1995 Deep Dive: Part Two

      This group of albums from 16 to 20 are all under the radar picks that I had forgotten about until doing this dive. Now they are back on my radar and I love them. 

20. Chavez - Gone Glimmering ( 4.5 Stars )

     Back in 2006, I was obsessed with the Matador records label; mostly due to Guided by Voices and Pavement. At that point, I bought the Chavez compilation, Better Days Will Haunt You, which was on Matador. It contained their albums Gone Glimmering and Ride the Fader, as well as B-sides and other odds and ends. They were kind of GbV adjacent. Their sound was lo-fi, but with walls of guitar. At some point, I got rid of it because I rarely listened to it. Now I could kick myself, because Gone Glimmering is tremendous. The tracks "Laugh Track" and "Pentagram Ring" are stellar. Once I'm done with this dive I'm going to stream that compilation and look into tracking it down again. This is why I don't like purging my collection. 

19. Dead Hot Workshop - 1001 ( 4.5 Stars )

     These guys came out of the same scene in Tuscon, Arizona as The Refreshments and Gin Blossoms. There is considerable crossover between the sound of Dead Hot Workshop and The Refreshments. In fact, Dead Hot Workshop is name-checked in a Refreshments song. 1001 is a solid set of swaggering Southwest Americana. The standout tracks are "River Otis" and "Burger Christ". I'm not sure why Dead Hot Workshop never broke through like those other bands, but it could be argued they were the best of them. 

18. Superchunk - Here's Where the Strings Come In ( 4.5 Stars )

     This is probably the best Superchunk album. It features the classic lineup of Mac McCaughan on vocals and guitar, Laura Ballance on bass, Jim Wilbur on guitar, and drummer to the stars Jon Wurster. Unfortunately, Mac and Laura are better known for starting the Merge record label than being in Superchunk. This album is a perfect merging of their early punkier sound and the more polished indie rock they would soon explore. The highlight is "Detroit has a Skyline". Who knew?

17. The Presidents of the United States of America ( 4.5 Stars )

     I wish I could've ranked this album higher because it is so fun. Right from the opening track, "Kitty", you know you're in for a bonkers experience. Of course everyone of a certain age knows "Lump" and "Peaches". Those videos were in constant rotation in 1995. "Lump lingered last in line for brains and the one she got was sorta rotten and insane". One of my favorite tracks is the prophetic and self-deprecating "We're Not Gonna Make It". And their cover of "Kick Out the Jams" is phenomenal. They done kicked 'em out!

16. Swervedriver - Ejector Seat Reservation ( 4.5 Stars )

     Swervedriver are similar to Stone Temple Pilots in the sense they were both lumped into music scenes they weren't actually part of; shoegaze and grunge respectively. They are both just great rock bands. The key to Swervrdriver's sound is the two guitar attack of singer Adam Franklin and Jimmy Hartridge. This album is a solid follow-up to 1993's brilliant Mezcal Head; with tracks like "The Other Jesus", "Son of Jaguar E", and "Last Day on Earth". It's also a testament to 1995 that this is only my 6th favorite Britpop album of the year. Crazy, but true. Peace.