Young Widows- In And Out Of Youth And Lightness (2011

If you're going to emulate a band, The Jesus Lizard is a pretty great pick in my opinion. And for their first few albums, that's just what Young Widows did. Don't get me wrong, I like 'em just fine, but I don't think they really deviated from The Jesus Lizard's playbook enough to warrant the reverence that many showed for them. Until this album, that is. Sure, there are still a few tracks on here that could be Goat b-sides and the signature gnarly bass tone and pounding drums are still out in full force, but on In And Out Of Youth And Lightness they've dialed back the intensity a bit and created some truly great moody and meandering epics. While I do have Young Widows' first few albums, I can't say I've actively followed them in the past, that's probably going to change.

Also, I'm curious about the song "Miss Tambourine Wrist." Is that anything like tennis elbow?

Young Widows on last.fm

The video below is a vinyl rip (obviously), but it sounds better that 90% of the MP3s people upload to YouTube. Sweet.



Get it here.

The Mercury Program- From The Vapor Of Gasoline (2000)

All of you should have A Data Learn The Language and Chez Viking by The Mercury Program. If you don't, you need to rectify this immediately. I'm sure far fewer of you have anything pre-A Data Learn The Language though. Rather than the ultra smooth grooves powered by the rhythm section and Rhodes piano accompaniment that The Mercury Program is known for on its later albums, their earlier albums were much more guitar driven and a lot less dense. There are certainly glimpses of what they would later become, the rhythm section is as tight as ever and there's a bit of vibraphone here and there, but with it's off-kilter guitar work, dissonance, sprawling song structure and sparse vocals (yes, vocals) it reminds me as much of bands like June of 44 and Karate as it does later Mercury Program. Oh, and it's fucking awesome. 

The Mercury Program on last.fm



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The Promise Ring- Nothing Feels Good (1997)

I probably haven't been doing enough to keep those of you who don't go in for the heavy stuff occupied, huh? Well, try this. The Promise Ring is Davy von Bohlen's post-Cap'n Jazz, pre-Maritime pop punk/indie rock band. You might even label this "emo" if you're one of those people who doesn't actually know what the term emo refers to and label every pop punk band with a wimpy lead singer "emo". If you're familiar with Maritime (which you should be, I posted their newest album a while back), then you should have some idea what to expect. The man's a pop genius.

The Promise Ring on last.fm



Get it here. (.zip)