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The Thermals Personal Life (Kill Rock Stars)
They just keep them coming. Aside from a few songs that are a bit more in the angular post-punk vein, this sounds just like every other Thermals album. The twist this time is that the lyrics deal with interpersonal relationships (hence the title) instead of death (like on Now We Can See) or a dystopian vision of a religious right controlled U.S. (on The Body, The Blood, The Machine). There’s no need to change the formula (again, think Ted Leo fronting Superchunk), though, when songs like “I Don’t Believe You” are so obscenely catchy.
Avail – Satiate (Catheter/Assembly)
Dag Nasty – Dag with Shawn (Dischord)
Please see my full review here.
Shades Apart – Shades Apart (Wishing Well)
When I heard that this underrated NJ band had gotten back together for a one-off show at the Court Tavern in New Brunswick about a week ago, I put this one on the turntable and magically, I was transported back to the days when they would play New Brunswick and the surrounding area on a regular basis in the early to mid ’90s. This one, though, is their debut from 1988 and their only release on Wishing Well. Sounding less like a traditional hardcore band than a hybird of Dag Nasty/Descendents and Grippe-era Jawbox, this long out-of-print gem needs to be heard by anyone into this style who either doesn’t know them or who thinks that they’re just the band known for their mid ’90s cover of “Tainted Love” and some alt-rock radio hits in their later, major label years.
Shades Apart- “Dude Danger” EP (Sunspot)
Their second release, on the short-lived but great Sunspot label, finds them mining much the same territory as they did on the debut. Both this one and their debut were available on a single CD in the mid ’90s, but are now quite hard to come by and little known even to some fans of their later, more well-known material. I’m glad I held on to that CD since I used to have this on vinyl years ago but no longer do.
The Velvet Underground – The Velvet Underground and Nico (Verve)
The Velvet Underground – White Light White Heat (Verve)
The Velvet Underground – The Velvet Underground (MGM)
John Cale and Terry Riley – Church of Anthrax (Columbia)
Etta James – The Definitive Collection (Universal)
