Emotional Listening #11

Return of the Frog Queen - Jeremy Enigk (Sub Pop, 1996)
It had been quite some time since I had last visited Return of the Frog Queen, Jeremy Enigk's solo debut. It's fun to imagine the shock of all those original Sunny Day Real Estate fans when they first realized how much of a departure this was from Enigk's involvement with that band. No, this is not a classic mid-90s emo album. In fact, it's much closer to that "freak-folk" stuff that was going on in the mid-2000s. Enigk's voice fits in perfectly with this take on folk music, which is more urgent than soft spoken. These songs are fuller than I remember them being, but just as unsettling yet beautiful. There is some sort of dark ages carnival or fantasy feel or something like that to the entire record, but somehow its charming, and overall, excellent.
Top jams: "Abegail Anne," "Lewis Hollow," "Lizard," "Call Me Steam," "Explain," "Shade and the Black Hat," "Fallen Heart"


Only Life - The Feelies (A & M, 1988)
I've been enjoying The Feelies' classic Only Life for a while now, and now is the time to finally write about it. Really, though, I don't have a ton to stay. Only Life is easy to describe: jangly, guitar dominated indie pop with peppy rhythms but sleepy vocals not too unlike Lou Reed (who's old band, The Velvet Underground, was definitely a huge influence on The Feelies). It took me a while fully understand this album's greatness, but I am so there, now. It's not perfect, but it doesn't need to be. I'm not sure why it took me until recently to realize exactly how awesome songs like "Too Much," "Deep Fascination" and especially "Away" are, while "It's Only Life" pretty much asserted itself as one of my favorite songs of all time right off the bat.
Top jams: "It's Only Life," "Too Much," "Deep Fascination," "Higher Ground," "The Final Word," "Away," "What Goes On"


Clouds Taste Metallic - The Flaming Lips (Warner Bros., 1995)
For several years I was under the impression that Clouds Taste Metallic was my second favorite Flaming Lips album (after The Soft Bulletin, of course). Don't think that's the case anymore, but it's still really badass. "This Here Giraffe," "When You Smile" and "Bad Days" are three of my favorite Lips songs ever, and every other song here is at least totally good. Aside from the typically great Wayne Coyne melodies, what really draws me in are those gnarly, distorted Frid-drums, and those chimey guitars that flow in and out of songs wonderfully (the best of which is showcased in "When You Smile"). I think I'm finally ready to admit that Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots is superior to Clouds Taste Metallic, but not really by much.
Top jams: "Psychiatric Explorations of the Fetus With Needles," "Placebo Headwound," "This Here Giraffe," "When You Smile," "Kim's Watermelon Gun," "Christmas at the Zoo," "Evil Will Prevail," "Bad Days"


For the Birds - The Frames (Plateau, 2001)
Thanks to be to my dawg and former bandmate Stephen Dahmer (via Alec Jensen, I think) for turning me on to this album back during my junior year of college. It's hard not to rolly my eyes at Dublin's The Frames these days since the main dude was in that Once film and is one half of that Swell Season group. But, miraculously perhaps, their 2001 album, For the Birds, actually is fantastic. Steve Albini worked with the band on it in some (unknown to me) capacity, and you can sort of tell, which is cool. When things get loud, the drums get Albini-esque and loud too. Anyway, For the Birds is a polite, dynamic record. There are slow, drawn out, constantly building ballads ("Headlong"), balls out rockers ("Early Bird"), and even a couple nice pop songs ("Lay Me Down," "Fighting on the Stairs"). For the Birds is chock full of outright jams, and even the album's secret track is great. If you your jam is somewhat safe but interesting, mostly mellow pop/rock with a little bit of experimentation, I'm not sure there's an album I can recommend any higher.
Top jams: "In the Deep Shade," "Lay Me Down," "What Happens When the Heart Just Stops," "Headlong," "Fighting on the Stairs," "Early Bird," "Santa Maria," "Mighty Sword"


One Time Bells - French Kicks (Startime, 2002)
Without question, One Time Bells, French Kicks', is a severely overlooked album by one of the most underrated bands of the past decade. It's not there best or anything, not even close, but it's still quite a debut LP, with the majority of the songs being at least great. Yes, French Kicks were a band in NYC when the whole garage rock revival occurred in the early 2000s, and it's unfortunate that they just get lumped in with that scene. They're way more like The Walkmen than they are The Strokes. Add some soulful vocal harmonies with that smart and quirky drumming, sparse guitars and cheesy keyboards and you have One Time Bells (and in essence, French Kicks). "When You Heard You" and "Crying Just for Show" immaculate show off the band's choppy, post-punk side (which they do best on this particular record), but are only the second and third best songs here. The plodding, full on R&B of "Close to Modern" takes the cake as #1 (which is funny to me because it is also the album's most subtle track). As much as I like One Time Bells right now, it's insane to think about how much better French Kicks got on their next two records.
Top jams: "Wrong Side," "When You Heard You," "Down Now," "Crying Just for Show," "Close to Modern," "Trying Whining," "Where We Went Off," "Sunday Night is Fair"