6 May 2013 - The Darling Buds - Crystal Clear

I am thinking of making May 6th Darling Buds Day. After all, last May 6th, I posted a video of theirs under the Guilt-Free Sunday hashtag.

This song gets no such hashtag.  In fact, this was the song - and video - in which the Darling Buds had the exact opposite reaction to being lumped in with all the other vaguely rock-and-roll alternativesque British bands led by blonde lead vocalists - c'mon, I've told you about this before.  They ran right toward it.  They got poppier, less dark, and tried to be mainstream.  This pursuit led to the band's implosion, but that's another story.

As far as this song, from the great Crawdaddy album.... well, it's just poppy fun, and there's nothing wrong with that.  The video is a little odd, but hey. So, enjoy it.

5 de Mayo 2013 (Special Edition) - Liz Phair - Cinco De Mayo

Cinco de Mayo is celebrated in Mexico in the state of Puebla to celebrate the 5 May 1862 victory of the Mexican over the French in the Battle of Puebla.  It is not widely celebrated in Mexico outside of American tourist traps, and is not a Mexican federal holiday. So, let's celebrate the little-known Mexican holiday that is propped up by American retailers of Mexican beer by enjoying this jangle-pop classic, not about the battle of Puebla, but about a fizzled love, by Liz Phair.

3 May 2013 - Soul Asylum - Can't Even Tell

At one point in my life, I was a really big fan of Soul Asylum.  Hang Time was a fantastic album.  Fantastic.

Then they followed up that album with ....And The Horse They Rode In On.  Which wasn't all that good and was the beginning of the commercial success that would lead to me not being able to stand them.

Then came 1994.  The album I consider to be their comeback - Let Your Dim Light Shine - was still a year in the future.  Kevin Smith made a little movie called Clerks and commissioned Soul Asylum to do the song for the closing credits.

The result?  A nihilistic song about seizing the day that was an instant classic.  I've been a fan ever since.

2 May 2013 - The Soup Dragons - Divine Thing

I honestly can't remember the last time I put on Hotwired (or Lovegod for that matter) by The Soup Dragons. We used to listen to those albums all the time in college (I'm dating myself again here aren't I?). Heck, I actually saw them twice on their tour with James in 1992. Or was it 1993? It doesn't matter. It was a whole lot of fun . . . as is this video.

1 May 2013 - The Breeders - Cannonball / Safari

For most of you, this was your first and only meeting with The Breeders.   Which is all well and good.  It was a great song - still is.  It is a modern rock classic, with a great double guitar, a  very distinctive bassline by the under-appreciated Josephine Wiggs, and a catchy vocal by Kim Deal.


For me, it was a letdown.  I knew what they had been less than a year prior.

The Breeders were a modern rock supergroup, featuring the aforementioned Kim Deal (of The Pixies), Jo Wiggs (of The Perfect Disaster), and the woefully under-appreciated guitarist Tanya Donelly (at this point, of Throwing Muses).  Their first album, Pod, was a very dark, sparsely-produced (by Steve Albini) classic.  After that album, Kim's twin sister, Kelley, joined on guitar.  And, for one EP - Safari - they all stayed together.  And they rocked and rocked hard.



After the Safari EP, Tanya left to form Belly.  And her absence was noted by people who were in the know. I mean, don't get me wrong - The Breeders were still really good.  They just weren't the same band.  The band even went on to re-record one of the Safari songs for the Last Splash album - "Do You Love Me Now?" - and it was good..... but a little bit of a letdown.

30 April 2013 - Devo - Girl U Want

When the Wicked Guilty Pleasures mind goes blank, there's only one true way to snap out of it -- look to the 80s. So here's wacky Akron new wavers Devo with a video from their Freedom of Choice album from 1980. Of course the big hit from that album was Whip It, but Girl U Want is way cooler. See for yourself.

29 April 2013 - The Juliana Hatfield Three - Spin The Bottle

I remember the last time I saw Juliana Hatfield.  

September 15, 1995.  Water Street Music Hall.  Rochester, NY.

Why do I so clearly remember a date in a random club on a random Friday night nearly 18 years ago?  Well, that, my friends, is an interesting story.   I was married on September 16, 1995.  This show was the closest thing I ever had to a bachelor party.  My friend Jim was there, as was my friend Mike.  (As it turns out, someone I met 16 1/2 years later was also there, but that's another story I'm not telling today).

Jim was fond of telling everyone that I was getting married the next day.  There was one young lady - who I think was taking a shining to me - who was quite adamant that I was far too young to be getting married.

The show itself was pretty good.  I wish she would have done more early stuff - she did one Blake Babies song ("Nirvana", which also appeared on her first solo album in a different form) - but it was pretty good.  After the show, Jim grabbed one of the setlists off the stage and was hell-bent on meeting Juliana and having her sign it.  I, having met Juliana in the past and not finding her all that congenial, wasn't so keen on that, but we did it anyway.

And Jim told her I was getting married the next day.

Her reply.  "Aren't you a little young to be getting married?"

Sigh.

She wasn't wrong, sadly.

This song is a cute little diddy from the Reality Bites soundtrack, with a lot of guest stars in the video.  The subject matter - playing Spin The Bottle with a semi-famous person - is a little strange, but it makes for a cute song.  With a guitar hook that builds as the song builds momentum..... the whole tune just oozes excitement.  So, get excited!