Now where were we? Ah, yes…. 54. Suddenly, Tammy!, We Get There When We Do I originally intended to tap out a longer review of this particular release, but getting my ears on it proved as elusive now as it was for me then. I read a review of We Get There When We Do somewhere — most likely CMJ New Music Monthly — and immediate decided it was likely in my aural taste wheelhouse, probably because of comparisons with Juliana Hatfield (lead singer Beth Sorrentino sometimes sounds like a vocal twin) and a weakness for piano-based pop that compelled me … Continue reading College Countdown: 90FM’s Top 90 of 1995, 54-52

56. Rancid, …And Out Come the Wolves Rancid’s third album was greeted with an extremely rare A+ review in Entertainment Weekly (back when that publication still had some credibility), with writer Chuck Eddy asserting the Berkeley punkers made a “better Clash record than London Calling.” That is the very definition of a bold statement. I do understand the impulse Eddy felt to draw a straight line from the California punkers to The Only Band That Matters. Circa 1995, there was a lot of tug of war taking place over the legitimacy of different bands, especially in the punk realm. Now, that’s … Continue reading College Countdown: 90FM’s Top 90 of 1995, 56 and 55

59. Simple Minds, Good News from the Next World If I’d been forced to lay money on whether or not Simple Minds was still releasing new music in 1995, I would have placed my chips smack on “NO” and felt like I’d made a pretty safe bet. The band that peaked hard with the quintessential John Hughes soundtrack song one decade earlier never really stopped trying to outrace their biggest chart success, which came with the indignity of being the rare example of a track they recorded which they didn’t write themselves (they were at least the fourth different act … Continue reading College Countdown: 90FM’s Top 90 of 1995, 59-57

62. Moonpools & Caterpillars, Lucky Dumpling Lucky Dumpling was the one and only major label effort by California band Moonpools & Caterpillars, bookended by a couple of self-released albums. The Fillipino-American band, led by singer Kimmi Ward Encarnacion and guitarist Jay Jay Encarnacion, was supposedly signed to their Elektra Records contract when a label rep saw them opening for a different act that he’d actually shown up to scout. They had some modest success on the college charts, primarily with the single “Hear,” though it wasn’t enough to satisfy their new corporate bosses. Given a taste of the big time (and with bank … Continue reading College Countdown: 90FM’s Top 90 of 1995, 62-60