Weekly Listening Roundup #9

Prime Candidate for Burnout - Blenderhead (Tooth & Nail, 1994)
Blenderhead were one of the first truly underground Christian bands I ever got into, and what a statement their debut full length, Prime Candidate for Burnout, seemed to be. I remember how controversial the CD booklet seemed to me (this was back in 1997, before my 13th birthday, mind you). The cover featured a cartoon dude who looked to be in serious pain wearing a blender on his head. Inside, there was a photo of drummer Matt Johnson smoking a cigar, and later a picture of one of the band members pointing to another who's buttcrack was sticking out of his pants (though it was censored). Obviously, this is all laughable now, but Blenderhead's brand of messy, technical punk rock stilll seems pretty edgy for a Tooth & Nail release in 1994. The guitars are loud, screeching and dirty as shit, the drums are played with a tightness and skill level that is still impressive to this day and jeez, all that yelling! It's fun that I can still listen to it while appreciating it for all the same reasons I did before.
Top jams: "Escape Reason," "Cesspool," "Power Trip," "Purgatory," "Spare Change"


Muchacho Vivo - Blenderhead (Tooth & Nail, 1995)
Muchacho Vivo is Blenderhead's second album and features the same screeching guitars, technical drumming and intense vocals. It is all just recorded better and the tempos are a little slower. There are moments that are more dischordant and even difficult than Prime Candidate..., but the songs that are great are by far the band's best. While still being pretty punk rock, overall the record seems to lean to a little more of a post-hardcore or dare I say emo sound comparible to Jawbox a little, maybe?
Top jams: "Haven," "Tow Truck," "Vacancy," "Chicane Cardigan Smile," "Queen of the Day," "Breaking Skin"


Rock Action - Mogwai (Matador, 2001)
Post rock is so incredibly boring to me, but, somehow Mogwai completely nail it on Rock Action. It definitely helps that the album only has eight songs and clocks in at under 40 minutes. Also, there are vocals here and there, which doesn't hurt either. The band really doesn't do one thing wrong here, balancing between subtle electronic experimentation, mellow acoustic jam sessions and slow building epics. There is enough variation that keeps things interesting the whole time, and the album ends at the perfect time.
Top jams: "Sine Wave," "Take Me Somewhere Nice," "2 Rights Make 1 Wrong," "Secret Pint"


Loveless - My Bloody Valentine (Sire, 1991)
I bought Loveless from my friend Joel after I think he purchased it on vinyl back in early 2005. I felt it necessary that I own it if I consider myself a fan of underground music. I can count on one hand how many times I had listened listened to it in its entirety until now. Sure, there were always a select few jams that I really enjoyed, but the whole thing didn't hit me until the past few weeks. This album is a big, beautiful mess that is difficult to decipher what exactly is going on, but that's the point. I feel like every time I will ever listen to it, I will catch things I never have before (even though there aren't as many layers of guitars as people think, according to Mike McGonigal's 33 1/3 book about it). I still have a beef with how utterly boring the sampled drum beats are, but even I can look pass that when your guitars sound so frickin' awesome. Plus, I finally came around ot the fact that "Soon" is an incredible song.
Top jams: "Only Shallow," "To Here Knows When," "When You Sleep," "Blown a Wish," "What You Want," "Soon"


The Open Heart - New Grenada (Plumline, 2002)
The first time I had ever heard Detroit's New Grenada was back in March of 2004, when I saw them open for The Walkmen and French Kicks at the Magic Stick. At that point in my life, I guess I wasn't ready for kinda cute, messy indie pop of their kind. I was silly then, and maybe still am. I have only seen them live once since then (and I think it was just over a year ago), and though I wasn't really into the Model Citizen EP that they were releasing at said show, I wonder if there is potential for me to be a fan. Well, anyway, I'm glad I started with 2002's The Open Heart, because it is good. Sure, they do the 90s indie rock thing pretty well ala Pavement, a poppier Dinosaur Jr., etc. What really does it for me though is that a good portion of the songs bring to mind The Promise Ring, especially Nothing Feels Good-era. These songs are what totally make this record.
Top jams: "Fashion Disaster," "Steady Diet of Slayer," "Decoder," "Fuckfriends," "Zaxxon," "Commando," "Jenutley"