Skankin' Pickle, "Hit My Brain"
Yes, the band is named Skankin' Pickle. No, there are essentially no depths that the third wave wouldn't sink to in terms of naming themselves. Yes, this kind of sounds like an outtake from an early Chili Peppers album. But, you know what? They had some good tunes! They really did! One day we'll get them (today is not that day).
Mike Park of the band also went on to found Asian Man Records, who are, somehow, still going. So have some respect! Or at least as much as you can muster for an outfit named "Skankin' Pickle".
Less Than Jake, "Mr. Chevy Celebrity"
Yes, that's right shuffle, Asian Man DID release records by Less Than Jake! But not this one. I love identifying someone as being, yes, the guy currently pissing in your lawn.
Pond, "You're Not An Astronaut"
Pond's third album, Rock Collection, had the misfortune to hit as the major label grunge bubble was deflating. Sony put the album out and then pretended that it had as as yet undiscovered disease, leading it to disappearing without a trace. And it's such a shame, as it's so chock full of both inventive songs, careful dynamics, and plenty of genuine emotion. It's a glorious album, and I'm not sure anybody besides me really remembers it. Despite reaching the peak of their artistic form, Pond never made another album, one of the great shames of 90s rock.
Powerrun, "Pulse of the Night"
OK, so, there's something called vaporwave which, as far as I can tell, is what you get when a bunch of extremely online people bolt extra irony onto retro 80s synth music. From vaporwave have come a whole series of other wave scenes, the proliferation of which is impossible to track. Anyway, Powerrun definitely fit into one of those scenes. I'm not sure which one. At any rate, this sounds like it's the background to a high quality montage in an 80s action movie, so it's plenty fun.
Helms Alee, "Grandfather Claws"
Seattle's own Helms Alee always seem to have a foot in multiple camps. At times sounding like sludge metal, at others like shoegaze, and at yet others like noise rock, their fluid embrace of many forms of heavy music makes for interesting albums. Here, they're more towards the noise rock end of the spectrum.