Alternative Rock Nostalgia Buzz

Songs from the Request Line: Thousand Foot Krutch And now something for the big man: Thousand Foot Krutch are a Christian rock band that straddles the line between full on devotion and full out rock. On one of their finest songs, “Phenomenon,” the band throws it out there in a way that catches the listener and allows them to think about a lot of things. Starting off with a miniscule rhythm usually heard in ‘90s alt-rock, the band settle into a pounding groove and never let up. What’s striking about the song is the message that comes along in the chorus, where the ‘phenomenon’ being mentioned is about Jesus and everybody gathering and spreading the word. But they talk about it in a way that’s easy for everyone to understand. Ultimately, one could view Thousand Foot Krutch as just another spoke in the gears of Christian rock bands trying to cross over to a mainstream audience. But TFK were able to stand out and make something different and as a result, people still enjoy the music and th...

Forgotten Songs of the ‘70s: Harry Chapin Most people remember Harry Chapin for his humanitarian efforts and for having two major hits, “Taxi” and “Cat’s in the Cradle.” But Chapin’s best songs are completely forgotten. For his second album, Sniper and Other Love Songs , he dove into recent history to create a nearly ten-minute ‘story song’ about a crazed shooter from Texas. His name was Charles Whitman. Whitman was a University of Texas student who suffered from severe mental difficulties and one day in 1967, he climbed to the top of the University’s clock tower and started shooting people on the ground. By the time the police took him out, he’d killed 15 people and injured many more. If one is not familiar about the case, Harry Chapin decided to take it upon himself to tell the story, but to cloak it to where he didn’t drop Whitman’s name but it’s a story a lot of people now can clearly relate to. In a sick way, Whitman was one of the first of the ‘school shooters’ which became so pr...

Forgotten Songs of the ‘90s: fIREHOSE When fIREHOSE released their fourth album and major-label debut, Flyin’ the Flannel in 1991, the record was a largely scattershot affair. One song, however, stood out from the rest of the pack and remains one of the band’s best and undiscovered songs: a cover of Daniel Johnston’s “Walking The Cow.” The song is basic in its approach, led by the always superb bass playing of Mike Watt with minimal but excellent guitar from Ed Crawford and restrained drumming courtesy of George Hurley. The song’s big draw is Mike’s vocals which take on an approach that had not been heard in quite a while from him. The song is typical of most Daniel Johnston songs but fIREHOSE takes it up a notch; by adding more instruments to the mix and taking the vocals down, the song is able to see its full potential. The otherwise unseen video for the song is along the same lines, very beautiful, kind of creepy but straight to the point. There’s a kid walking through lush fields ...

Forgotten Songs of the ‘90s: emmet swimming Coming out of Arlington, VA, emmet swimming were just a blip on the radar of modern rock in the mid ‘90s, but their moment in the spotlight, 1996’s “Arlington” would go down as one of the most underrated songs of the whole decade. Kicking off with a springy riff, the band kicks in and bounces around like a mini-polka, but without the accordion and such. The music is just swingin’ and then frontman Todd Watts comes in. It takes some getting used to his voice at first, it’s like Brad Roberts of Crash Test Dummies singing with electricity behind him but once one does, it’s the only voice any one could imagine singing the song. The song talks about being a band in Arlington and watching as all the hipsters and industry people weasel their way in to sign the ‘next big thing.’ The only unfortunate thing about the track is that before you know it, the song’s over and you’re left humming the song forever. For the longest time, I wasn’t sure who the a...

Forgotten Album of the Month: Death Angel When the San Francisco-Philippine thrash band Death Angel released their third and first major-label release, Act III in the spring of 1990, it was just one of a slew of great thrash albums out that year from the likes of, Testament, Slayer, Megadeth, Exodus, Anthrax, Suicidal Tendencies, Pantera and others. But one listen to the album blew away any preconceived notions of what this band was capable of and changed the face of thrash forever. The album kicks off with “Seemingly Endless Time” and the sound of waves crashing on a beach. But then drummer Andy Galeon comes in and blows the roof up with the sheer ferocity and power of his drumming. Speeding along, the rest of the band, guitarists Rob Castevany and Gus Pepa, bassist Dennis Pepa and vocalist Mark Osegueda join in and the shit is going down. One listen to just that one song and any metal head will be instantly hooked. What makes the song and the whole album that much more amazing is t...