black moth super rainbow - dandelion gum

Dandelion Gum is one of those albums I will always associate with college. That psychedelic haze of analog synths was always a perfect counterpart to my sleepless days and nights, coming together to create an almost daily sensation that was nothing less than a high. Good times.

Unlike many of my college albums, this one has stuck with me, and really continued to grow in stature over the last few years. The simplicity of the hooks and the colorful texture of the sounds, elements that caught my attention upon the first few listens, gradually gave way to an appreciation of the depth of the songs and the remarkably engrossing atmospheres the band creates almost at will. Every song is it's own spaced-out analog wonderland, and it speaks to Black Moth's talents as a band that their druggy synth style never seems to get old.

I picked up the deluxe reissue of this album last week, complete with a gorgeous picture disc and 14 bonus tracks. I immediately threw the record on my turntable and took in the album for the umpteenth time, and it was just as great as it had always been. I expected the vinyl sound to influence the music more, but the difference was barely noticeable. (As it is has been 99% of the time for me. Don't let the analog purists fool you. Except for Two Nuns and a Pack Mule. That sounds incredible on record.)

The bonus tracks are slightly above-average for a reissue. Far too many records get repackaged these days with a handful of live versions of album tracks, adding virtually nothing to the original album at all. While the collection isn't particularly revelatory, it's definitely worth the money, and you can definitely make the case that it adds to the original album.

The biggest disappointment is how many of these tracks were already previously available: 3 from Drippers, 5 from The House of Apples and Eyeballs, and 1 from Bonus Drippers. Granted, the former are two recordings that aren't exactly easy to tracks down in physical form, but in the age of the Internet, no real BMSR fan doesn't already have these releases. On top of that, another 2 tracks are simply alternate versions of album tracks, and I fully admit that the remaining 4 tracks already could be out there outside the realm of my music library. These guys aren't exactly shy on releasing their demos and rarities.

The remaining tunes are cool and all, but still a let down. The one good thing that can be said is when you take it all in as a whole, it actually works pretty well. And when you consider that the band calls them "extra flavor" tracks, you have to wonder if that wasn't their intention all along. In which case...I feel like an ass for complaining about it.

being robert christgau, vol. 2

More mini reviews from work. And in proper second-volume fashion, it's a pretty significant step-down from the first one.

999 - The Biggest Prize in Sport

I don't know who decided THIS was punk, but they were wrong. Really fucking wrong. New wave through-and-through, cold, flaccid, sterile. Not a wrong note on the whole goddamn album! There's nothing dangerous about perfection. Call it what it is: guitar pop with a little distortion. And there's nothing wrong with that. Just stop passing this shit off as edgy.

The Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bollocks

Not nearly as scary 40 years later, but Rotten's venom is still surprisingly potent, even now that the novelty behind the nihilism has faded. "God Save the Queen" and "Anarchy" are still killer singles, despite all odds. The rest of the songs are catchy enough, and Rotten steals every single one of them. You almost believe the act, though the mountain of evidence that these rude boys were really just teddy bears is hard to ignore. Bollocks has somehow gone from the end of civilized society to a cool little party album. Maybe Malcolm achieved something real after all.

The Walkmen - Everybody Who Pretended to Like Me Is Gone

Oh Walkmen. I wish I could quit you. I wish I could explain the passionate love I have for you. But I can't. You oozestyle and substance and just a complete and total aura of cool even though you really don't. Minimal in the best way possible, only hitting the notes you need to hit, winning my heart all the way. Fuck. I never could write about the bands I love. I give up.

Sonic Youth - Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star

A strange album within the SY canon. One of their more experimental albums ("Starfield Road"), yet the whole thing is recorded crystal clear, major-label to the core. Not quite at the avant stage they would hit a few years later, this is largely just great noisy rock music. Immensely enjoyable throughout. Arguably up there with Daydream and Sister.

deftones - white pony

The webcomic Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal put it best: "Pop music peaked at the exact moment when I was most emotionally vulnerable to trite love songs."

Every decade or so a new legion of rock writers emerges to compose heartfelt defenses of their favorite teenage albums, in an effort to justify their love for music that is fueled solely on nostalgia and almost certainly wasn't as good as they thought it was, all because of that very idea.

We don't want to believe that we listened to shit music in our younger years. It was just more simple then. More pure. Reflections of the beauty and innocence of youth, such that the old-fart record review Nazis just couldn't get it. It was different and unique, just like we were when we were 16. Right?

And then there's White Pony. A nü-metal album through and through, but somehow the kind of nü-metal album it's okay for guys my age to still like. You could see a copy in your buddy's record collection, laugh at it ironically, but still really wanna throw it on because "Korea" and "Passenger" still get you pumped up and angry like you were 14 again.

It's just arty enough to be critically relevant, but really it's just loud, angsty music that somehow sticks with you years after the angst has given way to the crushing realization that life is pretty much shit 75-80% of the time and yelling rock 'n' roll lyrics at the top of your lungs doesn't change that in the slightest bit. But it harkens back to a time when you still thought it could.

And that's what this music journalism shit is all about, right? Trying to convince people that rock music can change the world? Or at least fucking change something?

Maybe we're just trying to convince ourselves that we weren't naïve and stupid for putting as much passion into loving these albums as we did. Maybe we want to convince ourselves that somehow we were right. The world didn't win after all, because those albums didn't suck like you told me they did, they were fucking amazing and they still are and that hazy blur of made-up feelings and misguided energies that turned out to be high school wasn't a total waste after all, it gave me this, and you can't take it away from me because I just rewrote the rules and you're fucking wrong now, not me.

I think that makes lazily defending an overrated nü-metal album worth it. I can only imagine this is the same way Tommy James & the Shondells clawed their way out of the gutter of late-60s sappy guitar pop, so maybe twenty years from now we'll get to hear "Back to School" in some idealistic movie about pre-9/11 youth in America, somewhere in the midst of a montage full of bleached hair, saggy Jnco jeans, and a world that wasn't fueled by hate. That'll be sweet.