From: fatkid AT sirius.com (Cory Brown)
Subject: Chug Poll '96 
Date: Mon, 13 Jan 1997 01:06:36 -0800

I keep changing the numbers on this damn list.  It doesn't really matter.
Well, here it is (without the incredible Swamp Dogg (SDEG) and La Peste
(Matador) reissues, as per your request).


1.Pee - _Now, More Charm And More Tender_ (March)  I listened to these
songs at least a dozen times live before this record came out, so for all I
know, I'm not hearing the record the same as everyone else.  Then again, I
can't count how many times I've listened after it was released.  These
songs, racing forward at high velocities, with unexpected zigs and zags
like the Flash on his nightly patrol of Central City, Jim & Kelly's vocals
crossing and ascending like spotlights across a black November sky, guitars
like locomotive wheels, drums unrelenting, the bass (unfortunately) buried
in the mix.  The phrase "It changed my life" is extremely hokey, but this
band inspired me to sell over 900 of my CD's in order to start a label
(Absolutely Kosher Records) and put out the next Pee record (or whatever
they may change their name to - first half of 1997).

2.Run On - _Start Packing_ (Matador)  I really like Fish & Roses and Love
Child, but Run On is, by far, more than the sum of its parts.
Miraculously, it's also more than just a quartet.  This band is the laser
disc of rock'n'roll - they push to the very edges of convention and wind up
at its top, creating something sparkling, lucid, and impeccable, something
appreciated only by those who know what they're talking about (ahem).

3.Cat Power - _What Would the Community Think_ (Matador)  A soul record
falling somewhere between Roman Polanski's "Repulsion" and "Vampire's
Kiss".  I may believe I am something I am not, but if I believe enough, I'm
right.  If only one could wear the rings that cold whiskey glasses leave
upon the nightstand.  I know, I know, you heard it and you don't get it and
you can't buy any good pot where you live and you thought that maybe she's
just full of shit and corroborating with men in courderoys and women in
penny loafers.  Well, you thought wrong and this record fingers you beneath
the skin, gently digging until it hits marrow.

4.Atari Teenage Riot - "Deutschland (Has Gotta Die!)" from the _Harder Than
The Rest_ compilation (Digital Hardcore Recordings) and also a 7" (Grand
Royal)  Holy shit!  That's what I said when I first heard this and that's
how I felt.  The backlash seems to have begun almost as quickly as the hype
machine, with  damning cries of "Ministry" and "Consolidated" audible from
unsurprising sources.  Make no mistake - where those bands were muscle and
thick tongues, ATR is all claws and lash and spittle.  My legs may not move
as fast as the beat, but my breathing does.  Hyperventilation will be the
macarena of '97 and it all starts here.

5.Neutral Milk Hotel - _On Avery Island_ (Merge)  Like watching home movies
and eating perfectly ripe fruit.  This record is the most comfort I've had
since giving up sucking my thumb (well, it's only been a year or so).

6.Henry's Dress - "Over 21" (from split tour 7" w/ Rocketship on
Slumberland)  No wonder Mike Schulman went jungle.  After a song like this,
who would ever need to put out pop records again?  I played this over and
over again on my turntable and I never do that.  Amy is the shit.  Since
you'll have a hell of a time finding this, _Bust 'Em Green_ on Slumberland
is pretty amazing in its own right.

7.Spacer - "Contrazoom" (one-sided 10" on Pussyfoot)  I'm not as convinced
as some of my peers as to the power and influence drum 'n' bass will cast
onto pop music, or that it will eclipse it all together.  That doesn't mean
I'm not excited by the prospect of things getting a long overdue shaking.
This song is James Bond 2000, where 007 musses his hair and sweats (a
little) to a rumbling beat, the Shirley Bassey-ish vocalist playing it cool
when you didn't expect her at all.

8.Smog - _The Doctor Came At Dawn_ (Drag City)  Bill Callahan frightens me.
During my one encounter with him personally, he barely spoke.  His
complexion was pasty white and his hair a mousey brown.  On first
appearance, he gave the impression of being left in the closet to collect
dust, but the few words that did drift from his mouth were endearing
whispers of dehydrated wit.  It was his birthday party and he didn't know
most of the people there.  I wanted to joke with him, but I thought if I
prodded him too hard, he would crumble into ash.  I wanted to grab his hand
and tell him that he had helped get me through the night several times in
the previous weeks (_Kicking A Couple Around_ had just come out and I would
sit and stare at the speakers).  This slight and barely audible man has
created some of the most expressive music of our time.

9.Bedhead - _Beheaded_ (Trance Syndicate)  I believe it was Tim Midgett who
described this band as perfect.  Who am I to argue?  The crescendo during
"The Rest Of The Day" is.....wow.  This record is my weekend house.

10.Wrens - _Secaucus_ (Grass)  This band is going to be enormous, a
statement which is not always a cause for celebration, but in this case,
they're really really good.  Their first record, _Silver_ (also on that
meshuganeh label) was a great record for people who liked Pixies-inflected
pop.  They completely surpassed expectations and made a great record for
people who like any kind of guitar heavy pop.

11.Peechees - _Do The Math_ (Kill Rock Stars)  This is vicious, but with
style.  Think Germs, Lucky Strikes, garage make-out party with strobe
lights and teenagers.  This is what I imagine Grace Jones to have felt like
in the '70's - a unique balance of menace and sex.  This is punk rock,
baby, and I don't mean Rancid.

12.Damien Jurado - "Trampoline" (from a 7" on Sub-Pop)  Far more upbeat
than anything on his upcoming full length (which is still quite good if
introspective), this guy's got a tenor croon somewhere in the John Cale
department, with an arrangment dripping with Steve Fisk.  If you like the
taste of his voice, there's nowhere else to go but up.

13.New Bad Things - _Society_ (Lissy's)  The New Bad Things have more ideas
on one record than many artists do in their entire careers.  This
collective is the ramshackle aesthetic cousin to the Elephant 6 collective,
trading in some of the psychedelics for an unpredictable and rewarding
sense of humor.

14.Incredible Force Of Junior - _Let The World Fall Apart_ (Up)
Approximately two thirds of the songs on this record are among the most
dynamic indie pop made in the last five years.  This is precisely the
reason not enough people will hear this record, because many already own
five years worth of sub-par indie pop.  Get off your ass and bob your damn
head.

15.Zumpano - "Here's The Plan" (from _Goin' Through Changes_ on Sub-Pop)
Yeah, sure, the whole album's good, but this song is so damn incredible, it
makes me feel like a real white guy.  Not an easy task.  That, and I'm sure
my Uncle Warren will love it (along with the excellent and tender Scud
Mountain Boys' _Massachusettes_, also on Sub-Pop).  Fuck "American Pie",
man.

16.Sleater-Kinney - _Call The Doctor_ (Chainsaw/Candyass)  Me and SPIN.
This is where I tripped over the journo train and maybe even crossed paths
with my roommate, the Rock Critic (tm).  I didn't think you could get much
more frontal than their last record.  My mistake.

17.Refrigerator - "Amber Major" (from _Anchors of Bleed_ on Communion)  I'm
so late with this band, I feel about as hep as Dick Clark.  Well, maybe
about as hep as Benny Schwartz.  "Amber Major" has all the swoon and
closed-eye sentiment a Marvin Gaye song, only it's a Refrigerator song and
one day it, too, will find it's place on an appropriate soundtrack
(hopefully before either Callaci dies).  This is creamy stuff, toots.

18.Dirty Three - _Horse Stories_ (Touch & Go)  (This record has no words
and so will my review.  Just get it.)

19.Cannanes - "Drug-Induced Delerium" (from s/t CD on Ajax)  Here is Fran,
chirping away like a beautifully damaged songbird.  I'm always hesitant to
use words like "pretty" to describe a melody, but if the shoe fits...1996
also marks the year I become a Cannane, making my on-stage debut (and sole
appearance) with the band by defiling the much older "Red Smoke Across The
Square."  Thankfully, none of their recorded output has had to suffer from
my presence.

20.Grifters - _Ain't My Lookout_ (Sub-Pop); Those Bastard Souls -
_Twentieth Century Chemical_ (Darla)  I just wanted to be a pain in the
ass.  God bless the Grifters, bitch.


Keeping it real in the nine-seven,


-Cory                  O
                    ((___))
                     _| \_
fatkid AT sirius.com