Naked City, "Bonehead"
I can often write these little blurbs while each song is playing, as most songs give me enough time to bang out a little bit of garbage for you all to read. Naked City, though? Forget it. Should change their name to Pause City!
Girls Against Boys, "Super-Fire"
This is the opening of House of GVSB, the last album from Girls Against Boys for Touch and Go, not to mention their last good album. Their brand of driving, almost danceable post-hardcore was in fine form here, which makes it a shame that they fell off so hard.
Soundgarden, "Beyond The Wheel"
The first Soundgarden album, Ultramega OK, really showed off the metal and hard rock roots of grunge. There are really only moments on this record where you can see some of the punk and underground rock poking through. On later albums, Soundgarden would mix things up a little more, but as a document of where grunge came from, this is an important piece of the puzzle.
An Autumn For Crippled Children, "Hearts of Light"
Just a real dogshit name for this band. Really hesitated for a while before getting this album, and probably should have gone with my instinct, it never really clicked for me.
Built To Spill, "Conventional Wisdom"
Ancient Melodies of the Future certainly wasn't bad, but it kind of sounded like a slightly faded copy of Keep It Like A Secret, and I wondered if the band was out of steam. And, it sure seemd for a while like they were. They disappeared for five years, and I honestly thought they were gone. Doug Martsch released a solo record in 2002, and I figured that was it. But, 2006 saw the release of You In Reverse, and I tried to keep my expectations low so I wouldn't be disappointed. But it's pretty good! It's not their peak stuff, but it's a good, solid album, and it was nice to hear them back.