Hum - You'd Prefer an Astronaut and Downward is Heavenward - The very definition of a cult band, Midwestern spacey rock band Hum only released two notable albums, and just about anyone who remembers them loves them. On their earlier release You'd Prefer an Astronaut, you can hear Hum building an entirely different way of looking at the standard alterna-rock idiom, simultaneously chilling the sound with chorus and phaser and warming it with thick, blanketing distortion, while Matt Talbot found a way to inject a very human soul into his deadpan vocals. (Guitar nerd sidebar: For as amazing as the guitar tones are on Hum's albums, their guitar rigs were surprisingly simple. I'll take a few pieces of good gear over a giant complicated setup any day.) As strong as ...Astronaut was, it was on Downward is Heavenward that the Hum method crystallized into a masterful representation of what they were about as a band. Every ingredient in the sound is fine-tuned and plays off of everything else to form something very nearly perfect.
Meat Puppets - Lollipop - The newest release from the reformed Puppets finds them in fine form. Lollipop displays the band moving into new and interesting territories without ever sounding like anyone but the Meat Puppets. The trademarks are all still present, but the band sounds relaxed, like they're enjoying themselves making their own special brand of low-key, fuzzy rock. This is a great record to put on while you lay on your bedroom floor in a sunbeam and stare at the ceiling. (I realize that this is the second appearance by the Meat Puppets in the Shakedown, but I've been listening to them a lot in preparation for the upcoming show I will be attending. The next volume will be Meat Puppets-free, I assure you.)
Primus - Green Naugahyde - This is also a newer release from a beloved 90's institution. You know what you're going to get from Primus, mind-blowing musicianship, whacked-out sounds, and the bizarre humor and insight of Les Claypool, and Primus delivers all of that on Green Naugahyde. It's clear that Claypool brought some weird new tricks from his time away from Primus, and maybe a more meandering, jammy vibe, but if you dug Primus before, there's no reason not to check out this album.
Tad - Inhaler - There was a time in the (very) early 90's when people felt that something was about to happen in Seattle. Their music was getting noticed and it was only a matter of time before one of their noisy, heavy rock bands was going to make it big. At the time, many wondered whether it would be local heroes Tad, or those weird kids from Aberdeen calling themselves Nirvana. Destiny made its choice and Nirvana exploded, leaving Tad Doyle and mates to remain a footnote in rock and roll history, but listen to 1993's Inhaler and see just how good their footnote really is. It's got everything a great grunge album needs; it's catchy and heavy and the production by J. Mascis emphasizes their strengths. A shame that Tad had to find out just how fickle a mistress destiny really is.
Buffalo Tom - Let Me Come Over - Buffalo Tom's third album Let Me Come Over was their first without J. Mascis producing (yeah, he was busy in the 90's), and consequently, the first time they were considered anything other than Dinosaur Jr. clones. This record was a big shift for the band; they turned down the gain on the guitars a bit, introduced a little country twang, and stepped up the emotion in the lyrics and delivery. All the changes paid off, because the record turned out to be their strongest to that point and the standard against which all of their later albums were measured (though some of their later albums do give this one a run for its money quality-wise).
As I wrap up this edition of the Audio Shakedown, I will leave you with a disturbing thought I had while stuck in this 90's rock phase. We are now further away, temporally speaking, from Nirvana's Nevermind than Nevermind was from Led Zeppelin's IV. I find the idea that kids today probably think that Nevermind is as mysteriously historic as I found IV in the 90's a chilling notion.
