Top 5 New Discoveries 2017

5. Helium - Pirate Prude

[Matador Records, 1994]

Finally acquired Helium's debut EP. Mary Timony's songwriting is spot on and idiosyncratic as always, if a little unrefined from her later stuff. Still golden.

(buy the compilation LP that contains this at Matador, or pick it the original EP up cheap on Amazon)



4. Autopilot Is for Lovers - To the Wolves

[Bladen County Records, 2009]

Saw these guys with Builders and the Butchers (their drummer plays in that band also) and really enjoyed them. Was pleasantly surprised by their album, which is twelve slabs of auditory goodness.

(buy the download on bandcamp or pick up a physical copy at a show.)


3. Cursive - The Difference Between Houses and Homes (lost songs and loose ends 1995-2001)

 

[Saddle Creek Records, 2005]

Cursive made my #3 spot last year with another early album that I missed the first time around. This collection mines the earliest recordings of the Omaha band, and I think they're their best. Folks on the internet complain that the songs from the "Dispenser" 7" are rerecorded (disappointingly) for this compilation, but since I haven't heard the originals, they sound awesome to me.

(Pick it up from Saddle Creek).


2. Lungfish - Rainbows from Atoms

[Dischord Records, 1993]

Nobody writes songs like Lungfish. This is quite a good group of those songs.

Buy it from Dischord through Bandcamp.


1. One Last Wish - 1986

[Dischord Records. Recorded 1986, Released 1996]

Guy Picciotto's band between Rites of Spring and Fugazi (okay, RoS and Happy Go Licky). I discovered this band in 2015, and it took me 2 years to buy the album. It was worth it. Punk energy with an emotional delivery without being weepy. Post-punky soaring guitars. Makes me wonder what the 90s would have sounded like if One Last Wish was the influential band and Rites of Spring the footnote. I think I may like this even more than Rites of Spring.

Buy it from Dischord through Bandcamp.