I have a clothes rack with about forty t-shirts. I routinely wear the same eight shirts, ignoring the other thirty-two.
It dawned on me the other day that I do the same thing with my CD collection. Since I own more CD’s than t-shirts, my circle of choice is wider than eight and my unloved discs are more than thirty-two. I purchased the dusty discs for a reason, usually a well researched reason, and I was actively ignoring them.
I became a man on a mission. I have gobs of alone time at work when driving or catching up on paperwork. I decided to fill this time listening to the ignored portion of my collection. Interesting or not, probably not, these are my findings:
Jack White, Lazaretto: A present from my daughter, many highs, but too damn much country for my total liking. I get it, you can do anything, so get rocking and toss in a hard blues tune every once in awhile. Rating 7
The Go, The Go: If you like solid, complete with catchy hooks and meaty guitar, this is a good choice. Forgettable vocals hurt the overall rating. While not life changing, it will never bore you and will always rock. Rating 7
Mudhoney, Superfuzz Bigmuff: Unless you are detoxing from heroin or contemplating suicide, avoid this. I was wise enough to buy the special two disc version, doubling my cost and depression. Rating 1
The Shams, Please Yourself: I love rock with a dose of blues and this is The Shams. No problem listening to this in its entirety, cuts a wide swath. A racy cover, should come in a brown paper bag. Rating 7
New Bomb Turks, Switchblade Tongues and Butterknife Brains: I wanted to love this. The lead singer is channeling his inner Iggy, but the songs are not memorable. Each rocks and for that I add a point. Rating 5
Beck, Morning Phase: Another gift from my daughter. I listened to this on a dark, solo trip back from dropping my son off at CMU. A ton of atmosphere. Don’t play this at a party, but feel free to listen when you need a minute. It’s not Odelay, and that’s all right. Rating 7
Black Keys, Rubber Factory: I wanted to like this, critics and fellow rock snobs said I should. I couldn’t. A certain sameness throughout. A lot of middle and few highs. Rating 5
Green Day, Insomniac: I understand that real punks, whatever that means, shit on these guys for being too commercial. To me that means that they write hooks and I am fine with that. Rating 7
Dirtbombs, Dangerous Musical Noise: So fuzzy, so deep in the garage, sung with great passion. If you don’t like the Dirtbombs, then we can’t be friends. It is an indictment of the insane world in which we live, that these dudes are not stars. Rating 9
The Hiss, Panic Movement: Like The Go, this is straight ahead rock with hooks. Nothing that you can’t live without, but an enjoyable forty minutes. Rating 5
Rory Gallagher, Calling Card: Perfect combination of blues and rock with a dose of Irish mixed in. Tempted to take off a point, because Rory tried to pick up my wife at a pub one night while on tour, but I can’t, she's beautiful. Rating 8
Bronx Tale Soundtrack, Various: Reminds me so much of Ray and Max as I played this a lot when they were little. Great mix from Dino to Wilson Pickett. You cannot get bored listening to this. Rating 8
Heartless Bastards, Stairs and Elevators: The lead singer is old, I am old, old is tough. I get it, but I don’t need to be pounded by this for forty minutes. Some cool tunes, but overall depressing vibe. Rating 4
Radiohead, The Bends: I didn’t expect them to rock as much as they do. This is an interesting mix of styles, with a lot of great highs and very little low. Surprised me. Rating 7
Supersuckers, Live at the Magic Bag: Yes, they recorded their live CD in Ferndale, yes they poke fun at other rock bands and yes they never take themselves seriously. Still, you can’t make it through this entire live show without your mind wandering. Rating 5
Chesterfield Kings, Mind Bending Sounds: I understand a nod to psychedelia, but an entire CD devoted to one riff? I love me some Little Steven and he has his hands all over this, but I struggled to get to the last song. Rating 2
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Take Them On: When right, they are spot on. There is a lot of right on this CD, but a certain sameness pervades and you get weary by the end. Rating 5
The Maggots, Monkey Time: The band name works against them (like the great Toilet Boys), but this is an enjoyable garage trip featuring farsifa, covers and frivolity. Rating 7
Detroit Cobras, Mink/Rat/Rabbit: Andrea and I saw them clear the Wyandotte Art Fair. A festive mood went to shit when they hit the stage. People picked up their folding chairs and left in droves. Not easy to do on a drunk Saturday night in the summer. This disc makes that even more difficult to understand. It is fun and should have been perfect for that atmosphere. Rating 7
Frank Black, Teenager of the Year: Lots of short ideas, some good, many tedious. I like The Pixies and feel sheepish for not liking this, but I don’t. Rating 4
Dropkick Murphys, Do or Die: When you start with a bagpipe call to arms and go hardcore punk front to back with a couple of short pauses for drunken sorrow, I am going to love you. You need to own this. Rating 10
Black Sabbath, Sabotage: The front photo of the band is a bit unsettling and so is the music. In a good way. Of course there is a lot of sludge, it is Sabbath after all. They mix it with some brief Spanish influenced guitar noodling and complex songs. Heavy as hell. Rating 8
Journey, Look into the Future: Yes, I own a Journey CD. This is before Steve Perry fucked up their vision of being a guitar driven prog rock band and turned them into schmaltz. I saw them live a hundred years ago with my friend Rob (opening acts were Earl Slick Band and Wet Willie, quite the triple bill), and they tore the place down. Lots of cool songs, harsh guitars and a Beatles cover. Rating 7
Jethro Tull, Stand Up: Early Tull. A great variety of blues rock, some flute (of course) and great additional tracks (not often the case). If you don’t know this album, it will surprise you. Rating 7
The Woggles, Rock and Roll Backlash: Got to know them from Underground Garage on satellite radio. They are all things garage and mix clever covers with fun originals. They sometimes wander into power pop, but they never forget that garage rock is home. Rating 6
That was fun. For me. I have like a zillion more CD’s to listen to, but will keep future opinions to myself. I promise.
By the way, the eight t-shirts I routinely wear are Thin Lizzy, Foo Fighters, Tom’s Lounge, Downriver Rats, The Alley in Chicago, Frank Zappa, Dunleavy’s Bar and Ferndale High School.
Cheers! Jim
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