An Ear For An Era: 1990

Another decade begins. I actually didn't have much of note from 1990. It was another case of the late 80s sounding more like what I think of the 90s than 1990, which sounds more like an extension of the late 80s. If that makes any sense. Like a regression or something. Still though, some stuff was pushing stuff forward. That's what I'm bothering to talk about here. Bah. Words.

Punk rock of 1990. The seeds of the popular punk rock of the mid-to-late-90s continued to be sowed. The self-titled album by Social Distortion is one I didn't actually have back in high school, but I did have their live album (to be released later) and considered myself a fan of several of these songs. This one kind of toes the line between punk and mainstream rock, was released on Epic Records, but it's got a lot of heart. And dig that Johnny Cash cover!

"You're not a punk and I'm telling everyone" "Save your breath, I never was one." Sorry Jawbreaker, but I'm going to file you under punk rock for now because Unfun has lots of <3 about="" album.="" album="" and="" call="" emo="" first="" i="" if="" jawbreaker="" ll="" minute="" my="" or="" post-hardcore="" prefer="" punk="" rock="" s="" something="" songs="" there="" this="" ultimately="" very="" was="" while="" you="">Bivouac
. Then I got Unfun and did not like it at all. It just seemed sloppy by comparison. But in retrospect I have come to quite enjoy a few of the songs on this album. It has most of the aspects I love about Jawbreaker, just in condensed formats.

Jawbreaker, "Down"

I guess I'll keep Fugazi in the "punk rock" section of this. Repeater is the definitive statement of the early works of Fugazi. +3 songs, which I have on vinyl as a 7" by the way! It's a pretty accessible album as far as Fugazi goes. I know it helped make a convert of my friend's little brother, as my friend proudly told me he caught him singing the title track. "Merchandise" is a good summary of the band's position on commercialism in music (and they lived up to that standard forever! Even when I finally saw them in 2001 it was a $6 show with no merch!), there are some great instrumentals featuring the rhythm section, plenty of energy, and what is possibly my favorite Fugazi song of their whole catalog... (here is an insane live version I found...I believe from the Instrument documentary)

Fugazi "Shut the Door"

How about that alternative scene that defined the 90s like how that new wave scene defined the 80s and that disco scene defined the 60s?

I feel like Goo is Sonic Youth's most popular album but I have no idea what that's based on. About as poppy as you get from Sonic Youth I think, which is not very. But "Kool Thing" features Chuck D, so that's pretty damn cool. I think it's the playfulness that gives me that impression. After Daydream Nation it's kind of refreshing to just have faster, simpler songs with almost a punk rock vocal delivery. Not that that's a particularly apt description of the full album, but it fits the mood that I get from it in general with songs like "Mary-Christ" and "My Friend Goo."

I picked up the Treepeople album Guilt Regret Embarrassment the first time I visited Seattle. I had looked for Treepeople all over in Denver but had no luck. I'd been kind of a fan of Built to Spill so I wanted the earlier incarnation. It's definitely a harder edged version of BTS and suits the pre-grunge or whatever era this was. Very lo-fi and rocking. But the melody in there, such as the one in this song, is what keeps me coming back.

Treepeople "Every Time When I Fall Down & My Head Hits the Floor Hard"

They Might Be Giants will go here for whatever reason. Completely different from their surroundings but that may make them the most alternative of all! Flood was their big album (lots of big popular albums this year!) with their big hits. I can't get enough of those big hits, "Particle Man" and "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" and someday when I have a kid I'm totally going to make him/her listen to "Whistling in the Dark" because as I said earlier, that's the kind of nerdy I want my child to be. (Here they are on MTV performing it...technically in 1989. MTV must have been actually pretty awesome back then if they had this!)

They Might Be Giants "Whistling In The Dark"

The Breeders' album Pod kind of showcased Kim Deal's songwriting skills as she was kind of overlooked by the Pixies. Plus they covered "Happiness is a Warm Gun!" But what I really love about The Breeders are the harmonies the Deal sisters create. And I'll have more to say about Last Splash in 1993.

The Pixies' quality didn't exactly drop off a cliff after Doolittle. Bossanova still has a lot of creativity going into it, plenty of three-star songs, and a few that have lots of energy. It's just not quite there though. I don't know if they were trying to get more popular or what. It feels like a retread of ideas from the earlier albums though without being as quirky or dynamic. Almost going through the motions. Especially toward the end of the album, it just starts to wear off. I feel like I'm being overly critical but they raised the bar so much that it's going to be disappointing when they slide under it.

Speaking of influences on Nirvana, the few Daniel Johnston songs I have from 1990 are among his best. "Some Things Last A Long Time" is very sweet and simple, but the most sweet and simple track is this one. I had some good friends dance at their wedding to a cover of this song and it was just perfect. This is the polar opposite of the cynicism and sarcasm of the coming 90s.

Daniel Johnston "True Love Will Find You In The End"

Other stuff about things:

• The Vandals' Fear of a Punk Planet took me back to high school a little bit. Closer to the Vandals that I actually listened to then.
• Strangely the only hip hop I had of 1990 was two Public Enemy songs off Fear of a Black Planet. One is "911 is a Joke," which is an ok Flava Flav song. The other is the gigantic song that reminds me of Do The Right Thing, "Fight The Power." Great song there.
• I have a bunch of songs from some sort of post hardcore band called Pitchfork. Not bad. I wonder what rating they would get on Pitchfork.
• A song called "Pizza Power!" TMNT!
• Some Simpsons songs came up. I was a gigantic Simpsons fan. The whole family was. I'll say more about it when we get to that Simpsons Sing The Blues album in 1991.
• I kind of got bored listening to Sinead O'Connor's I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got (probably just because I was driving on a sunny day and would have rather listened to something upbeat) but that "Nothing Compares 2 U" cover is pretty phenomenal.
• Some more Mr. T. Experience...Making Things With Light isn't quite there for me but it's not bad either.
• Boom Chicka Boom is considered one of those lesser Johnny Cash albums, but it includes a song Elvis Costello wrote for him, "Hidden Shame," so that's rad. 

Next Time:

The 90s kick into high gear! Or whatever! That golden age of hip hop in the 90s I've heard of has to be this age, with albums from De La Soul, Del the Funky Homosapien, DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, Gang Starr, Main Source, Organized Konfusion, and A Tribe Called Quest. Also another quality Elvis Costello album, Punk rock keeps going different directions with Fifteen, Fugazi, that Jawbreaker album I mentioned earlier, The Jesus Lizard, Nation of Ulysses, Skankin' Pickle!, and Slint... Fishbone has a big popular album, and good ol' Magnetic Fields make their first appearance! Oh and My Bloody Valentine. And some album called Nevermind. At 465, 1991 is the highest number of songs for any year so far (although that number gets way bigger as we move along)

An Ear For An Era: 1986

How are we already past the halfway point of the 80s? I actually have surprisingly little 80s music relatively. Don't worry, we'll be slowing down soon. Here's 1986.

A big deal was the introduction to The Beastie Boys. License to Ill came out way back here! When hip hop was Run-DMC and Fat Boys. I don't know, I knew they were early but this is kind of crazy considering how long they stayed relevant. They like to say their names in their songs, don't they? It's hip hop for suburban white kids but it's done with passion and respect for the craft. Not that it was particularly more advanced than what Run-DMC was doing (this was the year of "It's Tricky") but they managed to keep their take on it cool for decades. Props for that.

You know who else has a band name of two B words? Big Black. I felt a little guilty listening to Big Black on an ipod but such is the nature of this project. Maybe I'll do a vinyl version one day. Anyhow, Big Black just killed it with intensity on Atomizer. Like, Kanye, Yeezus was a great album and I'ma let you finish...but Atomizer is the most intense industrial record of all time! Yes, the drum machine named Roland that sounded like a machine gun and guitars that sounded like they were being played with locomotives along with Albini's signature snarl, it's some heavy stuff man. Sorry I'm posting the most popular song in this case, but if that's what it takes to get converts so be it. Also sorry I'm posting a youtube instead of a physical record. Come over sometime and we'll listen to all sorts of Albini on wax.

Big Black "Kerosene"

Such a curiosity Enjoy! by The Descendents is. Two tracks are devoted to the most juvenile humor which I don't find enjoyable at all. There are some great pop songs on there though to balance it out. And then there are some kind of art punk tracks on here that just elevate it to such a different level. And I quite love those arty tracks (one is almost 8 minutes long!); it's just a weird collection.

I think The Edge Of The World is my favorite Mekons album. It recalls the Pogues in how the songs just beg to be sung along to. You just want to be with a big crowd of like minded people to sing these. The album has a lot of variety but that underlying aspect follows through the whole album. Listening to it, the word "shanty" came to mind. These songs are shanties. Appropriately enough, here's another song for my wake.

The Mekons "Shanty"

They Might Be Giants' self-titled debut is just so perfectly nerdy. If I ever have a child I'm going to play a lot of this band because that's the style of nerd I want to raise. A bit kitchen sink and very clever. The other thing to say about this album is that as much informed by the 80s as it seems, I'm having a hard time resolving in my head that this came out the same year as the other things. The other things are oldies. TMBG seem contemporary and/or timeless. Both.

Paul Simon. Graceland. One of those guys that you can just listen to and marvel at the lyrics. And it's pretty catchy. The appropriation of African musical styles seems a little less grating when Paul Simon does it than when Vampire Weekend did it, but I don't know if i have a justifiable reason for saying that. But you can be my bodyguard...

Nick Cave, post Birthday Party...he's got The Bad Seeds! Sure, it's album #4 with them, but I guess it's the first thing in my collection. Another glaring omission I'm sure some of those albums are. But Your Funeral...My Trial has to be one of the best. The creepiness and intensity from The Birthday Party is still there, just in a (very slightly) more subtle format. It kind of reminds me of Tom Waits' output from this era in its own odd way...just the circus and loopiness and intensity. The songs just create settings for a theatre bizarre thing to go down inside.

My favorite singer/songwriter of all time is still Elvis Costello. I haven't had much to say about his output of the past few years but boy did he turn it around in 1986. Two albums, vastly different, that happen to be my two favorite albums of his. First was King of America, notably missing the Attractions. In their place were some legendary American studio musicians that would be collectively known as The Confederates. But yeah, whatever. I don't need to re-hash the wikipedia entry here. This album is one of my favorites because I prefer his ballads and it hits all the right notes for Costello ballads while still being all over the place. The sorrow in hope. The romantic hopelessness. It's optimism about contradictions. It's also something about his delivery, the passion behind it. In 1986 you could feel every tear in his vocals (this is true whichever homonym for "tear" you use).

(If I could find a youtube video of the studio version of "I'll Wear It Proudly" it would be here. Find it on spotify or whatever because it's great!)

I don't want to be a gossip, but that passion had to have been at least partially inspired by some turbulence that was happening at the time...the break up of The Attractions paired with his blossoming relationship with/marriage to Cait O'Riordan. The best art comes out of turbulence. And Blood and Chocolate...that's turbulence. I guess it's kind of ironic that this is the album that reunited him with Nick Lowe as well as The Attractions, as it's nothing but tension and would be the last album with any of those parties for a while (not to mention his record label). Such a great break-up/kiss-off album that helped me through some tough times in college. There's fire here reminiscent of his early albums but with a wiseness that he couldn't have pulled off a decade earlier. But the wiseassness of those early days is there as well in songs like "I Hope You're Happy Now," probably the most helpful track of them all when dealing with a breakup. Even the ballads are either sarcastic (Home Is Anywhere You Hang Your Head) or downright creepy (I Want You). Those two tracks are back-to-back and will get the listener comfortable in their atmosphere before the jolt of "Honey, Are You Straight or Are You Blind?" (possibly the closest link to classic 70s Attractions) clears the palate for the brutal and confrontational back half. King of America might be my favorite 15-song-sequence but "Blue Chair" through "Next Time Round" is five songs of perfection. And all of this tension in the production of the album, the tension of what I assume was Elvis' mindset in these days, it all comes down to this song here. There were two very different takes of the track and rather than eventually pick one to put on the album they were spliced together in a not-so-subtle fashion. Two opposing sides. Forced together uncomfortably and...it just fits.

Elvis Costello and The Attractions "Battered Old Bird"

Other things:

• Kronos Quartet have also been around forever! They've gotten pretty cool with the indie rock kids these days, but even back in 1986 they were reaching out to the rock & roll audience with a cover of "Purple Haze" done Kronos Quartet style.
• More Scratch Acid! Their 1986 output was pretty varied stylistically. Lots of different things going on, almost to the point of being poppy at times. Only a few choice intensely hardcore tracks. It's an interesting progression. Of course I prefer the ones where they go all out like "Flying Houses"
• Last week while I was listening to 1986 there was some really really bad traffic due to snow and subzero temperatures. And then this song by Mojo Nixon came on and I just wanted to do exactly what he said in the song. (Damn it "Get Out Of My Way" isn't on youtube either!)
• The Dischord/DC scene was changing all the rules of hardcore these days, wasn't it? One Last Wish seemed to be Guy Picciotto's next band after Rites of Spring. And other Rites of Spring members. The 1986 EP (not actually released until 1999 but I figured I'd follow the recording date in this case) is full of short songs and matches the intensity of RoS. And short-lived Ian MacKaye project Egg Hunt put out a couple songs that serve as a pretty good bridge between Minor Threat and Fugazi without really sounding anything like either. And other bands were pushing things forward, but I don't feel qualified to fully squish all of that information here.
• You know who was probably a bigger influence on those emo whatever bands of the early 00s? The Smiths. Talk about whiny! But I still quite love a few of their tracks even if it took me a while to come around to them. The Queen Is Dead is the album of 1986 but of course my favorite track is non-album track from that Louder Than Bombs compilation "Ask." Probably because I have shyness and it's a comfort for that.
• A Kind of Magic by Queen is kind of a mix between their rock tendencies and pop tendencies. There seems to be a one, singular vision to this song, an overarching theme of oneness. Very cohesive.
• Ok maybe Polka Party isn't a Weird Al "classic" but I still have very specific memories about listening to the tape in my dad's truck. Listening now I'm a little less enthused about the majority of this album, but "Dog Eat Dog" may be one of his greatest songs. A Talking Heads style parody, it was my introduction to that legendary band and he gets it just right.
• One of my favorite Prince jams! Kiss!
• Another year, another great song from Carmel: "I'm Not Afraid Of You." Dark brooding music but hopeful and ultimately just a super strong anthem.
• David Bowie. "Magic Dance" from Labyrinth. This is where our culture was in 1986.
• Sonny Sharrock's "Broken Toys" is some great jazz guitar. Not that I know anything about jazz guitar besides Sonny Sharrock. 

Next Time 'Round...
Boogie Down Productions AND Eric B & Rakim! Hip hop's game keeps getting stepped up! Favorite Cure album! Dag Nasty. Dinosaur Jr. Appetite for Destruction. Operation Ivy stuff. Some band called the Pixies? I finally get to another Sonic Youth album? And who's this Yo La Tengo?? And no Weird Al album in 1987??