5. Autoclave (Self-Titled)
Dischord Records.
EP Released 1992
LP Released with bonus tracks 1997, reissued 2019.
Solid DC Grrl-punk-pop cuddlecore. Precursor to Slant 6 with Mary Timony of Helium on guitar. This record shreds in all the best ways.
This year's "Best Old Albums" category was hot competition, but Autoclave is very deserving of the #5 spot.
4. The Jealous Sound - A Gentle Reminder
Music Is Subjective Records, January 2012
It's taken me a while to get into Jealous Sound-- I was sort of aware of their existence throughout the 2000s, but that's it. I had a few Knapsack CDs (frontman Blair Sheehan's previous band), but I didn't know what I was missing. Too bad, huh?
So it turns out Nate Mendel guests on bass on this album, knocking the Foo Fighters into 5th place in the list of Best Bands Nate Mendel Has Played In (don't forget Juno!)
This record keeps returning its pink self into my player, so I'm glad I finally caved and got this.
3. The Appleseed Cast - The Fleeting Light of Impermanence
Graveface Records, 06/2019
I first heard the band when they were called December's Tragic Drive (named after a Sunny Day Real Estate lyric). Their Marigold and Patchwork demo is amazing and outshines their first proper album. Can we be so old?
This record is synthy in places, but it works OK. The songs are still epic. The emotions are still longing, and the LP packaging is flat out beautiful, with a black matte case opening up to beautiful blue waves with a clear LP. I have tickets to see them live next month. Don't screw this up, Corona.
2. Helium - The Magic City / No Guitars
Matador Records.
No Guitars EP 04/1997
The Magic City LP 09/1997
combined reissue 2017
I somehow missed Helium's second album the first time around. These are some fantastic 90s rock songs with Mary Timony's sense of melody and lyricism. Recently, I can't get enough of Mary Timony. Somehow she manages to twist a melody into something unexpected and...magical?
Please give a listen. Then buy the reissue from Matador here.
1. Zak Sally's Fear of Song
Nero's Neptune Records, 2010
I ordered this record before the pandemic. The world has changed.
In the before-times, I lived astride the great Columbia River tax divide. Living in Washington, which has lower housing costs and property taxes, and commuting daily into Oregon, which has no sales tax. It was quite common for me to mail-order things to my work, in Oregon, where I wouldn't have to pay sales tax on the mail-orders.
I still live within sight of Oregon, but it's a rare day that I cross the bridge. I spent more than a year without reporting in to my office. At some point, I returned, and this Zak Sally LP was sitting in cardboard, still waiting for me at my desk. How strange. In retrospect, how sad that I spent the first year of the pandemic without this record.
Zak Sally was the bassist for the band Low from 1995 - 2006. This album is sonically similar to his final album with Low, The Great Destroyer. After listening to this album, you can hear the direction that Zak was trying to push the band.
In some press, Zak described his album as "The sound of one man clanging." The sound is appropriately minimal, but it doesn't let minimalism get in the way of a good squally noise. It sounds like broken fixtures and frayed wires. Songs are stripped to their bare bones, and something is always buzzing in the background.
This album is 9 songs that are over far too soon. Some of the sounds are loud, some are soft, but all are harsh. Song titles like "Corpsegrinder!" and the B-side "When I Said I Missed You I Just Meant My Aim Was Off" betray a sense of humor not found in the music.
In hindsight, if you combined this album with Low's first, I Could Live in Hope, you would get The Great Destroyer.
It looks as if Zak hasn't been making much music lately-- focusing on raising kids and making comics. Here's hoping he sees fit to clang out some more...
Buy this LP at Nero's Neptune.
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