Curve, “Doppelganger” (Anxious, 1992)
Debut album from these shoegaze titans found them honing their sound to razor-sharpness on music that wielded the massive, ravishing sweep of My Bloody Valentine with a Helmet-like machine-tooled attack.
Try 1, 3.
5/5/12
Curve, “Cuckoo” (Anxious, 1993)
Second album from this great shoegaze band was a surprise detour from the all-out assault of its predecessor, into spooky, dislocated soundscapes that entrance, then sting without warning. Even better than the debut.
Try 2, 4, 5
5/5/12
Christmas, “In Excelsior Dayglo” (Big Time, 1986).
This group had connections with Yo La Tengo and Mission of Burma, and this debut recalls the former’s shambling melodic husband/wife Indic Rock filtered through the latter’s angular, percussive attack. An exciting work by a band bursting with ideas.
Start with 1/1, ½.
11/12/12
Chorusgirl, “Chorusgirl” (Fortuna Pop, 2015)
Sparkling, machine-tooled distort-guitar-pop. The general feel is female-fronted Jesus And Mary Chain going melancholy into the Scandinavian night, but what sets this band apart is eerily beautiful songs that have a thrilling tendency to swerve in the opposite direction from what you’re epecting.
Try 2, 8
4/17/16
Circle One, “Circle One” (Mass Media, 2010; original release 1983)
Absolutely classic L.A. hardcore from the twilight of that scene’s glory years. These guys had a fast, clean, ominously swooping sound, over which great, doomed vocalist John Macias moaned his visions of apocalyptic religion and street violence.
Try A/1, B/1, B/2, B/4, B/7
7/29/14
Cloud Nothings, “Turning On” (Carpark, 2010)
The Cloud Nothings make music with the sound and feel of garage-punk, but with more complex melodies and structures, vaguely akin to mid-‘60s Beach Boys or Beatles. What sets them apart from and above most other such bands is that the hazy, disorienting aura of their music isn’t just a matter of snazzy production effects, but is integral to the songs themselves: tonalities that clang and ring against one another, tunes that follow their own peculiar, distinctive paths. And I bet it sounds great right when you can’t tell if it’s still nighttime or already morning, so try it out.
Picks: 2, 4, 5, 10
Cobra Verde, “Viva La Muerte” (Scat/Matador, 1994)
Essentially, this is Death of Samatha after a slight line-up reshuffle and a major attitude re-vamp. Roxy Music/Pere Ubu glam-art-punk fused with fluently Stonesy rock classicism is still the working model here, but the former whimsy has been replaced by a chain-mail-fisted, powerfully dynamic hard-rock attack in pursuit (and attainment) of the ultimate Herzog/Fassbinder European death trip.
Try 2, 6, 7, 8
10/4/14
Codeine, “The White Birch” (SubPop, 1994)
Second album from these pioneers of the loud/soft and always . . .very . . . slow . . . school of indie-rock minimalism. This is even more sparse, majestic and beautiful than its predecessor, and may make you want to lie on a desolate beach in midwinter.
Try 1,2
11/10/16
Come On, “New York City 1976-1980” (Heliocentric, 1999; original recordings 1978-1980)
From the look to the sound, these guys were just what you’d expect from their time and place, but since that time and place was one of wild invention, they are as good as you’d hope. Hard-edged, elliptical minimalist guitar-pop that simultaneously plays up the bubblegum and punk aspects of Talking Heads, great lyrics that are so absurd and funny you don’t notice at first how disquieting and hostile they are.
Try 2, 8, 16
11/10/16
Company Flow, “Little Johnny From The Hospital” (Rawkus, 2001)
Alternative-rap crew (featuring El-P), but minus the raps, equals some really spooky, unnerving, off-kilter hip-hoppish instrumentals. This has been compared to Endtroducing for its late-night-in-the-city vibe, and actually if you picture DJ Shadow putting that one together under the influence of bales of K2 that made him convinced the buildings overhead were closing in on him, it’s not far off.
Try 6, 8, 16
11/10/16