Elliott Smith - "Division Day" 7"

Elliott Smith – “Division Day” 7”

Suicide Squeeze, 1997

Acquired: Love Garden, New, 2004

Price: $4

“Division Day” provides stark contrast to the bleak, depressive tracks on the “Needle in the Hay” single. After his eponymous second album, Elliott Smith lightened up a bit. He embraced his pop sensibilities and started turning out brighter, more upbeat fair like “Division Day.” That’s not to say he all together abandoned the sad, low key stuff, but the balance of the two styles on his third album, Either/Or, makes that record his best. “Division Day” is the missing link between that record and his major label debut XO, and is a solid top-ten track from a discography so consistent and excellent that compiling such a list would be akin to pulling teeth. B-Side “No Name #6” is a throwback to his earlier records, but has enough skip in its step to keep anyone from being bummed out. Overall this 7” is a delight.

Mealticket - "Lisa Marie" 7"

Mealticket – “Lisa Marie” 7”

Asian Man Records, 1997

Acquired: Asian Man Records Mailorder, New, 2002
Price: $~.50

 

Yet more late 90s ska-punk from the Asian Man Records box I bought 12 years ago. This one is strange, because not only does the band sound quite a bit like early No Doubt, they look the part too! It’s eerie. I’m thinking maybe ska horns are the cheesy sax solo of the 90s, given how perfectly they date this music. Seconds after dropping the needle I was taken back to those halcyon days where I was 12 years old. Mighty Mighty Bosstones were all the rage and the Baseketball (featuring a couple rightous jams from Reel Big Fish) was constantly being blasted from my portable boom box (running on the power of 6 D batteries). It was a good time, but this music only serves my nostalgia. These songs are fun and the lyrics have some charm, but that’s about their only positive function. 

"Lisa Marie"

Low - "Venus" 7"

Low – “Venus” 7”

Sub Pop, 1997

Acquired: Love Garden, Used, 2008

Price: $3

 

As far as I can tell, the “Venus” 7” falls somewhere between the band’s early breakout albums Long Division and The Curtain Hits the Cast and two of their best albums: Secret Name and their masterpiece, Things We Lost in the Fire. What we get on “Venus” is the sound of a band who has just figured it out, and it’s wonderful. I have long admired Low for their ability to just as compelling as any major indie rock band while playing at half the speed. The benefit is an atomosphere and moodiness unrivaled in the realm. “Venus” is a stunning example of the magic that happens when Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker harmonize. It’s not as epic as some of their later tracks, but there is something about the quaintness of this track that puts my heart at ease. It’s just so easy to love, but then again, so is Low. Kudos to them for staying relevant and continuing to make kick ass records (most notably 2007’s sparse and haunting “Drums & Guns” and most recently, the absolutely teriffic The Invisible Way). B-side “Boyfriends & Girlfriends” is a spare and hypnotic dirge that forecasts towards the darker edge of Low’s discography.  

"Venus"


"Boyfriends & Girlfriends"

Li'l Pit - "Feeling Good" 7"

Li’l Pit – “Feeling Good” 7”

Kill Rock Stars,

Acquired: Love Garden Shotgun Room, Used, 2008

Price: $.25

 

No doubt, I grabbed this little baby from the Love Garden Shotgun Room because of the KRS and because of the Mike Watt on Stand Up Bass. Watt also produced this strange attempt at cool jazz by alt-rockers (Porno For Pyros’ Stephen Perkins dishes up drums on this one). Leave “Feeling Good” to Nina Simone, I say. This one’s a bass-heavy wash. For kicks, here is the record's ancient website from Mike Watt's hootpage circa 1997s.

feelin' good from lil pit on Myspace.

sometimes I'm happy from lil pit on Myspace.

Korea Girl - "Reunion" 7"

Korea Girl – “Reunion” 7”

Asian Man Records, 1997

Acquired: Asian Man Records Mail Order, New, 2002

Price: ~$.50

 

I don’t know why I always think any Asian Man Records release I put on my turntable is going to be ska punk. Though AMR released a bunch of ska-punk in the 90s (great ska punk, I might add, because I’m assuming you thought it didn’t exist), they also gave shelter to a burgeoning Alkaline Trio and more recently Laura Stevenson & the Cans, Lemuria, and Dog Party. Socially conscious punk rock for the win. Korea Girl offer up more of a understated, post-grunge, mid 90s indie rock. Their music is pretty, slightly shambling, charming, and melodic. The sides of the records show two different sides of the band. The Elizabeth Yi fronted “Reunion” is all clean guitar and understated melody a la a less twee Softies whereas the Tobin Mori fronted “Launched” is a more propulsive indie rock track in the vein of Pavement. Either way, I love this unpretentious mid-90s stuff.

"Reunion"

Guided by Voices - "Bulldog Skin" 7"

Guided by Voices – “Bulldog Skin” 7”

Matador, 1997

Acquired: Love Garden, Used, 2010

Price: $3

 

Mag Earwhig! tends to be an album that gets overlooked in GBV’s discography. It’s the first album to feature Cobra Verde as the backing band. Classic Line-Up bros Tobin Sprout and Greg Demos were there too, but in a reduced role (Sprout’s “Jane of the Waking Universe” is one of the album’s highlights). Yet while it clearly depicts a sea change in GBV’s direction, it sounds more like its precursor Under the Bushes Under the Stars than its follow-up: the overblown black sheep of the discography Do the Collapse. While Pollard’s songwriting is as sharp as ever, the songs are glossier, moving closer to the rock star ideal Pollard always wanted. “Bulldog Skin” is a classic GBV earwormer that is about a hundred times better than the atrocious “I Am a Tree” which served as the album’s big single. The b-side hosts a deserving castoff, “The Singing Razorblade,” and a terrific electric version of the album’s “Now to War,” which is right up there in terms of quality with “Sad if I Lost it,” “Learning to Hunt,” “Little Lines,” and “Choking Tara.” It’s a simple, catchy little tune, and the sort of thing GBV does best: No frills indie rock with maximum rewards.

"Bulldog Skin"

"Now to War (Electric Version)"

Five Iron Frenzy - Miniature Golf Courses of America Present... 7"

Five Iron Frenzy – Miniature Golf Courses of America Present Five Iron Frenzy 7"

Asian Man Records, 1997

Acquired: Asian Man Records Mail Order, New, 2002

Price: ~$.25

 

Enter the Late 1990s Ska-Punk Octagon, where a band with a “Christian Message” sounds just like any other ska-punk band founded by band geeks. There’s just something so wholesome and unthreatening about ska-punk, so I’m surprised there aren’t more Christian ska-punk bands. At least here Five Iron Frenzy don’t feel the need to shoehorn their faith into their songs (unlike say, Relient K) henceforth the music is enjoyable rather than irksome. It helps that the 7” kicks off with a cover of Abba’s “Mama Mia,” which, you know, is a rock solid jam no matter who’s playing it. It works surprisingly well with the horn section! The two original tracks—“Arnold, and Willis, and Mr. Drummond” and “Handbook For the Sellout—aren’t exclusive to the 7” and don’t really offer much in the way of originality. But that’s ska-punk, isn’t it? You know what you’re getting into and the genre is best suited for venues packed with young people skanking the night away.