“Sweet Stripe!,” the new single from Brooklyn-based band Stay Inside, feels like it starts in midstream. The guitars are already churning, the beat is already pulsing, the very thought of the song is fully formed. From there, it’s a roaring … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Stay Inside, “Sweet Stripe!”
8. R.E.M., Document (1987) R.E.M. had a message to convey and, more than was previously the case, they wanted to ensure they were understood. Across their first four studio albums, the immediate icons of college rock established and cultivated a … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #8
Dowsing is officially based in Chicago, but the individual members of the quartet are currently spread across four different states. So the decision to title their fifth proper album, their first new studio effort in four years, No One Said … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Dowsing, “It Was Easy”
SLOWDIVE Everything Is Alive (Dead Oceans) — Like a lot of folks, the members of Slowdive have come through a tough couple of years. There were the usual lockdown woes to be sure. They also faced down the deaths of … Continue reading Medium Rotation — Everything Is Alive; Relentless
9. The Sugarcubes, Life’s Too Good (1988) Everyone in the band Kukl knew that knew that they’d reached the end. The group formed in Reykjavík, Iceland, in the summer of 1983. Initially meant as an one-off for the final episode … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #9
The Canonization of Lou Reed by Jeremy Lybarger Writing for The New Republic, Jeremy Lybarger reviews the new biography Lou Reed: The King of New York and uses the occasion to write more broadly about the life, career, and enduring … Continue reading Outside Reading — Caught Between the Twisted Stars, the Plotted Lines, the Faulty Map edition
“TWENTYSOMETHING,” the new single from Los Angeles act talker, is a breezy blast about young adult misery. The band is the creative outlet of Celeste Tauchar, and she blazes through this headlong track that offers a litany of very modern … Continue reading This Week’s Model — talker, “TWENTYSOMETHING”
BE YOUR OWN PET Mommy (Third Man Records) — There was a time, not so long ago, when bands that made a mighty racket were expected to hang up their well-weathered Chucks when they reached a certain age. Stepping away … Continue reading Medium Rotation — Mommy; Jump for Joy
These posts are about the songs that fell just short of crossing the key line of chart success, entering the Billboard Top 40. Every song featured in this series peaked at number 41. There were a few ironclad rules of … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Near Misses — “Back to Paradise”
10. R.E.M., Reckoning (1984) R.E.M. got off to an impressive start with their debut LP, Murmur. The quartet from Athens, Georgia made the record with only modest expectations and a keen awareness that their spare, cerebral music wasn’t exactly aligned … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #10
Coffee for Two 