Side One, Track One. There’s so many amazing songs that fit this theme, my list quickly got into the hundreds before I just had to shut it down and start cutting. Here’s my final cut of 12, leaning heavily on personal favorites as opposed to “classics”.
Cheap Trick - “Hello There” - In Color: Doubling as a fallback for cancelled soundchecks, this is how you kick off a show. Each instrument joins the song in succession and then Robin Zander makes sure the crowd is indeed ready to rock.
Les Savy Fav - “Meet Me In The Dollar Bin” - Inches: This one’s almost the opposite kind of track as Cheap Trick’s, though it works just as perfectly live. Les Savy Fav started their career with the idea of releasing a career-spanning 7″ singles collection, recorded whenever they had the opportunity and released on nine separate labels, and each record’s artwork would be a piece of a larger puzzle only recognizable at completion. This song was the last one recorded, and may have been their swan song if the compilation hadn’t been so successful. This sure sounds like a goodbye: “We got old and we got good / and we did all we said we would.”
Public Enemy - “Lost At Birth” - Apocalypse ‘91: I think Eric and I both got into Public Enemy around this album came out. I hadn’t heard anything from them before I got this tape, but I was a big Ice-T fan and he constantly hyped PE. Based on that, I chose Apocalypse ‘91 instead of EFIL4ZAGGIN at the mall record store and the moment when I popped this in and pressed play on my sister’s little pink boombox was one of the biggest and most influential musical shocks I’ve ever experienced. It’s that siren synth more than anything else, but the introduction of each element of the PE team followed by Chuck’s blazing verse is just perfection to me.
Wild Flag - “Romance” - Wild Flag: It was Mary Timony’s presence that had me excited for this record, but Carrie Brownstein’s lead vocal on this song is what sealed the deal. Songs about loving music and how it connects us will never go out of style, and this is one of the best.
Polvo - “Fractured (Like Chandeliers)” - Celebrate The New Dark Age: Pretty sure I originally dubbed this off Madison, Wisconsin’s WORT community radio station, Ash Bowie kicks it off with some of the most gut-churning whammy-bar riffs every recorded. Polvo never made for easy listening, but here their queasy, noisy, panicked indie rock is also incredibly catchy, and I’ve been singing these enigmatic lyrics for ages.
Janet Jackson - “Interlude: Pledge / Rhythm Nation” - Rhythm Nation 1814: Powerful statement of purpose from a pop star who was living in her brother’s shadow until this record came out. My little sister had this tape and we listened to it dozens of times on one family vacation, but I really had no complaints, it’s a fantastic album.
Dick Dale - “Nitro” - Tribal Thunder: The King Of The Surf Guitar blew my mind when I saw him live shortly before Pulp Fiction came out. After he broke a string on the first song of the night - this one - and melting several picks, I had to get the CD once the show was done. It’s one of the most blistering surf tracks ever recorded, more than 30 years into the legend’s career.
Son Volt - “Windfall” - Trace: Jay Farrar had to reintroduce himself after Uncle Tupelo’s demise, and this song is a big reason why many thought he’d be the big star instead of Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy. Very few songs capture the relaxed joy of long-distance driving this purely. “It sounds like 1963, but for now, it sounds like heaven.”
The Gary - “Blank” - Farewell Foolish Objects: Dave Norwood has a commanding voice, and paired with his ominous bass chords at the beginning of this track, it sounds like the pre-dawn of another in a long string of gloomy days. One of Austin’s best bands, this song and album delve into some hard times, but there’s a release here - if only in just the act of reaching out for connection.
The Mountain Goats - “The Best Ever Death Metal Band In Denton” - All Hail West Texas: Eternal fan favorite, this song might have been the moment everybody in indie rock agreed that John Darnielle is a genius. Still a lo-fi boombox recording, this passionate single take of a story highlighting the universal themes in the struggles of a misunderstood bedroom metal band turned “Hail Satan!” into a poignant rallying cry.
Allen Toussaint - “Victims Of The Darkness” - Life, Love And Faith: One of the smoothest voices in a genre full of them, Toussaint might be the rare soul singer who’s more appreciated for his arrangements than his albums. But though his work in the New Orleans scene made Lee Dorsey and the Neville brothers into huge stars, his own records are better, at least to me. For one, he’s still got The Meters as his backing band. For another, his unassuming but clear and warm voice brings his words a lot of power, especially in this song. “Victims of the darkness, they don’t see the light / Until it’s too late, you know, to put up a fight”
Gang Gang Dance - “Glass Jar” - Eye Contact: As an opening track, this one breaks the mold. 11+ long, this is the definition of a slow burn, and most bands would put it at the end. But for Gang Gang Dance it’s a clear statement that their “everything time” approach to dance music is worth easing into, and when the build-up reaches the actual club dancing part after more than six minutes of a dream-pop crescendo, it’s orgasmic.
