Power Pop on Epitonic

Where last we left off, we had examined 2 songs on Epitonic. But wait! There are yet more gems to be found on said site. To wit, let's check out songs by 2 critically-lauded, commercially-ignored power pop purveyors from the 90s: Spoon and Superdrag. To be honest, I've read a lot of good things about these bands but really haven't explored their work outside of what's on Epitonic. But the free stuff is always a good place to start. Each band has 4 songs available; these are my favorites:

Spoon - The Way We Get By. "We get high in back seat circles..."

Superdrag - Lighting The Way. Listen here. It's reminiscent of various songs by Sugar, particularly If I Can't Change Your Mind. The height of irony? One of the other songs is actually titled Sugar. Neat!

Let's Explore Epitonic

Yes, I mention Epitonic.com in almost every post, but only because the site is a great source of free indie rock MP3s. Certainly not because I get remunerations of any kind from them. If only...

That said, let's wade into this site slowly so as not to overwhelm. Perhaps 2 songs would be a good place to start:

- The New Pornographers: Canadian supergroup of sorts that received a LOT of critical attention/buzz with their 2nd album, The Electric Version, from 2003. They spin out ultra-catchy pop confections that amaze. I own the album and confess that it's almost too much to listen to in one sitting (like eating a whole bag of cotton candy). Nevertheless, check out their free song on Epitonic - The Laws Have Changed. It's a single from the album and one of the standout tracks.

- East River Pipe: Low-fi artist from the 90's comprised by one-man-band, F.M. Cornog. Every article about Cornog mentions the fact that he was homeless for a while, so I suppose I will, too. I haven't heard other material by him, but the song Make a Deal with the City is one of the most achingly lovely things I've ever encountered. Judge for yourself.

Soft Boys Rock Hard

Lame-ass, title, huh? Anyway, if you aren't familiar with The Soft Boys, you should definitely check them out. They're part of my "commercially unsuccessful but hugely influential bands from the late 70's/early 80's" series of posts. Trippy old Robyn Hitchcock was the lead singer, and the guitarist, Kimberly Rew, went on to form Katrina and the Waves. The Soft Boys were a huge influence on REM and some of our other favorite artists from the 80's. Their 2nd album, Underwater Moonlight, is a classic. Two standout tracks are:

- I Wanna Destroy You (a response to punk rock)
- Queen of Eyes (talk about jangle-pop!)

You can listen to clips on Amazon, although not Queen of Eyes unfortunately. However, looks like Amazon offers Insanely Jealous as a free download.

The Soft Boys reunited for a few years earlier this century and put out a new album that was well-received critically. You can download a good track (Mr. Kennedy) from it at Epitonic.

F*ckin-A, Indeed!

Check out a great new band, The Thermals! They've been compared to a noisier, punkier Guided By Voices. They come from Portland, OR and have 2 albums out on SubPop. Their first album, More Parts Per Million, garnered a lot of critical praise last year. The latest one is titled Fuckin A. So, obviously they aren't in any hurry to be played on MTV or a ClearChannel radio station.

My 2 recommendations are, to be honest, the only songs I've heard by them:

- No Culture Icons
- How We Know

Both are available for free download at SubPop. I just love the refrain on No Culture Icons - "Hardly art, hardly starving."

Dream Syndicate

Yesterday on my lunch hour, I went to a indie record store and ran into a friend from college. He was at a listening station checking out a new rarities CD by The Dream Syndicate. For those of you who missed The Dream Syndicate the first time around (early 80s), like I did, they're an incredible band from LA who developed a Velvet Underground-esque sound and were part of the so-called Paisley Underground scene (The Three O'Clock, Bangles, etc). Their leader Steve Wynn is still active as a solo artist. Their first album, The Days of Wine and Roses, is one of those must-have albums that you may not already have. I only heard/bought it 2 years ago, but I vividly remember reading its review in Rolling Stone in 1982 and knowing that I would like it. The reviewer characterized the snarling, malevolent guitar work as the voice of evil with Steve Wynn's vocals and the voice of good. Something overblown like that...

At any rate, you can listen to clips on Amazon.com. I highly recommend the album; standout tracks include:

- Tell Me When It's Over
- Then She Remembers

But, really, it's all good, with the exception of Too Little, Too Late. Let's all make a pact that, when we have bands of our own, we won't let our tone-deaf bassists sing a token song. Kim Gordon can get by on tons of style/attitude, but otherwise, not a good idea.

Verging on novelty

I've really never liked "novelty" artists - Ween, Weird Al, King Missile, etc - or songs. Guess I'm too pretentious and take my music rather seriously. Nevertheless, these are songs that crack me up:

1) Check out the song Wish I Sang A Little Better by The Sprites (available on iTunes). I don't really know anything about the band but the song is hilarious. It namechecks the singer's vocally-challenged idols like Feargal Sharkey (Undertones), Stephen Pastel, and "Bernard Sumner on Love Vigilantes" (i.e., lead singer of New Order).

2) Plea From A Cat Named Virtue by The Weakerthans. Written from the point of view of the singer's cat. Actually more poignant than cutesy. Also on iTunes.