Dirt Track Date
Artist: Southern Culture on the Skids

After spending the first half of the 1990s as one of America's hardest-working independent bands, Southern Culture on the Skids took the bait and signed with a major label in 1995, releasing its fifth album, Dirt Track Date, on Geffen/DGC that year. Dirt Track Date proved to be something of a disappointment for the group's hardcore fans; nearly... Read More

Fun Trick Noisemaker
Artist: The Apples in Stereo
Community Score: 7.40

One of the defining albums of the mid-'90s indie scene, the Apples in Stereo's full-length debut is one of those records that marks a sea change in musical attitudes, akin to Mudhoney's "Touch Me I'm Sick" or Pavement's early singles. Besides being the breakthrough release of the Elephant 6 collective, which alone is responsible for many of the... Read More

Truth Walks in Sleepy Shadows
Artist: S.F. Seals

The second and final album by S.F. Seals is really a Barbara Manning solo album in all but name. Although the group started as a collaboration between Manning and drummer/vocalist Melanie Clarin, Clarin is reduced to a supporting role here, with no solo songwriting credits of her own and only one lead vocal, on the brooding Manning composition... Read More

Happily Ever After
Artist: The Rose Chronicles
Community Score: 8.10
Fever In Fever Out
Artist: Luscious Jackson
Community Score: 8.00

For all of its sunny eclecticism, Natural Ingredients lacked the darkly funky urban soundscapes that made In Search of Manny so engaging. Fever In Fever Out brings that dark funkiness while keeping the pop hooks that made Natural Ingredients a step forward. Producer Daniel Lanois keeps his ambient tendencies to a minimum, providing just enough... Read More

Stars on ESP
Artist: His Name Is Alive

As usual, Michigan-based sonic envelope-pushers His Name Is Alive continue to boggle expectations with their beautiful, exciting music. On their fourth album for 4AD, Stars on ESP, the group mixes dub, dream pop, surf, country, and Pet Sounds-era Beach Boys into something altogether unique. The songs range from the deceptively simple, folky... Read More

To See the Lights
Artist: Gene

The easy joke is, To See the Lights is Gene's Hatful of Hollow. True, the album is a collection of B-sides, non-album singles, radio sessions, and live tracks but, like the Smiths' Hatful of Hollow before it, the album illustrates the band's strengths more effectively than their debut album, Olympian. Several of Gene's greatest songs, including... Read More

Toward the Unknown Region
Artist: Torch Song

Torch Song's Toward the Unknown continues their series of intriguing blendings of electronic textures and acoustic foundations that recall the more experimental new age artists. It's not music that appeals to a broad spectrum of listeners, but those that want to immerse themselves in the layers of sound will find something of interest. ~ Sara... Read More

Growing Up
Artist: Hi-Standard

Just because that Fat Wreck Chords sound of slap happy, galloping pop-punk has been overdone doesn't mean that it gets stale; it all just depends on how a band can make this genre fun again. Take Hi-Standard for example, sure they epitomize on the Fat sterotype-except for the whole being from Japan part- but it's just so hard not to crank... Read More

Intoxicated Man
Artist: Mick Harvey
Community Score: 8.00

Intoxicated Man is the first of Mick Harvey's tributes to French singer/songwriter Serge Gainsbourg. Released at a time when the icon was largely unknown outside his home country, the album offers 16 English translations. Years spent in a supporting role with Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds taught Harvey the importance of yielding to the song. Whether... Read More

311
Artist: 311
Community Score: 7.41

It is the seamless way the songs on the eponymously titled 311 combine the band's influences into a potent blend of rap, funk, and rock that renders this album a cut above those of their competitors. These riff-heavy and radio-ready songs are underscored by a tight drum sound (often with a piccolo snare), the scratching of turntables, and the... Read More

The Shadow of Your Smile
Artist: Friends of Dean Martinez

A post-modern fusion of Santo & Johnny, Dick Dale and the Ventures, with a heaping side order of Tex-Mex border music. Whether or not the musicians are playing this straight or not, they're playing it very well, and the result is good fun, even if it's totally uncharacteristic of the material offered by the Giant Sand/Naked Prey axis in the... Read More

Happy Feet
Artist: 8½ Souvenirs
Community Score: 7.00