Flop, "Anne"
If you're a longtime reader/listener of Five Songs, first, I deeply apologize. But second, you're probably tired of me moaning about how Flop was unfairly ignored when they were active. Well, guess what? They were! I'll keep saying it, because dammit, the world needs to know.
Also, I thought the name of this album was & the Fall of the Mousesqueezer for a really long time until someone on Usenet corrected me.
Public Service Broadcasting, "Spitfire"
The debut release for Public Service Broadcasting, which is kind of post-rock and kind of Kraftwerk, overlaid with vocals that are all dervied from old public service broadcasts. Hence the name. Anyway, I'm a sucker for vocal samples, and I like the synth stuff, so I enjoy this. I guess I'm also a sucker for a high concept band. I'm a sucker!
New Bomb Turks, "Spanish Fly by Night"
This is just a throwaway, but I'd like to just mention that I appreciate the New Bomb Turks doing the Jeopardy "Before and After" thing with song titles. "Born Toulouse-Lautrec" will always be the best of that genre, though.
Helmet, "Driving Nowhere"
Aftertaste was kind of a back-to-basics record for Helmet, after some exploration on Betty. But it doesn't really work, unfortunately. Without the rawness of the first record (and, to a lesser extent the second), it just feels kind of flat. I'm not sure if it's all down to the production, or if the songs don't have enough surprises, but it just ends up feeling like background music. Not unpleasant, but not super inspiring. Although I do like the solo in this song.
Stubborn All-Stars, "Tired of Struggling"
We're finding the Stubborn All-Stars in a rocksteady mood here, off what I think is probably their most consistent record, Back With a New Batch. As always, I think the best bands of the third wave were the most traditional ones, so this record hits me right.