Spurred to do this again. We’ll give it a try.
Every week Apple Music makes a Friends Mix. Each week I will make off the cuff “reviews” of the songs in this list. As Apple Music likes to put the same bands on the list often, so I will skip some of the tracks.
Les Savy Fav “Void Moon” I try liking this band every once in a while. Nothing once again. Like a pop-punk version of Fugazi. 40 seconds.
Alan Sparhawk “Can U Hear” All the bullshit vocoder electronic stuff that was on the recent Low albums. Sounds like a hip-hop backing track. 40 seconds.
Polvo “The Purple Bear” North Carolina’s Sonic Youth? Even more atonal. This is a wobbly one. Love it. Listened to it all.
Drive Like Jehu “Super Unison” You should own both Drive Like Jehu albums. Angular and powerful 90s DC like post-hardcore. Listened to it all.
Lungfish “Seek Sound Shelter” See previous Hate My Friends post. Skipped.
Soul Side “Pocket Hurts” Influenced slightly by Fugazi. They’ve got their own spin on it, so more than a clone. They turned into Girls Against Boys, well some of the members. Listened to it all.
Arcwelder “The Carpal Tunnel Song” I listened to them a ton in the 90s, still great. What if you took Husker Du “Flip Your Wig” and mixed in some Big Black, you get Arcwelder. Listened to it all.
Sebadoh “Mystery Man” Bakesale is the best Sebadoh record by a mile. Fully realized and nothing that seems like a joke song. Not the best song on the record. Listened to all of it.
The Breeders “Forced to Drive” As I just told someone all you need from The Breeders is “Safari” ep, “Pod”, and “Last Splash”. It’s fine. Listened to a a minute fourth-eight.
Husker Du “Don’t Want to Know if You’re Lonely” One of the greatest songs ever recorded. A Grant Hart jam. Listened to all of it.
Wipers “Someplace Else” Not familiar with later Wipers. Not as urgent but still sounds like the Wipers. Will have to investigate. Not as good as the early stuff, a little too alt-rock. Listened to it all.
Hum “Why I Like Robins” My Bloody Valentine playing Slayer? The other way around? Regardless, fucking great. How to be heavy without being heavy metal. Listened to all of it.
Unwound “Kantina” I try and I try. Nothing that makes it stick for me. They fit in that Fugazi / Drive Like Jehu sound. Listened to it all.
Crooked Fingers “Big Darkness” Archers of Loaf are one of my favorite bands. This is what Eric Bachman did after the band originally spit. I dig the first two albums but this ventures into Springsteen territory. Listened to it all.
Portastatic “Sour Shores” Mac from Superchunk. I’d rather listen to Superchunk. Listened to 59 seconds.
Voxtrot “Fast Asleep” Always thought this was post punk. guess not, jangly indie rock. Listened to a minute and five seconds.
Built to Spill “Hindsight” You don’t need any Built to Spill after “Ancient Melodies of the Future”. This is from after that. 30 seconds.
Versing “By Design” Decent 90s Sonic Youth worship. Listened to it all.
David Nance “Negative Boogie” New to me. I kind of like it and hate it at the same time. It wore out it’s welcome. Definitely unique. 1:25.
Guided by Voices “Romeo Surgen” Not sure who’s still buying GBV, but it sure seems to have run it course. 53 seconds.
Cocteau Twins “Garlands” One of the parents of shoegaze. Kind of like the dreamy Cure stuff but with a drum machine, Listened to it all.
Metallica “The Wait” From the last great thing Metallica did. A great cover of the Killing Joke song. Listened to it all.
7 Seconds “It All Makes Less Sense Now” When they decided to be U2. Kevin isn’t much of a singer, better as a shouter. 1:15.
Rolling Stones “Midnight Rambler” I’m a “greatest hits” Stones fan, This is a “greatest hit”. Listened to it all.