Reviews

Record #589: American Football – American Football (2019)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

Hindsight is a funny thing. In 1999, no one took American Football seriously—at times, it feels like that includes the band. The Urbana, IL locals played a spattering of local shows, but never left the Midwest. They never took the time to recruit a permanent bassist, functioning largely as a studio-only band during their original three-year run.

But in the twenty years that have passed since their eponymous full-length, they have become one of the most influential bands of the Midwest Emo sound, often lauded alongside groups like Jimmy Eat World, Mineral, and Sunny Day Real Estate. “Never Meant” is such a perfect encapsulation of the sound that it’s become a meme.

Continue reading →

Record #586: Morrissey – Years of Refusal (2009)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

While the last few years have seen many music fans struggling to reconcile that they people behind their favorite music were terrible people (see especially: Brand New), Morrissey fans have always been painfully aware that he’s a bastard. To most Smiths fans, he’s like our old, drunk uncle who we wish would just shut up.

For the most part, that hasn’t stopped the fandom’s appreciation of his work. There’s been a sort of, “well, you know, he’s just old” attitude toward most of his press antics.

But Years of Refusal, his 2009 tour-de-force, doesn’t sound like the work of an old idiot clinging to his glory days. It’s a fierce and muscular disc that’s just as vigorous as anything he released twenty years earlier.

Continue reading →

Record #585: Modest Mouse – We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank (2007)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald / 1 Comment

And here is where I abandon every single amount of musical elitism I’ve built up and out myself as the poser I am.

Because this is my favorite Modest Mouse record—by a pretty significant margin.

Maybe it’s because it’s the first record of theirs that I heard. Maybe it’s because at the deepest core of my being, I am a pirate and am thus a sucker for anything nautical-themed.

Or maybe it’s just because it’s a really, really great record.

Continue reading →

Record #584: Modest Mouse – Good News For People Who Love Bad News (2004)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

Every once in a while, a record comes around that completely transcends what it was trying to do.

For example, no one ever would have guessed that what started as an emo-leaning indie band with a manic, ranting lead singer would one day release a pop song as perfect as “Float On.” Yet fifteen years later after that song hit #68 on the Billboard charts, it remains an indelible part of the cultural consciousness.

Continue reading →

Record #583: Mock Orange – Put the Kid on the Sleepy Horse (2016)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

While I’m generally very cautious with my record budget, every once in a while I take a gamble. One of the best gambles I’ve ever taken was a five-record mystery pack from Top Shelf Records for $25.

As far as gambles go, that that was a home run. But perhaps the best thing that came out of it was this record from emo punk/indie rockers Mock Orange.  Continue reading →

Record #582: Minus the Bear – Menos El Oso (2005)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

Minus the Bear is most well-known for their asymmetrical drum rhythms, effects pedal experimentation, and double-handed guitar tapping.

But if you give a casual listen to Menos El Oso, you might miss all that. The group is so comfortable in their experimentation that they use their mad scientist tactics to create a record that might be mistaken for a pretty accessible pop record.

Continue reading →

Record #581: Minus the Bear – Highly Refined Pirates (2002)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

In the spring of 2006, I drove to Grand Rapids with my best friend to see mewithoutYou with Thursday. In between the two was a group called Minus the Bear.

I had heard the name before (and kept confusing them for Iwrestledabearonce), but had never heard them. Honestly, I was a little underwhelmed by their almost clinical stage presence, but there was a technical prowess to what they were building that enticed me. And on record, those technicalities blossom into an intricate masterpiece.

Continue reading →

Record #580: Minor Threat – Minor Threat (1984)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

Before Fugazi became the best punk band in the world, and before Embrace essentially invented post-hardcore, Ian MacKaye fronted what may be the single most iconic hardcore band of all time.

This 1984 release compiles the seminal straight edge band’s blistering first two EPs into a single 12″, and those songs are just as visceral and frantic as they were in the early 80s.

Continue reading →