Hum “Comin’ Home” b/w “Puppets”

45 rpm 7″, RCA/BMG, 1997

An old compatriot of mine who once “credited” me with turning him into a pothead – he meant this as a “compliment”! – gifted me this NOT FOR SALE single *From the forthcoming album “Downward Is Heavenward.” I don’t remember why, probably because he knew I liked the band. Which I did. And do.

Speaking of “Heavenward,” when Hum unexpectedly put out the excellent Inlet three years ago, I took the opportunity to revisit their oeuvre. Whereupon I discovered I was intimately familiar with that previous recording. Which surprised me a bit.

But I liked Hum a lot. Still do.

Hot Snakes “Suicide Invoice”

12″ LP, Swami, 2002

Rick Froberg died a few days ago. He was a few years older than me. Two of his bands have provided my life with a soundtrack for many, many years. This one Hot Snakes record alone more than ably served its duty in that regard. I don’t even really know what else to say, other than that Mr. Froberg was also a favorite vocalist, and provider of evocative album art.

This elpee – mine plays poorly due to negligence – has a lot of songs about death & dying. I’m including one of them here in tribute. Thank you, Rick Froberg.

Hot Snakes “Automatic Midnight”

12″ LP, Sympathy For The Record Industry/Swami, 2000

A friend who over the years often hipped me to the good stuff tipped me off about this one as well; he played me one song as I was about to leave on a brief roadie with a mutual friend’s band and I bought it at my first opportunity. In my opinion, this is the best of the three bands that share Rick Froberg & John Reis, though I suppose I wouldn’t argue very hard if you picked Drive Like Jehu. Picking which Hot Snakes record is “the best,” though? That’s probably a healthier debate.

“High School High – The Soundtrack”

12″ LP, Big Beat Records, 1996

Artists as listed on this companion piece to the Jon Lovitz spoof include The Braxtons, Faith Evans, D’Angelo & Erykah Badu, Large Professor & Pete Rock, Lil’ Kim, Spice 1/E-40 and The Click, and De La Soul, but it also contains “Wu-Wear: The Garment Renaissance” as performed by “RZA feat. Method Man & Cappadonna,” which is notable since Meth famously said he didn’t sport the titular brand, believing it to be that slum shit. (And not long is how long that track took them, trust me.)

I acquired this hilariously dated artifact from an eviction party long, long ago.

Herzog “Search”

12″ LP, Exit Stencil Recordings, 2010

Herzog is:
A) The surname of a German filmmaker
B) A novel by Saul Bellow
C) An indie-rock band from Cleveland, Ohio
D) Not your father’s Oldsmobile

Watching this band play once, a friend of mine observed, “They sound like Weezer.” That’s somewhat inapposite, in my opinion, but I don’t have a better comparison. A lot of this band’s artwork is done by a guy they repaid by writing a song with the same name as one of his own tunes (“Teenage Metalhead”). It’s not on this record, sorry. (They paid him with actual money, too.)