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. The Stylistics had a team that served … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Near Misses — “Heavy Fallin’ Out”
15. The Cure, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me (1987) Robert Smith had the whole history of the Cure in his head when he started writing songs for the band’s seventh studio album, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me. Of … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #15
Some weeks I scour all the new tracks that have been released by an amazing array of artists, agonizing over which song I’ll plop into this weekly feature. Some weeks, the phenomenal Shilpa Ray makes a recommendation on her Instagram, … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Frida Kill, “Last Ditch Effort”
The background information on The Window, the fifth and latest album by Chicago band Ratboys, suggests they knew they had material that would benefit from an added level of commitment. The quartet broke from the usual practice of recording in … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — The Window
Rather than type out a whole bunch of words, I will cede the floor to the Bard of Barking. Continue reading Happy Labor Day
16. Pretenders, Pretenders (1979) Chrissie Hynde had every reason to believe that a career in rock ‘n’ roll simply wasn’t going to work out for her. The native of Akron, Ohio had kicked around on the fringes of the music … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #16
Journalism fails miserably at explaining what is really happening to America by Will Bunch Until the mainstream news media comes to its collective senses and starts reporting with proper alarm on the Republican party’s cult-like adherence to despotic tendencies, writers … Continue reading Outside Reading — Burying the Lead edition
“Getting Bitter,” the new track from New Jersey–based band Teenage Halloween, is a chewy, chunky blast of pop punk. It call to mind the Beths when they’re in a louder mode, and that includes in the way the bouncy music … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Teenage Halloween, “Getting Bitter”
CABLE TIES All Her Plans (Poison City/Merge) — The Melbourne, Australia trio Cable Ties comes into their third album with a fine fury. All Her Plans opens with “Crashing Through,” which skews close enough to vintage Sleater-Kinney to flap anyone’s … Continue reading Medium Rotation — All Her Plans; I Inside the Old Year Dying
17. Thomas Dolby, The Golden Age of Wireless (1982) Upon its initial release, Thomas Dolby’s debut album had different track listings for its U.K. and U.S. versions. This was hardly an uncommon practice in the nineteen-eighties. What stands out all … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #17
Coffee for Two 