Forgotten Songs of the '80s: Husker Du

Forgotten Songs of the ’80s: Husker Du

Husker Du were one of the greatest post-punk/hardcore bands of all time but it’s only been in the last ten years or so that their legacy has begun to grow. It doesn’t help at this point that most of their output is out of print except for iTunes but for those who prefer to own an actual disc, you’re out of luck for a while. But in the meantime, everyone needs to listen to “Don’t Want to Know If You Are Lonely.”

Kicking off with drummer Grant Hart’s traditional rolling intro, the band gets things going quickly before the listener has a chance to gauge what’s going on. Grant takes the lead here leaving guitarist Bob Mould in the dust. But that’s not a deterrent at all; in fact it makes the song all the much stronger. Grant sings his lyrics about telling a girlfriend (or boyfriend) off while yet feeling a bit miserable at the same point. In the end, the protagonist is trying to get over her and is optimistic about his future.

While the song garnered a lot of play on underground alternative radio, the world at large basically ignored it, which is a damn shame. About two years after the song came out, the band disbanded. But since that time, the song’s influence has grown as bands like Green Day have realized it as a landmark punk love song. So take a listen and decide if Husker Du have garnered enough respect.

http://www.spike.com/video/hsker-d-dont-want-to/2789506

Forgotten Songs of the 21st Century: Dillinger Escape Plan

Forgotten Songs of the 21st Century: Dillinger Escape Plan

The Dillinger Escape Plan have burst onto the scene in the last few years as one of the most devastatingly fierce hardcore rock/metal bands around. With every release, they seem to get thicker and louder. In some ways, everything came together on 2007’s Ire Works and one of their best songs ever, “Black Bubblegum.”

Starting off with a drum machine intro, it almost sounds like you’re gonna hear a new wave song or electro or some other shit; but then the real drums come in and suddenly, the bands bursts out of the speakers and vocalist Greg Puciato begins singing in a voice that can only be described as Mike Patton taken down a notch. The song is like grinding metal matched with sixties pop and that is the best way to accurately describe the song.

By the time the chorus comes around, the song basically explodes into full-on metal with the band syncopating perfectly behind Greg. Then all of a sudden, everything breaks down into just a choral of voices which gives the band enough of a breather that once everything comes back in, the band is amped and charged to roar to the finish line still sounding fresh and alert. It’s more than a sin and a shame that the song was basically ignored upon its release. But listening to it today and even years in the future, it is clear that the DEP are one band that can only get better with time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqXVBeEuwLU

Forgotten Songs of the '90s: Cracker

Forgotten Songs of the ‘90s: Cracker

Cracker have always been, at least in my opinion, one of the most underrated rock bands of all time. Even though they’re still played on the radio to this day, it’s only one song: “Low” and that’s not even their very best. To do that, you’ve got to go back to their 1992 self-titled debut and listen to track 1, “Teen Angst (What the World Needs Now).”

Kicking off with one of the best guitar riffs of the decade, the band get into high gear right away as the rhythm section starts to blend together with the guitar and then David Lowery’s voice comes in and the listener is fully aware they’re going to be getting something fantastic.

The song, without a doubt, is one of the best slacker anthems of alternative rock and while basically being a pun on “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” “Teen Angst” is like an old-timer speaking like a hipster, desperately trying to be cool. Where else could a reference like “Frank Sinatra” be heard? By the time the song ends, the whole band is just having a blast and it shows as the song begins to get faster. Nearing the home stretch, the band goes into basically punk mode and starts shouting every line like it’s the end of the world and with all those key ingredients thrown together, that’s what makes the song so damn perfect.

Now unlike several other bands I’ve written about, Cracker have not become completely forgotten. Instead, in some circles, they’re revered as alternative rock godfathers and that’s exactly how it should be. And to think, it all started right here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TybFyhlwdvU

Forgotten Album of the Month: Local H

Forgotten Album of the Month: Local H

While everyone should remember Local H, it seems to be the only song you hear on the radio is “Bound for the Floor;” while it’s a great song, it not the best song the band ever had. To hear that, one will have to pick up the band’s 1996 masterpiece As Good As Dead. Although it came out in the midst of the Bush/Silverchair overseas grunge explosion, the band were able to break through the airwaves with infectious and sometimes ironic songs that still stand the test of time.

Starting off with a little experiment, “Manifest Density Pt. 1,” the album really kicks off with the amazingly fierce “High Fiving MF,” which is probably one of the biggest diss tracks ever heard on a rock record. The amazing thing about this track is that it actually made it to the radio in some areas but because it was so heavily edited, it lost a lot of its meaning but it was still a great song. After “Bound for the Floor,” the record lags a bit with an okay song and a hard rocker that just livens up the pace but then the band drops a bomb (in a good way) with the song “No Problem,” a quiet acoustic track that’s unlike anything else on the record. But that just shows how powerful the band of Scott Lucas on vocals, guitar and everything else and Joe Daniels on drums can be no matter what genre they’re tackling.

Then comes one of the best songs of the alternative rock era, “Eddie Vedder,” which at the time was seen as a bit of a diss on the Pearl Jam frontman but really surmises that a band would be more popular if the frontman said he was Eddie. Then after a few more rockers, the band slows things way down with “O.K.” a possible tribute to a deceased alternative rock frontman and how his words will live on years after his death. Finishing up with “Manifest Density Pt. 2,” a rocking finale to part one, the band closes the book on what quickly became one of the most talked about albums of 1996. But after that, they kind of withered a bit with subsequent albums, not regaining full strength until at least 12 Angry Months. But they’re still touring giving people what they want but in the meantime, go back to their catalogue and begin to realize, especially with this album, how much of a kickass band they were and how much they helped the whole alternative rock scene.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOmRhOKhkOI (Eddie Vedder)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCHNL3-FZOA (High-Fiving MF)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oM8QXdp8wU (Bound for the Floor)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KHoLogLoGg (Fritz’s Corner)