Finished a big thing at work, so let's celebrate Five Songs style! (sitting in a basement, drinking, listening to music through one headphone) HIT IT PLEXASAURUS REX!
TV/TV$, "Liberal 4 Me"
One day, I'm gonna put together "Screeching Weasel or Not Screeching Weasel?" as a quiz, and it's gonna be fuckin' hard.
Violent Femmes, "Kiss Off [Live]"
Violent Femmes is one of the grand treasures in all of modern rock, the purest distilled essence of teenage frustration, captured and frozen in amber for all time. "Kiss Off" is, of course, one of the highlights of that record (an album composed almost entirely of highlights), with its instantly memorable count-up section that everybody loves singing along to. It sincerely gives me chills.
However, this isn't from that record. This is the inessential live version from Add It Up, where, yes, you can hear a crowd singing along. But mostly, I'd rather be listening to the studio version.
The Grifters, "Junkie Blood"
Speaking of treasures, I'm sure I've sung the praises of The Grifters in the past, but I'm going to do so again. In the wake of Pavement's ramshackle genius debut album, there was a mini-boomlet in sloppy-ass indie rock bands playing noisy, messy, off-kilter stuff. And it would be easy to dismiss the Grifters as being part of that boomlet. But like Pavement, they knew that a loose, bent aesthetic didn't do any good if it wasn't backed up by some great songs. And while their debut was still finding their way, starting with 1993's One Sock Missing, they just killed it on record after record. This is from the following album, Crappin' You Negative, and it's just fantastic.
Aceyalone, "B-Boy Real McCoy"
More handclaps! Thank you!
The Goats, "Rovie Wade, The Sword Swallower"
The first Goats record had a circus theme, with the result of having interstitial stuff like this scattered on it. It's a strange record.
HELL YEAH DID YOU MISS INSIGHT LIKE THIS