Marc Fagel's Blog: Jittery White Guy Music: The Blog, page 169

Beach Boys: Pet Sounds (1966)

When I first started getting into pop music as a kid in the mid-70s, the Beach Boys were obviously one of the first bands I discovered.  And at the time, the Beach Boys boiled to down to one thing: Endless Summer.  That 1974 double-LP collection was everywhere.  It had pretty much all the early hits, all those timeless surfing and car songs from 1963-1965, all the ones you know by heart and could probably sing from memory even if you haven't heard them in 30 years.  And,...

Fountains Of Wayne: Welcome Interstate Managers (2003)

When you're a serious music fan, it's hard not to feel a sense of personal loss when one of your musical heroes passes.  I still remember John Lennon's murder.  I was 14, deep into my submersion into classic rock, and the Beatles in particular, and it was just devastating.  (It also initiated my lifelong dedication to the cause of gun safety.  I sit on the Board of the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, and encourage you to get involved.)

More recently -- Bowie, ...

Dire Straits: Making Movies (1980)

Here's another band I really hated back in the day, but these days find make for decent enough weekend background music.  (Which I say with no disrespect intended; when you're a middle-aged grown-up, having a variety of decent enough weekend background music is actually kinda crucial.)

Back in the 70s and 80s, though -- ugh, I just found them hopelessly dull and overly mannered.  It didn't help that their music was competing for my attention with the likes of the Clash and the...

Wondermints: S/T (1995)

To call the Wondermints one of the greatest power pop bands ever is really no exaggeration.  And the level of difficulty in tracking down their music these days -- their albums are out of print, and their music doesn't stream -- is downright criminal.  But trust me -- beg, borrow, steal, whatever it takes and track them down.  

Each of their four albums was pretty great.  I'm a little partial to this, their self-titled debut, which includes some of the finest earworms...

The No Ones: The Great Lost No Ones Album (2020)

Another quick take on a great new release...

Scott McCaughey, in addition to his regular gigs fronting the Minus 5 and the Young Fresh Fellows (and as a solo artist), continues his work with a seemingly infinite number of side projects, at a pace that seems not to have slowed down at all despite a debilitating stroke a few years back.

The No Ones finds McCaughey joining up with frequent collaborator Peter Buck (McCaughey was the longtime touring guitarist with R.E.M., and Buck has played in...

Top 10 Live Albums (Continued)

Time now for Part Two of my review of some of my favorite live albums, designed to help fill the time while concert tours are shut down during the pandemic lock-down.  (What, haven't seen Part One yet?)

6. The Clash: Live At Shea Stadium
London Calling has long been one of my top 3 albums, if not my absolute favorite; yet despite the Clash's unique ability to derive stunning levels of excitement from the studio environment, they're still able to take it up a notch on stage.  This is...

Top 10 Live Albums

With pandemic life at a standstill, pretty much every touring act across the globe has been forced to cancel their performances for the foreseeable future.  (I don't see nearly as many shows as I did in my youth, but had tickets for both Wilco and Drive-By Truckers this past week -- two of the few bands I'll still catch whenever they're in town.)  Which totally sucks for the artists, who in a post-CD age are largely dependent on touring (and related merchandise sales) for survival...

Waxahatchee: Saint Cloud (2020)

Since live music has been shut down during the pandemic lock-down, I thought I'd post something on my all-time favorite live albums to help tide us over.  As that's going to be pretty lengthy, here's a quick-take in the meantime:  The new Waxahatchee album, which is just dropping today.

I've only had a chance to give it an initial listen, but it's pretty great.  Yes, I remain partial to its predecessor, 2017's phenomenal Out In The Storm .  If Storm was Katie Crutchfield's...

Young Fresh Fellows: Fabulous Sounds Of The Pacific Northwest (1984)

I've already talked about my favorite Young Fresh Fellows album, 1985's exuberant Topsy Turvy ; but as long as we're still in lockdown mode, we can probably all use a bit more carefree joy, which gets us to their prior album, 1984's terrific debut -- The Fabulous Sounds of the Pacific Northwest.

Even more so than its successor, this is retro-60s garage band music, raw and scrappy, but also poppy and good-humored and simply great light-hearted fun.  Already fully-formed on the debut,...

The Lucy Show: Mania (1986)

Hey, kids, time for more of that mid-'80s college radio jangly guitar pop that rocks my world.  Unlike most purveyors of the sound, the Lucy Show hail from London, but the album still fits in well alongside the likes of R.E.M. and the Connells and Guadalcanal Diary and the like.

The band's earlier debut had a much darker sound, with shades of Cure-styled goth.  Most of that is left behind on their second and final album, which is brighter and poppier, but still retains traces of...