Alternative Rock Nostalgia Buzz

Forgotten Songs of the ‘90s: Jars of Clay Normally, one does not find Christian music on this site but that’s just because I am not a fan of some of it. For me to like this it has to immediately catch my ear and that’s exactly what Jars of Clay did in the mid nineties when “Flood” hit the airwaves. When the band returned to the studio to craft their second album, 1997’s Much Afraid , they had to prove themselves not just to the Christian market but to the pop market as well. One of the songs that grabbed both markets by the collars and said ‘listen to me!’ was “Frail.” The song had been played around with by the band since their formation and they even included a reference to it in the liner notes of their self-titled debut. But it wasn’t until the second record that the song fully bloomed. It begins with a beautiful and restrained orchestral intro that leads into a quiet acoustic guitar and the lyrics that are just some of the most beautiful words ever heard in a modern Christian song...

Forgotten Songs of the ’60s: Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich This was one of a handful of songs by the British quintet with the weirdest name of the time: Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich. The song was only a hit in the U.K. and the only way I had even heard of it was because it was featured in a fifth season episode of “Futurama” and was later turned into a music video for Bender the robot on the DVD. Hearing this song, I was immediately struck by how catchy it was and just how cool the band looked in the process. The song starts off with a jaunty mandolin riff before Dave Dee begins singing in a tone that is vaguely reminiscent of Eric Burdon of the Animals. By the time the song is getting to the end of the first verse, the vocals become faster as does the music. The song’s tongue in cheek lyrics caused a bit of a sensation in the U.K. but that was part of the group’s charm which is found all over this track. Although the song was only a British hit, the band’s legacy still ...

Forgotten Songs of the ‘90s: Morphine Morphine were one of the greatest power trios of the ‘90s, without a doubt. The fact that they consisted of bass, saxophone and drums were enough for them to stand out but because they wrote great songs ensured that their legacy would outlive them. Most people remember them for their individual albums but the songs contained on many of them could be looked at as their own entity. In this case, that song is “In Spite of Me,” from 1993’s Cure for Pain . Starting off with a lovely mandolin played by frontman/bassist Mark Sandman, the song is built around just the mandolin and the power of Sandman’s rough, but extremely soulful vocals. The song is about the girl who got away who achieved everything she has because of the relationship and how it ended. The narrator still sounds broken over what happened but let’s on that he is happy regardless. The fact the song consists of one instrument and one voice and can be haunting and absolutely beautiful at the...