Introduction
Five Songs, 9/14/2020
Five Songs

Five Songs, 9/14/2020

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Look, this is every day-ish.

A Forest of Stars, "A Blaze of Hammers"

This is A Blog of Gummi Worms.

Kings Destroy, "W2"

I want to say this was from a Humble Bundle? It's kind of plodding, and sort of sounds like something that should only be played in the background by some kids playing D&D.

The Channels, "To The New Mandarins"

After the end of Jawbox, J. Robbins primarily focused on being an engineer and producer. This did not stop him from leading a whole string of bands, including Burning Airlines, Office of Future Plans, and today's band, The Channels. Surprising nobody, this sounds a lot like a J. Robbins record. To my ears, it sounds the most like the final Jawbox record. The Channels only put out this one album, but it's a good one, and it should go on your list if you like his stuff.

Eddie Floyd, "Don't Tell Your Mana (Where You've Been)"

Bring back parenthetical song titles (they're fun)!

This song, from Stax's middle period, is pretty different from a lot of singles from the label at this time. It's more pop than the usual Stax song of the period. But of course it sounds great.

The Presidents of the United States of America, "Volcano"

After hits like "Lump" and "Peaches", the Presidents quickly became famous. Laughably, some even tried to lump them in with grunge, under the assumption that every rock band from Seattle must be grunge. However, their hit songs were goofy enough that I think most people viewed them as a novelty band. They quickly produced a followup record which did nothing to kill the novelty band label.

However, I think that's really selling them short. Yes, most of their songs are very silly, if you are paying attention to the lyrics. But it's not just to be wacky, it's all genuinely good-natured fun. And the songs on the first couple of records are just delightful, tuneful pop-rock. I actually think the second album is better than the first, and this song is one of the highlights of it. If you haven't given this album a listen, you could do a lot worse with your time. Maybe something light-hearted would do you good?

Joshua Buergel
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