Heave Media

Takin' You Back

Just because they broke up doesn't mean they aren't good

It really sucks when bands that you like break up, especially before you see them live. These are a handful of good bands that should not be overlooked just because they aren't creating new music. Sometimes you just gotta go back cataloging and find older stuff to listen to. All of these bands achieved a good deal of success, but they deserved to be huge; not just pretty big.

Q and Not U - So Many Animal Calls - This D.C. based three piece cranked out three stellar albums for Dischord Records before their demise in 2005. I literally found out about this band when I found a CDR on the street. It was a compilation disc containing a couple of Q and Not U songs on it. Don't be scared away from the Dischord association just because you aren't a huge Fugazi fan. Much of the music is derivative of Fugazi and Jawbox in some ways, but Q and Not U is often more accessible than the above mentioned D.C. post-punks. I recommend checking out drummer John Davis's new band, Georgie James, if you want some great pop songs with catchy guy-girl vocals.

Hum - Ms. Lazarus - Hum formed in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois in the late 1980's. With their hugely distorted guitars and highly technical drumming, they took shoegazer rock and combined it with arena rock (although they never did get to rock as many arenas as they deserved). Everyone knows the song "Stars" from the album You'd Prefer an Astronaut, especially now that Cadillac pimps it in their commercials. While both that song and the album it was released on are good, the often missed gem was 1997's Downward is Heavenward. While it had no single to speak of, I can say with full confidence that it was one of the greatest albums of the 90's.

Grandaddy - Summer Here Kids - Jason Lytle and Co. mastered the California keyboard indie-rock sound very early on. Lo-fi gets thrown around a lot when discussing Grandaddy, but even the earlier home recordings sound really damn good to me. This track is off their second album, Under the Western Freeway. I feel like Sumday was unnecessarily trashed (at least compared to their other albums) and The Software Slump was overly praised, but I still enjoy every one of their albums. I'm pretty sure Jason Lytle will continue to release music under a different name we'll probably find out more in the next year or so.

STREAM: Q and Not U - So Many Animal Calls

STREAM: Hum - Lazarus

STREAM: Grandaddy - Summer Here Kids

Posted by Greg Herald on Mar 26, 2008 @ 12:00 am