90's feel to them. Weird guitar tunings, lazy ass vocals, lots of tempo changes... if you like shit like that, then enjoy. If not, well...

HERE

LEMURIA- GET BETTER

So I'm sure by now you've noticed that I like pop punk and believe me, I am aware that the mere image of those two words together is enough to make some people shudder in disgust. To those people I say "fuck you" and something about not judging books by their covers or how not all music is supposed to be 'cool'...

Lemuria are pretty popular within pop punk but this definitely has a 90's indie lean to it. Great lyrics and great songwriting. I dunno. If you like later Superchunk then you'll like this, if not I have some thrash and noisy stuff right below this...

HERE

ARTILLERY- BY INHERITANCE

It's been awhile since I posted some metal and I think it's important that I do so because aside from hipster-approved metal (Sunn 0))), Boris, Mastodon, well known black metal, etc) I feel like genre-inclusive blogs such as mine don't post a lot of traditionally 'metal' records. So today I give you Artillery! I'll keep it quick. Good production, growly-yet-melodic vocals, technical song-structures, solos-a-plenty and oh yeah, some downright circle-pit worthy riffage. This lies on that awesome border between bay-area thrash and early florida death metal. This record is not essential but it is a fun listen none-the-less. Not for posers... tee-hee

p.s. the best band to ever come from Denmark not involving King Diamond

HERE

SHOPPERS- SILVER YEAR

ugh. Fuck school. This is the debut from Shoppers and amidst the sea of shit we call music these days, this band does something both new and good. It's very hard to describe using comparisons, so I won't. Essentially, this is very loud and very noisy but underneath the volume and static are these really driving and simple punk songs. Ok, so maybe that description immediately makes you think of Japanese hardcore and you're thinking "uh, this isn't new and original at all then..." but believe me, I say 'punk' songs because that's the only way to describe the structure and melodic approach. This sounds different than whatever my description may conjure. Maybe it's the intentional layers of static, maybe it's the female vocals, maybe it's some sort of cosmic force... only Shoppers know!!!

This record is the best one I've heard all year and unfortunately, no one seems to give a shit about it. I can't find it anywhere other than online so I'll have to buy it that way and you should too but if you're poor and would buy it if you could afford it, then here it is for free but please! support this band. Music this good no longer grows on trees

HERE

U.S. MAPLE- LONG HAIR IN THREE STAGES

U.S. Maple are a band that took a long time to make sense to me. I briefly investigated at age fifteen when I first became interested in bands like Shellac, because I'd heard they occupied a similar niche. Well, I fucking hated it, to put it nicely. I just assumed it was another one of those bands that I would never get and anyone who did was simply doing so for the sake of conversation... fast forward six years and hey! shit is great! I'm hearing everything I didn't hear the first time around! maybe my six years of listening have expanded my palette or maybe I've become one of those douchebags I assumed were the only people capable of liking this in the first place. Probably the latter...

Anyway, the music here is not rock. Don't listen to people who call these guys noise-rock. This has way more in common with the jazz-ethos of bands like Harry Pussy than the tight-wound stuff we've come to expect from genre staples like Shellac or the Jesus Lizard. However, while Harry Pussy is all about exploring the extremes of punishing volume and depressing quiet this is more of a musical waiting-game. The 'songs' careen from formless jams and then tease you with a riff and a steady beat for a minute then careen back off into unexplored territory. Also, much like the Doors, no bass!*

...just two guitars. One downtuned and EQ'd for the heavy and the other one tuned for maximum dissonance with the treble in the red. Pretty cool in concept and execution. I'm done talking, listen to this shit.

HERE

*Before you think "what a tool, the doors had an organ!"... this is a Kids in the Hall reference

CAMPER VAN BEETHOVEN- TELEPHONE FREE LANDSLIDE VICTORY

I heard this album for the very first time about two hours ago. I was so unexpectedly floored that I had to post it ASAP. My only knowledge of this band is that when my friends went to see Modest Mouse in 2004, they opened and, according to my one friend, were unbearably shitty. I never bothered since all he said was 'folky ska with violin'... yeah, that does sound really shitty.

Guess what? It's not! This is golden indie from a time when that label actually meant something. How this band is this ignored, I have no idea. Its like the first two REM albums but instead of sounding really sleepy and reserved its demanding that you listen and have a good time. I dunno, I'm talking out of my ass now. Just listen to this if you like pop music that's too weird to be popular

HERE

YOUTH OF TODAY- WE'RE NOT IN THIS ALONE

NOOOOOOO MOOOOOOOORE!!!! For me this is as good as any hardcore record ever made by Black Flag, Bad Brains, Minor Threat or anyone else. Youth of Today were a special band and I think that gets lost in their politics, being one of the first bands to make straight-edge and animal-rights a lyrical concern on this level, I do understand. I think they really defined what hardcore was in the mid 80's though. More than anyone else, the influence of their songwriting and guitar playing can be heard in almost every modern hardcore band that values the old-school, from Rival Mob to Cult-Ritual. A real classic

HERE

SIR LORD BALTIMORE- KINGDOM COME

This is another one of those 'proto-metal-why-don't-more-people-know-about-this?' records and shit, this one smokes! The guitar is so thick and fuzzed-out and it cannot wait for the next solo, meanwhile the singer sounds like he's just escaped from an asylum and found his true calling... more boogie than doom but man... think a faster Grand Funk with more sloppy abandon

HERE

TEENAGE FANCLUB- BANDWAGONESQUE

This is powerpop. Powerpop that does not try to do anything new or exciting with the style. Its just a bunch of guys who really like said genre and decided that instead of trying to change the world or make a musically revolutionary statement, they would just write and record a bunch of songs. Needless to say, it feels a lot bigger than that but really, I don't see how they could have imagined this record going where it did... Mostly of critical significance because SPIN said it was the best album of 1991. I still agree that this is way better than Nevermind but we all know how most people feel about that

HERE