Post by trashcanman on Feb 20, 2015 20:48:48 GMT 2
Hey all, looks like this is my last week. What to do for my last pick. I tend to like to go with gimmies that are guareanteed to please to end on a high note, but I can't think of any. But when all else fails, you've gotta please yourself so I guess I'll draw on my favorite alternative band of all time, one who arguably invented the style as it became known in the 90's. Black Francis once declared that when he started the Pixies, he only owned 5 albums and three of them were from this band. And the flyer he put out that brought in Kim Deal had only one requirement to join the band, a love of Peter, Paul, and Mary (the band, not the Biblical figures), and these guys:
The powerest power trio ever, Husker Du. Okay, so I picked a band just by going with a personal favorite. Where's the challenge, man? Well fuck, with some bands the biggest challenge of all is narrowing it down to one song from a career that incorporated elements of dozens of styles and invented several along the way. Husker Du is one of those bands that you can't truly appreciate until you've heard everything they've ever recorded, unreleased songs, B-sides, and all. It's fucking staggering what these three did.
I'm taking the easy way out and picking a song that strikes as definitive of their early years when they were transitioning from their original harder-core-than-thou punk tunes that were almost too fast to hear and twisting it into what would combine with Sonic Youth's Velvet Underground-influenced soundscapes to form the basis of alternative rock. To me, this song represents that perfect blend of classic punk attitude with something....more musical. Something unique.
It's sung by drummer Grant Hart, whose voice would quickly go from harsh to soulful as the band evolved while Kurt Cobain-prototype Bob Mould's vocals became more nasal and vulnerable, giving their albums a fascinating duality. Anyways, this is It's Not Funny Anymore from the 1983 Metal Circus EP, which has got to be one of the best and most transformative EP's ever.
The powerest power trio ever, Husker Du. Okay, so I picked a band just by going with a personal favorite. Where's the challenge, man? Well fuck, with some bands the biggest challenge of all is narrowing it down to one song from a career that incorporated elements of dozens of styles and invented several along the way. Husker Du is one of those bands that you can't truly appreciate until you've heard everything they've ever recorded, unreleased songs, B-sides, and all. It's fucking staggering what these three did.
I'm taking the easy way out and picking a song that strikes as definitive of their early years when they were transitioning from their original harder-core-than-thou punk tunes that were almost too fast to hear and twisting it into what would combine with Sonic Youth's Velvet Underground-influenced soundscapes to form the basis of alternative rock. To me, this song represents that perfect blend of classic punk attitude with something....more musical. Something unique.
It's sung by drummer Grant Hart, whose voice would quickly go from harsh to soulful as the band evolved while Kurt Cobain-prototype Bob Mould's vocals became more nasal and vulnerable, giving their albums a fascinating duality. Anyways, this is It's Not Funny Anymore from the 1983 Metal Circus EP, which has got to be one of the best and most transformative EP's ever.