Preston School of Industry, "Blu Son"
This is some straight-up They Might Be Giants shit right here.
The Fiery Furnaces, "Guns Under the Counter"
Indie duo the Fiery Furnaces were a sister/brother act, dedicated to playing singular art rock. Employing a wide range of instrumentation, often within the same song, and rife with literate, obtuse storytelling, the Fiery Furnaces could be equal parts fascinating and exasperating. This comes from one of their more challenging albums, Rehearsing My Choir, which is their collaboration with their grandmother. Centered around her memories of growing up in Chicago, it's a meandering look into one family that can be interesting if you're paying attention but isn't something that you can just kind of throw on in the background.
Napalm Death, "Born On Your Knees"
Comparatively, this is a relatively normal song for Napalm Death, in that it actually sounds like a song. Sure, it's got the sections of grind that are stupid fast, but you can actually kind of follow it.
Steroid Maximus, "Cross Double Cross"
J.G. Thirlwell of Foetus and Wiseblood fame (oh, and Manorexia) is here with yet another of his aliases. Steroid Maximus is an instrumental project, producing music that kind of sounds like a soundtrack to a movie. Some sort of really pulpy adventure movie. This stuff is kind of the spiritual predecessor to Thirlwell's later, actual soundtrack work.
Less Than Jake, "You're The One That I Want"
We've commented on the tendency of ska and punk bands to play snotty covers of pop songs, and how they usually kind of suck. I present to you Greased, an EP of eight Less Than Jake covers of songs from Grease.