A few years ago, I wrote about the reissue of The One That Brought You. That’s probably Grand Champeen’s best album. But, Battle Cry For Help is where my love began. It’s kinda funny to think of this album marketed and/or thought of as alt.country when it was released in 2001. Not that it was […]
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The Muffs (1993) may not be the band’s best album, but there are many days it’s my favorite. All the songwriting elements that Kim Shattuck would hone, perfect, and whip into shape by Happy Birthday To Me (1997) were present from the debut– and to a lesser extent, the singles leading up to this CD. […]
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Like Violent Femmes, If I Should Fall From Grace With God is punk as folk. Those first 3 Pogues albums — Red Roses For Me (1984), Rum Sodomy & The Lash (1985), and If I Should Fall From Grace With God (1988) — are as good as any artist’s first 3 albums. This was really […]
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I was 13 going on 14 when this album came out (in 1983) and that was good planning on my part. Even today it feels like the most teen album ever. It perfectly captures adolescent angst, the sexual frustration and confusion of that age, and is so refreshingly and uncomfortably honest about being a hormone-driven, […]
Read MoreIt’s impossible for me to overstate the importance of the American Graffiti soundtrack. This is my Anthology of American Folk Music. I’ve owned this album continuously since its release in 1973 — when I was 4 years old — and it continues to influence how I hear bands and process music. You get the early […]
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