Jolt Country

Why not? I wasn't going to do this, but the other threads made me start thinking of it, and I've got some time to kill. I wish Pinback were here to tell me that I suck. :(

Sorta kinda in order, but not really, and I'm sure I'm going to forget something important.

#25 - "Ghost" by Chris D. and Stone by Stone

[youtube][/youtube]

By and large I tried to limit myself to one song per band, but cheated here (and will again!) with what's at least spiritually the same band as the Flesh Eaters, just under a different name. The full Stone by Stone album toned down the FE's rawer edges, usually to not-so-great effect -- but here they take a largely-forgotten '80s song and give it enough punch to make it a pop classic. Catchy, bouncy, and just the slightest bit sad. And one of my 25 favorite songs.

#24 - "Sweat and Swagger" by Cavity

[youtube][/youtube]

Oh, man, do I wish Cavity had lasted longer. Sounds weird for a metal/stoner band that put out four and a half albums and 18,000 singles, but their Black Flag/Black Sabbath hybrid really hit its stride on the last album. From that gathering-storm drum bit at the start onward, this has always been a song where if I hear it once, I end up hitting the back button a couple times just to get a few more hits in.

#23 - "Arms Aloft" by Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros

[youtube][/youtube]

In my little musical world, the Clash haven't aged all that well. I remain fond of them, but 15 years ago I would have considered "London Calling" my all-time favorite album. Now I haven't listened to it in a couple years, and the only two Clash-related songs on this list are this one and a cover. This is kind of a deep cut, I guess, but this song never fails to make me happy.

#22 - "This Stops at the River" by Unsane

[youtube][/youtube]

I've loved Unsane since I first heard them back around (gulp) 1991, but around their fifth album, I kinda figured they'd peaked and didn't have much new to deliver. Then they came out with "Visqueen," drenched everything in harmonica and sounded more pissed off than they ever had, and it absolutely blew me away. One of only a handful of bands that can rouse me from middle-aged parenthood to go out and see a show.

I interviewed Chris Spencer and Pete Shore when I was in college and asked them how their drummer dying of a heroin overdose had changed the chemistry of the band. That's on my list of "25 memories that make me cringe."

#21 - "Driving the Dynamite Truck" by Breaking Circus

[youtube][/youtube]

Probably the most obscure song on my list -- I'm pretty sure this was only released on an obscure tape compilation in the '80s (much as I'd like to be cool here, I didn't hear it til about 3 years ago). Simple song, one hook repeated, the singer just speaks for half the song, and it works.

#20 - "New Math" by Drive Like Jehu

[youtube][/youtube]

If I played football, I'd listen to this before a game to get me all wound up to go out and destroy someone's spine.

#19 - "Hermaphroditos" by Frank Black and the Catholics

[youtube][/youtube]

Most of Frank Black's non-Pixies career has never really excited me, then in the middle of it he came out with "Dog in the Sand," which would be in contention if I did a "25 favorite albums" list. (Lotta pedal steel, which is always a bonus) Then he went back to stuff that didn't really excite me.

This song is what he does best: kinda happy and fun, kinda crazy. This and "If It Takes All Night" are both fantastic.

#18 - "Head On" by the Pixies

[youtube][/youtube]

See previous entry. This is a pleasant, happy love song in its original form. In the Pixies' hands it sounds unhinged (and it's twice as good).

#17 - "Deathly" by Aimee Mann

[youtube][/youtube]

What a voice. Saddest song on my list.

#16 - "Placemat Blues" by Slobberbone

[youtube][/youtube]

Now that I'm old, I don't have near as many opportunities to get rip-it-up drunk that I once did. Back when I did, Slobberbone were the best soundtrack for those occasions. A friend once described them at their best as sounding like a country AC/DC, which is ... kinda weird but also kinda accurate.

This whole album -- "Everything You Thought Was Right Was Wrong Today" -- is one of those great albums that has nary a misstep and is forever associated with a really fun time in my life. They followed it up with a kind of boring album and then broke up. Such is life.

Occasional Jolt Country person Bruce sent me a t-shirt from one of their shows, one of the ways in which JC has spilled over into real life (along with ICJ being at my wedding and Pinback's hot sauce).

#15 - "Dreamer in My Dreams" by Wilco

[youtube][/youtube]

I still prefer this Wilco era to their later, more mature stuff -- "kinda drunk country rock" checks more of my boxes than "ambitious, sprawling concept albums." Though "Being There" was an ambitious, sprawling concept album, and this song's nearly seven minutes long, so what the hell am I talking about? (And I liked their later stuff just fine, really -- I haven't heard an album since "Sky Blue Sky" -- but I preferred them like this, when they sounded and looked like they were gonna fall off the stage.)

Anyway, this is a great song!

#14 - "Barstool Blues" by Neil Young

[youtube][/youtube]

Ok, maybe "Deathly" wasn't the saddest song on the list. I used to put this on the jukebox whenever I was at the local pub. That never made me very popular.

I'm not really enthusiastic about a lot of Young's stuff, but the songs I like -- this album and "Tonight's the Night" -- I really love.

#13 - "Got Caught Dealin' Part II" by Clipse
#13.5 - "Nosetalgia" by Pusha T

[youtube][/youtube]

[youtube][/youtube]

I accidentally left "Nosetalgia" off the original list, and that won't stand. Pusha T was in Clipse, so I can kind of justify shoehorning it in here.

Until about five years ago I largely ignored rap/hip hop aside from the obvious suspects. Since finally giving the whole genre a sustained listen, I've been rewarded for past closed-mindedness with a whole lot of great shit. Hooray, I think!

Pusha T's "My Name is My Name" would be on my list of best albums, and high up -- it works best as a full-length album, as it's got a noirish atmosphere that works best start to finish. Any of about six songs could have been on this list -- Kendrick Lamar's guest spot pushes "Nosetalgia" to the top.

Solo Pusha T's dramatic, Clipse was a lot more fun and bouncy (though still all centered around coke dealing). Pharrell Williams' verse here just slays me. If you've been driving through Atlanta and seen a pudgy white guy enthusiastically singing that verse, hi there!

#12 - "Amarillo Highway" by Robert Earl Keen

[youtube][/youtube]

I was born in Texas, which I don't usually admit with any enthusiasm. Whenever I listen to this, for the whole 2:27 duration, I'm slightly proud of my roots.

It's a Terry Allen cover, and the original is also great (and much more country).

I saw REK at the Grizzly Rose in Denver a whole bunch of times during the 1990s, and the man can really put on a show.

#11 - "Shook Ones Part 2" by Mobb Deep

[youtube][/youtube]

If you took the sampled loop that runs through the song, and played it in the background of a film, you'd have the most jittery, nerve-wracking movie ever.

"Temperature's Rising" is pretty great too, and equally cinematic and dark. For about two albums there, Mobb Deep could do no wrong, then they kinda got boring.

I hadn't heard of Mobb Deep until the whole Biggie/Tupac thing. It took me a while to get into the whole east coast production, whether it was the crazy layered stuff from Wu-Tang or the stripped down sound of Mobb Deep. But once I finally got into it... wow.

That one by Mobb Deep, I can confidently say, sounds like nothing I have ever heard before. Amazing.

I haven't heard of a band you have posted yet, Greg. :(

I'm going to listen to all of them. It's like you have a radio from a different planet than I!

The only one of these I'd heard of was Neil Young because of a shout-out to him in Lynard Skynard's "Sweet Home Alamama." I'm trying to see if I've heard any of his songs before. Wikpedia says he co-founded Buffalo Springfield, For what it's worth. Later he was with Crosby, Stlls. Mash and Young. I looked at his discography and I don't recognize any of his songs. I checked out one named :"Downtown" and discovered three things in ten seconds. (1) I've never heard the song before; (2) it is not the same as the song of the same name by Petula Clark; (3) One of the resason I haven't heard it because it can't be played on the radio, the opening line is "Hold on a second I fucked up."

I did not care for the song but I'll let you judge. Too "metal" for my taste.


[youtube][/youtube]

Who I thought this was, was John Paul Young, who does "Love is in the Air," a really great song.

Ice Cream Jonsey wrote:I haven't heard of a band you have posted yet, Greg. :(

I'm going to listen to all of them. It's like you have a radio from a different planet than I!

C'mon, you must have heard of Wilco, right? There'll be more recognizable bands in the top ten. Which starts ... tonight!

This list is definitely the most obscure collection of songs posted so far (although I suspect someone will soon out-obscure it...). I have the Pixies and Frank Black albums and have heard of a few of the others, but I don't have any of these songs on my phone.