Origin: Austin, Texas
Style: Space Rock, Indie Pop, Dream Pop

On their debut release, American Analog Set had a completely different agenda than the blissful pop style that dominated most of their career. This album became a silent winner of the late ’90s and propelled the Austin-based band into the 21st Century as gentle indie giants. Although not drifting too far from their later sound construction, The Fun Of Watching Fireworks builds upon a long, drawn-out series of droney jams that are simple and elegant; a My Bloody Valentine in reverse.

Amanset has divulged on the concept of the anti-album. There are no songs that stand out, no singles, even though there are moments that come to the forefront. An album like this must be treated as a whole in order to understand the full intentions of the band, where it is not so apparent where one song ends and the next begins. The album meanders on flawlessly like a road trip, building experience upon experience with no real destination in site. There is no build up. the sometimes monotonous, sometimes repetitive sound actually does wonders to this album as guitars softly orbit around a farfisa. And the album ends just as easy as it began.

It was a concept that caught the attention of people like Option who had this to say: “…this group does slow better than many, effectively mixing and matching instrumentation without sounding desperate for novelty” (January/February, 1997, p. 75). It blew Alternative Press away by giving it a four out of five stars: “The American Analog Set do what many of the latest swarm of space rockers cannot: They craft beautiful songs and then layer them in waves of soothing effects…” (January 1997, p. 64).

Amanset did a brilliant job at making each song flow into each other, sometimes drifting off into elongated yet structured jams but always coming back to quaint dream pop numbers much like Book Of Love, if they were more interested in the sound of The Fairport Convention.

Built upon the constraints of a rock opera without a direct conscience of being one, The Fun Of Watching Fireworks is what it is, delicate songs that flow freely as the listener sits back and soaks up the view. The lushness and elegance will keep the attention of dreamy-eyed listeners who like to dust off their Galaxie 500 box set or revisit Stereolab’s earlier work.

This is the basis for the band, and a firm one that established them in the indie scene as the album remains to have a strong presence on the Internet that people still gravitate toward.

Cross-Reference: Book Of Love, Stereolab, Galaxie 500

Origin: Victorville, California
Style: Punk

After their song “Disconnected” — from the album Big Choice — became popular enough to land in the movie soundtracks of Tank Girl and National Lampoon’s Senior Trip, the band finally had a major label knocking on their door. Face To Face packed their bags from Victory and moved to A&M.

For many a fan at the time, this could have been a bad and cautionary decision, possibly ruining the band. Looking back, it appeared that they took what they wanted from the label and moved on as this was their only release on a major.

Unlike many bands who tried this method and failed, Face To Face created a successful venture that ended up being some of their best work.

After the release of Big Choice and extensive touring with bands like NOFX, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and others, bassist Matt Riddle left the band and moved to 22 Jacks, Pulley, and then settling with No Use For A Name.

In came the then unknown Scott Shiflett, and it was like the band never skipped a musical beat. However, you may notice a difference in the songwriting as Riddle played an important role, collaborating with vocalist/guitarist Trevor Keith. Where Don’t Turn Away had an edge and more frumpy overtone yet pointed to the listener, this self-titled release ends up being more contemplative.

With the band close to the production aspect of this album and bringing back in Jim Goodwin to assist, there really is not much of a difference from Big Choice to this album. However, you will notice a distinct change from this album to their Vagrant work as their musical tastes began to mix around and drummer Rob Kurth left the band.

What makes this album work is that stylistically, nothing is changed. The band uses the exact same formula since the beginning: driving pop punk rhythms, the socio-personal lyrics, and the charm of harmonies in the chorus that is found in many So-Cal pop punk bands to this day. From “Blind” — a song that plays on the aspect of realities and the realism of situations that fall into personal regret — to the Bad Religion-esque “Can’t Change The World,” all of this is exactly what you would expect from a Face To Face release.

What keeps an album like this relevant is that the band took themselves seriously and believed in what they were creating. As a side note, it should be made aware that upon searching for information on this album through the Internet, there are a few inconsistencies in regards to the band (i.e., the Wikipedia article has the band disbanding in 1994, two years before this album was released – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Face_to_Face_(punk band)). Unintentionally, Sputnik Music has a complimentary and proper retrospect on this album – http://www.sputnikmusic.com/album.php?albumid=6120.

Cross-Reference: Bad Religion, No Use For A Name, Descendents

Origin:  Santa Cruz, California
Style: Punk

Ryan Greene got a promotion when it came to this album. He went from co-producing the band’s debut For God And Country to full-on production. The only reason I put Greene (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryan_Greene) at the forefront is that his workings with Megadeth’s Countdown To Extinction and later Bad Religion’s Brett Gurewitz enlisted him to do work on NOFX’s Punk In Drublic.

It’s the incorporation of metal and punk rock styles, along with the relationship that he developed with NOFX and Fat Mike (they both started up Motor Studios) that became a direct influence for Good Riddance and a development in a style that carried over and progressed throughout the rest of their career.

It’s also what kept Good Riddance away from the schlocky pop punk side of the Southern California lifestyle and pushed them to be one of the more intense modern West Coast punk rock bands in that genre without becoming an overtly socio-political band.

A Comprehensive Guide To Moderne Rebellion may not stack up to the force of their later career releases, but it does show a powerful transgression from their debut, and a sense they they know more of what they are doing.

Songs like “Steps” create an awkward transition from the speed punk opener “Weight Of The World,” But the ball thumping of the bass drums and the revving of the guitars keep things moving. And that is why “A Credit To His Gender” might sound like one of the better Bad Religion songs they never wrote.

I think the defining moment on this album is the two-and-a half minute “Last Believer.” It perfectly sums up what this band is about lyrically (“America is burning, look around it’s in the air. I want to be the last believer as long as I still care. And I still care!”) and musically. The pounding force and the infantry of hardcore punk.

This is the album that made me believe that what this band was doing was the true essential of what punk rock was and is all about.

There is not definitive line as to where the band excels and goes wrong here. Some speed punk works, some don’t. Same goes with the more straightforward songs. But I can agree that the last few songs, beginning with “Think Of Me,” is the diversity that takes this band deep into the next few albums.

Cross-Reference: Bad Religion, NOFX, Face To Face

Origin: Hoboken, New Jersey
Style: Alternative

A simple homage in name to Ray Charles’ Genius + Soul = Jazz, it’s a shame that this double-CD compilation did not get more recognition. Trouser Press gave the album one sentence of attention calling it no more than “thoroughly fine.” (http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=yo_la_tengo)

And even though Genius + Love = Yo La Tengo is “thoroughly fine,” it is so much more. On the surface, this collection is a build up of compilation tracks, rarities, covers, and b-sides that has accumulated throughout the ‘90s, Genius + Love marks an end point from the Electr-O-Pura days prior and the transformation that fully takes effect with I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One.

Usually when a band releases a collection like this, it contains throw-away tunes that they release to suck in the fans as much as possible and not really adding anything substantial to the band’s perspective. Extra songs, studio outtakes, demos, whatever, many of these collective compilations are not as relevant as the band sometimes want you to believe in.

Guy Peters Reviews take things further. “To get one thing straight from the start: it’s perfectly clear why most of this material was never used and, by consequence, it’s rather self-indulgent that it was packaged in a 2-CD (one with vocals, one instrumental).” (http://www.guypetersreviews.com/yolatengo.php).

Sure there are some eclectic throwaways like the sort-of cover of Daniel Johnston’s “Speeding Motorcycle,” where Johnston sang the song through a phone, and the couple instrumental versions of “From A Motel 6” that further beat up and bastardize the powerful haze of sound from Painful. But there are plenty of songs that stand on their own and are just as much and maybe sometimes more important than any song released before this.

The immediate one that stands out is “Demons.” A song that was used on the I Shot Andy Warhol soundtrack (Yo La Tengo appeared in the movie as a Velvet Underground-esque band, and a song that was originally to be titled “White Rabbit,”) Georgia Hubley’s dreamy-eyed vocals is what makes the force behind it so hauntingly beautiful and luminesce. It’s a song that is a standout in the band’s career and one that gets re-visited time and time again. Follow that with the passive observance of “Fog Over Frisco” and you have a hell of an introduction into this collection.

The band reverts to some cover tunes. The first one up is a raucous Sonic Youth-like noise bash of Wire’s “Too Late.” They also revert to their VU love with a modest cover of “I’m Set Free” that does not stray far from the original version. Take that and add John Cale’s “Hanky Panky Nohow” and you understand just how far their love goes.

They also give homage to lo-fi masters Beat Happening with “Cast A Shadow.” The band cleans up the song, adds a fuzzed-out reverb guitar to the pop mix and creates a slick version that takes an already great song and makes it better.

Disc 2 is more about abstraction than conventionalism. But you will find a surf-style/muzak version of  “Blitzkrieg Bop” that is lightweight and as fun as the Ramones meant for that song to be. Argue that it’s a throwaway, but the band knows how to create quality even in good spirits.

This collection ends with a 26-minute psych-out jam called “Sunsquashed.” It’s an epic adventure into sound and space that explores the depths of reverb and feedback that is a monster of an ending to an album. This idea would later return at the end of And Then Everything Turned Inside Out with “Night Falls On Hoboken.” Although “Hoboken” is much more sedate and looming than “Sunsquatched,” both songs explore music to their outer limits and after 26-minutes of this song, you realize how far this band can bend.

Cross-Reference: Sonic Youth, Velvet Underground, Beat Happening