Release Date: 1994
Label: Up Records

      In the now long gone ’90s, Built to Spill dominated the indie rock scene alongside fellow pioneers Pavement and Modest Mouse. The term “indie” may be defecated upon in this day and age, but listening back to the golden years, it’s not tasking to pinpoint where it all started. However, even the great eras must come to an end. Pavement disbanded prior to the new millennium, and Modest Mouse found a new home and grander budgets underneath the wing of a little record label called Epic. Even Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel pulled away from the public eye after releasing In the Aeroplane Over the Sea—one of the most beloved triumphs in the indie scene. So what became of Built to Spill’s bearded frontman Doug Martsch? For starters, he consistently maintained his reputation as a powerhouse guitarist for nearly 20 years, outlasting various bands, projects and pipe dreams that most people with a guitar fantasize about. Although being one of the first to have his band defect from independent labels to find a home with Warner Bros., he fortunately retained as much creative control on a major label as he would have elsewhere. Most people don’t realize that 1997’s Perfect from Now On was the band’s Warner Bros. debut, clearly due to the fact that it doesn’t sound like a major label album. Despite that, at eight songs and nearly an hour long, it cemented their status as indie rock kings.

     Three years prior, Built to Spill quietly released a loud pop rocker on pseudo-legendary Up Records. There’s Nothing Wrong with Loveis an amazingly fun album to enjoy, probably as much as it was for the band to record. Martsch displayed an almost whimsical style to his lyrics at this time, focusing more on the direct subjects than the thought provoking ones. The opening verse to “Fling” features some surprisingly not-so-subtle sexual innuendo, while fan favorite “Car” is a substantial blueprint to the existentialism and analogical style that would be heavily explored on Perfect from Now Onand future endeavors. It goes without saying that the guitar riffs from one album to the next remained infectiously heavy, which above all else has become Built to Spill’s defining attribute. Not a lot of guys had the guts to perform guitar solos in the ’90s, but Martsch was determined to keep it in style.

     Take a trip back before when Warner Bros. owned the band, when the Brontosaurus took to the sky and step dads looked just like David Bowie. If this album was good enough for Pitchfork’s top 100 albums of the ’90s, it’s freaking good enough for you.

Release Date: 1999
Label: Warner Bros.

For years, (like many artists of the same massive cult status, i.e. Radiohead, or say, the Grateful Dead) the Lips have been delivering perplexing marvels in rock music. But the prevalent, expensive and fancy equipment were never an option for Wanye Coyne’s control. Even beyond the animal suits and dancing choirs, the exhibition of the Lips’ high standing capacity is actually more hands- on than you think.

Take Coyne’s paint splattered Calvin Klein suit, for example, or even his spray painted leaf blower “balloon machine.” The Lips have always had that intimate touch, through their music and beyond, and this is what makes The Soft Bulletin so special. It’s a constant tug upon your coattail, a small child longing for attention, or a passionate kiss. It’s a freaking kitten. Whatever it may seem, this record still gives me that sensation. From the opening’s glorious optimism, through the sincerity in “A Spoonful Weighs a Ton,” and to the driving essence of “Feeling Yourself Disintegrate,” it’s understandably unreal. Everything is contradictory, and it finds this way to totally make sense. It’s a trait the Lips have carried through their career because they realized it doesn’t have to make sense to mean something to someone else. The abstraction is 85% intentional. This was (probably) the factor that drove Spin Editor, Doug Brod, to claim he’s “not sure I’ve ever met anybody who didn’t like the Flaming Lips.” What is it about the Lips that keep us so personable with their music? The answer is found here.

Release Date: 1982
Label: Geffen/Warner Bros.

Following on the heels of the late 70’s punk rock movement, post-punk strikes again, but more lovingly.  As the album title suggests, A Kiss in the Dreamhouse paints the image of surreal romance and dark secrets. It was also recorded in what Banshee fans refer to as the band’s ‘experimental’ phase, which explains the crazy utilization of chimes, bells, synths, and vocal overdubs. But with the band’s musical aspirations totally unzipped, who knew the album would turn out so beautiful?

The record kicks off with frontwoman Siouxsie Sioux crooning angrily on the opener, “Cascade;” her voice ‘like liquid falling,’ literally. The emotion is almost intimidating, but vast craving only leads to the proceeding “Green Fingers,” accessible through its catchy flute riff, like a bright notion in a dark situation: a much needed release from the harsh emotion of the album’s opener. “She’s a Carnival” serves as the records harshly delicious gem, which accommodates to an astounding harmonized vocal threesome, all with Siousxie herself. Totally wild. To top it off, the band also included a blues track, “Cocoon,” soaked in a beautiful loungy bass-percussion intercourse. If there ever was a genre of surreal, new wave blues, this would probably be it. For an extra treat, the alternate versions of both “Fireworks” and “Slowdive,” along with the Workhouse demos of “Painted Bird” and “Cascade” are graciously included.

A Kiss in the Dreamhouse is completely breathtaking, holding imagination to its highest limits and bending experimentation through fleshing out the unconscience images in our own states of sleep. Sometimes it’s hard to leave, but Siouxsie and the Banshees don’t make it hard to come back. Waking up is no longer an option.

Release Date: 1987
Label: Rough Trade

The Smiths were more expansive than their generic name gave away. Does it even need to be mentioned what a great duo Morrissey and Johnny Marr made? To this day, they still refuse to tarnish their legendary years in the ’80s by reforming, as if anything could be done to ruin a band so flawless. With a cadence that dripped with sincerity and sex, Morrissey gave voice to a muted generation. There weren’t a lot of songwriters with the huevos to speak up about such sexual and personal subject matter before him; songs from human nature to comatose girlfriends and the every day life in between.

Strangeways, Here We Come is short, barely brushing past the 36-minute mark, but you’d be a fool to underestimate how much is packed into a half-hour with The Smiths. There are jams, ballads and anti-ballads that paint a vivid picture of mundane-yet-provocative life, and as mentioned prior, they are wildly relatable with Morrissey’s affection. Even from the song titles alone, there’s a certain atmosphere that’s dark and inviting for anyone yearning to dim the lights and take a closer look at themselves. Strangeways is introspective music at its finest.

Release Date: 2009
Label: Jagjaguwar

It’s clear that (most of the time) musicians should never reunite after 10+ years of an irresolute hiatus. With this, Dinosaur Jr. doesn’t apply. But there are a few problems: does it really seem not loud enough? I’ve already checked my volume levels and what is audible from these speakers can only be surmised as tame. Almost too tame. The critic side of me notes this as a fault, but the human side of me is heartbroken. Although Farm ranks second to 87’s You’re Living All Over Me, (and maybe between the quadrants of Bug or Green Mind ), there’s something that still isn’t there. The quiet-loud dynamic seems muffled, J Mascis’s guitar is louder than his voice (as usual), and through all of this I couldn’t even come up with another pot pie analogy. I’m stumped.

So let’s rewind to the Meat Puppets. Remember that album Rise to Your Knees? Remember how painful it was to listen to the opening track, realizing that your old, precious Curt Kirkwood seemed washed out and confused? I was as baffled as him. And it would be no exaggeration to say the memories of that record still haunt me, almost as much as Laura Dern’s face in Inland Empire. Although, through time I learned to forgive the Puppets, with this exception made solely on their proceeding, and most recent release, Sewn Together. The leak dropped, and I was in bliss. Each track complimented the next, beautifully reflecting ye olde Puppets days.

Farm is like Sewn Together. It’s the album that proves they’re still awesome, genuinely matured and ultimately proving they can in fact get back into the groove. Of course it’s not an all around accurate groove (circa ’87-’94), but it’s definitely there, and that’s enough. It’s like turning on a modern rock record, without reeking of the modern rock typicals. There aren’t any wussy ballads, the guitar is tastefully unclean and despite its protruding aggression, there are still emotional moments to be had –the chewy nougat, if you will. For me, that moment is in the last two minutes or so of “Ocean in the Way:” a complete flashback moment, so Green Mind-esque it makes you sick. You almost feel bad for Mascis, crooning gently as his instrument responds similarly, and (predictably) jumping into a complete resurgence of a classic Dino Jr. wallop.

The real reasoning for my less-than-perfect critique refers only to a few tracks. “I Don’t Wanna Go There” actually reminds me of a Pearl Jam song. And yes, there are several instances in this track where Mascis starts pulling an Eddie Vedder, but all is forgiven after another melodic and driving solo from J’s outrageously loud guitar, (and if you listen closely, you might actually hear some drums.) But the Vedder is only one of the many voices of Mascis. The classic Mascis is usually what I prefer, but in some occurrences you can detect the sort of secret grungy region, exemplified from a cracking voice, maybe a few grunts. Don’t try to hide behind that feedback crap, J, it’s obvious to see where those 90s bands learned to sing.

Complaints aside, I will always devote my heart to J Mascis’s voice. My shtick has usually been the creepy fangirl, anyway. And I don’t mind. It should be okay that I want to cuddle with his vocal chords, maybe take them out to a picture show, hope they’ll call me the next day and pray it’s not too Vedder-esque.

So after finally buying the album on vinyl and throwing on the double LP for careful consideration, I have categorically decided Farm is among one of the best Dinosaur Jr. records I’ve ever heard. They do what few bands can do after a 10 year hiatus. Dinosaur Jr. is beloved, and who certainly didn’t tarnish their legacy; this isn’t your stinkin’ Smashing Pumpkins revival.

Cool stuff to check out:
“Over It”
Myspace
The secret link

Release Date: 2008
Label: Sub Pop

Take away TV on the Radio, the new Lil’ Wayne and that Radiohead album, and it becomes clear why Fleet Foxes dominated last year’s countless ‘Best of’ lists. Though, it still remains difficult for anyone to compare the band’s two ‘08 releases, Fleet Foxes and Sun Giant. Given that Sun Giant is an EP, press released lists compacted the two records into one entry, but only with careful consideration could I root out the true gem of the duo.

Sun Giant’s tone ranges from the ambient humming of singer Robin Pecknold to the bouncing mandolin that rests on his knees. The album’s title track kicks off the record with a haunting a cappella, hymn-like tune dictating the singer’s own seasonal lifestyles: “What a life I lead when the sun breaks free/ As a giant torn from the clouds/ What a life indeed when that ancient seed is a berry watered and plowed.” As a follow up, “Drops in the River” concentrates more on the album’s slow but surely rising climax -a climax that can be both riveting and comfortably tense.

The things to keep in mind while listening to Sun Giant are really up to you. I’m prone to feel more isolated and at ease when I throw this record on, but there are still several things one can derive from the album itself. What makes Fleet Foxes’ sound so distinct is the beautiful atmosphere in their songs and the landscapes the music creates in your mind. Rich with vocal harmonies, calming sounds that create gorgeous pictures in your mind, and a general catchy sound that extracts from their folky-pop influences, it’s a fairly accessible format. However, this doesn’t alter the album’s quality or triumph in not sounding overproduced or dry: a true jewel of the sort.

Cool stuff to check out:
“White Winter Hymnal”
Myspace
The secret link