I remember Poi Dog Pondering’s debut album arriving at the college radio station amidst a lot of expectation. This was back when the number of outlets available to promote a new record were far more limited than in the case now, so I’m not quite sure how we got it in our heads that this was a release immediately worthy of my attention. It may have been as simple as the band’s unique gestation. Athens, Georgia and Minneapolis, Minnesota were well-represented on our airwaves, but we weren’t playing a lot from groups that got their start in Hawaii. They did have the full clout of Columbia Records behind them, so it’s entirely possible they were touted excitedly in Rolling Stone or Spin or one of the handful of other magazines that served as somewhat reliable sources for interesting new music on the horizon. Then again, maybe I’m wrong and the album was a totally mystery to us all until the Music Director gave it a spin and wrote a review that properly conveyed how very different it was from just about everything else we played.

I liked that first record, but for me it all really came together when their sophomore effort hit a year later. Wishing Like a Mountain and Thinking Like the Sea had all the striking characteristics of their debut–unique instrumentation, loping melodies, earnestly casual vocals, a genial sense of adventure that came across in every song–and added both a little more polish and a little more creativity. They didn’t rely on simply being different from the other bands angling for prime positions on the college rock charts, and instead found a way to vary their signature sound enough that it felt like the album could surprise at any turn. It was the sort of album that I loved as a college DJ: drop the needle anywhere (yes, this was when when had a sole CD player and only a meager collection to drop into it) and the album rewarding with a bright, clever song that was bound to be the highlight of the set.

At least that roaming around the track list is how I approached the album when it was in rotation. I’ll admit that when I pulled the album from the general music stacks later, I had to tendency to gravitate to one song in particular. “Spending the Day in the Shirt You Wore” so ideally captured the splendid flush of new romance, where every bit of the surroundings takes on a sort of previously unseen magic. As a college boy prone to moony crushes, I was especially susceptible to songs like this. To the degree that I can even accurately make a statement like this, “Sticking fingers on paintings to see the way they feel” is one of my favorite lyrics, evocatively capturing a whole range of emotions and adoring camaraderie in a single line.

Poi Dog Pondering, “Spending the Day in the Shirt You Wore”

(Disclaimer: It appears to me that Wishing Like a Mountain and Thinking Like the Sea is out of print as a physical item that can be purchased from your favorite local, independently-owned record store. It can be acquired as a digital release, but, you know, yuck. Who wants that. Besides, given the business strategies of the major labels, it’s highly unlikely that the band gets any money from that. Poi Dog Pondering has been put out self-released albums in recent years, so if you want to support the artist, prowling around on their website to purchase a newer album is undoubtedly the best way to do it. Regardless, this is posted with the belief that there’s no good way to purchase this song that provides due compensation to both the artist and the proprietor of the previously mentioned record store. If someone with due authority to request its removal from the internet contacts me with such a request, I will promptly and gladly comply.)