Descendents, "I Wanna Be A Bear"
There's only so much one can say about a 40 second hardcore song.
New Pornographers, "Champions of Red Wine"
From the New Pornographers' sixth album, Brill Bruisers, this album felt like something of a return to form for the band. I don't think Challengers or Together were bad, but they didn't really seem to have quite the same energy as their previous records. This song isn't a barn burner, but the record overall is quite good.
Tar, "Known Anomalies"
The opener from the final Tar record. There was no real reason for them to break up that I'm aware of, they had just run their course. Over and Out, that final record, turned out to be probably their best album overall, or at least their most consistent. It's not my favorite, which remains Jackson (a formative record for me), but this is still a great record.
Today Is The Day, "Black Dahlia"
Brainchild of demented guitarist Steve Austin (no, not that one) (no, not that one either), Today Is The Day is today mostly known (if it is at all) as a predecessor band to Mastodon. That's doing a disservice to the band, which combined metal elements and noise rock into something of a unique blend. Over a long career, Austin would move back and forth between more overt metal and focusing more on the avant garde, but that unpredictability is part of the fun. This song comes from their debut record, Supernova, making this two Amphetamine Reptile Records songs in a row.
Sebadoh, "Stored Up Wonder (Supernatural Force)"
How much is too much of a good thing? Sebadoh's III is one of the key releases in the 90s indie rock underground, a spawling lo-fi slacker masterpiece that tons of bands tried to imitate. And it's not hard to see why, it's an album stuffed with personality and great songs, even if those songs are sometimes kind of hidden by the sometimes lackadaisical attack. Like fellow underground titans Pavement, Sebadoh could be, let's say, overly generous in what they included on their albums.
So, why is this too much of a good thing? Well, III got reissued with an entire bonus disc, adding more tunes to an album that was already a double album and probably too big at that. This is one of those bonus tracks, and it's fine, but the reissue is kind of unnecessary. III is great, though.