These Are Good People - Little Big League (Tiny Engines, 2013)
For some idiotic reason, I was hesitant to listen to this last year. It got some favorable reviews from some trusted sources, including my girlfriend Sara, who doesn't even particularly care for the whole emo thing, and I still decided to skip it. I'm a dummy, and am publicly, formally admitting it to you now. After spending some good time with it, I realize that These Are Good People isn't really that emo at all, and is more in line with, say, Speedy Ortiz (though, even poppier, and still with some TINY hints at emo), and their modern take on the 90s indie guitar rock era. Little Big League do the interweaving, jagged guitar with bouncy rhythms thing really well, and they use some of those nice, dirty chords that I like. I can certainly understand if Michelle Zauner's vocals aren't your thing. That was the biggest hurdle for me to get over, and it helps that her voice is unique and not any sort of typical, pretty female vocal, and her melodies are totally good. It's the guitars that keep me focused on this baby, though. I look forward to what they do next. The two songs on their brand new split 7" with Ovlov seem to be a good indication, which essentially is more of the same, but, at an even higher quality.
Top jams: "Lindsey," "My Very Own You," "Dark Matter," "Summer Wounds," "Sportswriting," "Tokyo Drift"
Sign o' the Times - Prince (Warner Bros./Paisley Park, 1987)
I'm not sure what even needs to be said about this record. This is my first foray into an entire Prince record, and needless to say, it is a trip. Sign o' the Times is his ninth album, which is insane to me, considering that his debut LP was released in 1978. It consists of 16 songs, and clocks in at just about 80 minutes, meaning it is way too long. This album is crazy, and I wasn't sure at first if it would not be my thing at all. However, there are a lot of things to love here. The amount of talent displayed, between the unique, fantastic production and Prince's skill at essentially every popular music instrument, is reason enough to be blown away. The diverse spread of musical genres touched on is pretty impressive, too. Funk, soul, R&B, new wave and straight up rock 'n' roll are all represented well here, often times bleeding over into one another. Oh, and the songs are really good, too, even if there are way too many. Lastly, there are some truly hilarious moments on this record that make it very difficult to forget. Case in point: all of the sped-up vocals (which, thanks to Wikipedia, I discovered was originally done as a Prince alter ego named Camille). This is a move that is so bizarre that I can't help but appreciate. It's this combination of Prince's outright talent, creativity and weirdo decisions that makes Sign o' the Times so good. Jam of the album? "Starfish and Coffee," for sure.
Top jams: "Sign o' the Times," "Play in the Sunshine," "Housequake," "The Ballad of Dorothy Parker," "It," "Starfish and Coffee," "U Got the Look," "If I Was Your Girlfriend," "Strange Relationship," "I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man," "The Cross"
Reckoning - R.E.M. (I.R.S., 1984)
It took me a long time to finally spend time with anything other than R.E.M.'s 1983 LP, Murmur. Murmur had quickly become one of my favorite albums of all time when I first started listening to it, and, I could just never convince myself to listen to anything else by the band. I think it was in 2012 that I finally took a baby step and got into Chronic Town, their 1982 debut EP. However, being a precursor to and almost as good as Murmur, I'm not sure that really counts. So, here we have arrived at last at the follow-up to Murmur, 1984's Reckoning. Guess what? It's really really good. It does not have the same magic feel as Murmur (meaning that the songs just aren't quite as good, I guess?), but, there is not shortage of outright jams. "Harborcoat" is your traditional R.E.M. jangle pop opener, followed by blatant hits (and seriously fantastic songs) "7 Chinese Bros" and "So. Central Rain." Quite a one-two-three punch, huh? "Time After Time (AnneElise)" is a sweet ballad with some nice single guitar string droning (a move that a almost always like). "Little America" is a bad ass closer. I'm beginning to bore myself here. Just about every song on Reckoning is good, and it is about as good of a follow-up to Murmur as you can ask for. It's just more proof of exactly how excellent the 1982-1987 run for these jangly guitar pop behemoths was.
Top jams: "Harborcoat," "7 Chinese Bros," "So. Central Rain," "Time After Time (AnnElise)," "Second Guessing," "Letter Never Sent," "Little America"
Firewater - Silkworm (Matador, 1996)
Between both bands that I have the pleasure of being in, three of my bandmates have preached to me the gospel of underappreciated indie rock legends, Silkworm, and especially their fourth album, 1996's Firewater. This past fall, with a stroke of luck, I found a used original pressing of the 2xLP at Flat, Black & Circular in East Lansing for $10, and, I now have a full understanding of how awesome that is. First off, the production, on Firewater, thanks to none other than Steve Albini, is unsurprisingly great: bare bones, big and roomy. The drum sound is interesting in that it showcases the big, roomy kick drum typical of Albini, but, the snare drum is a little more gentle than I'm used to from him in some places. Don't get me wrong, the drums, and everything else, still sound awesome. As for the actual songs, there are a lot of good ones. Firewater is another album that features a truly great one-two-three punch. "Nerves" is unquestionably my favorite song here and is the perfect way to open things up, and "Drunk" is a nice comedown with a cool, subtle build. Things get tense right away again with "Wet Firecracker," and the rest of the album continues this back-and-forth dance. There's no jam that reaches the level of "Couldn't You Wait?" here, and my complaint is that once again, this is an album that is too long and some fat could have been trimmed. There are a few too many jammy moments that I could do without. That being said, Firewater is still of a very high quality, and I understand why it is considered one of the great 90s indie rock records that deserves more love.
Top jams: "Nerves," "Drunk," "Wet Firecracker," "Cannibal Cannibal," "Quicksand," "Ticket Tulane," "The Lure of Beauty," "Drag the River," "Killing My Ass," "Caricature of a Joke"
More Songs About Buildings and Food - Talking Heads (Sire, 1978)
I would say that I love Talking Heads, but, I consider myself a poor fan. I own quite a few of their records, and, I do not spend enough time listening to them. I'm trying to put an end to that, and have decided to start with 1978's More Songs About Buildings and Food, which is awesome. At this point, the band was yet to touch on the afrobeat rhythms of Remain in Light (1980), and provide a brighter feel than on Fear of Music (1979). I guess I would describe this as a good ol' arty guitar pop record with elements of funk and post-punk. "The Good Thing" and "The Girls Want to be With the Girls" were the first two songs that stuck out to me, but, now, "Found a Job" definitely takes the cake thanks to the speedy funk guitar work and especially the beautiful string-y synth part that comes in for the closing 1:45. I surely see a lot more time dedicated to Talking Heads in my music listening future.
Top jams: "With Our Love," "The Good Thing," "Warning Sign," "The Girls Want to be With the Girls," "Found a Job," "I'm Not in Love," "Stay Hungry"
