The Beatles, "It Won't Be Long"
With The Beatles is easily my least listened to album from them. It's kind of hard to construct the thought process that would lead me to throw it on, honestly.
House of Rhythm, "Rudi"
There's more than a little first wave in House of Rhythm, making them something of an outlier from the rest of the third wave of ska. That's a common comment you'll find on a lot of the third wave bands we get here, and that's because I tried to seek out the ska bands, rather than the ska-punk and ska-adjacent stuff.
Homeboy Sandman & Edan, "#NeverUseTheInternetAgain"
I was so thrilled to hear Edan making music again, so Humble Pi was one of my favorite records of 2018. This is probably my favorite tune on the album, the beat is so tasty.
Couch Slut, "Carousel of Progress"
Couch Slut is probably the most Amphetamine Reptile band going today that I'm aware of, and that is about the highest compliment I can pay a band.
El Ten Eleven, "We Don't Have A Sail But We Have A Rudder"
Yet another quirk here at Five Songs is our love for rock duos. Usually, it's an admiration at the quantity of noise they can throw out, or how the stripped down arrangements can really highlight the rhythms. El Ten Eleven are in a different vein than most of these acts, playing instrumental post-rock (usually). Also, all this stuff here is played without overdubs. Through liberal use of looping and multiple instruments, they manage to put out a lot more sound than seems possible.