‘Thirteen’ – Big Star: A stunning reflection on the innocence of childhood love and its simplicity. The shimmering acoustic guitars playing off of each other and the bouncing bass line both capture the sense of hope in the heart of a time where all that matters is the high-school dance.
‘I Love Perth’ – Pavement: A short sweet lo-fi slacker ramble through what seems to be the thoughts of one who has little ambition but to move to Australia to surf. The sound is cheap and warm like a humid apartment in a Midwestern suburban summer.
‘Peppermint Patty’ – Vince Guaraldi: The instrumental perfectly captures the scatter-brained yet single minded Peanuts character of the title. The melody is rebellious yet fun and big hearted and through the clumsiness comes a sense of self-assuredness.
‘Angel Eyes’ – Frank Sinatra: What starts out as a classic, intricately arranged Sinatra sound, as though made for the screen, soon turns into a menacing crawl through the bitter venom of the cheated drunk. The final line (‘scuse me while I… disappear’) hints at a hopelessness not found in Sinatra’s other torch songs. It’s the sound of a man who looks to the world with a weary eye and wants you to know it.
‘Bastards of the Young’ – The Replacements: “A willingness to claim us/They’ve got no war to name us” has to be one of the greatest statements about generation X ever written. As opposed to Hardcore Punk’s searing anger, in this song the ‘mats seem to be asking: ‘well, we’re here, what are you going to do about it’, all with a not-too subtle disaffected wink to the camera.
‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ – The Beatles: Possibly some of the wisest lyrics ever written by a 25 year old, a hauntingly crushing song that doesn’t consider the darkness nor the light yet instead seems to meditate between the two. Incredible to think this came just 3 years after ‘Help!’
‘Books About U.F.O’s’ – Husker Du: A joyous bubblegum punk song buried in fizzing guitars, a jaunty bass, and a ‘plink-plonk’ piano with whimsical lyrics that flies in the face of every punk/alternative song released at the time.
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