Enjoy.

I guess when the decade in question began nearly 20 years ago, it’s time for nostalgia to set in. Such is the case with the ’90s, particularly the music. But I’ve come to appreciate that decade’s music recently at a level that transcends nostalgia; I’ve realized that much of the ’90s music is not dated. Yes, songs from bands like Bush and Everclear haven’t aged that well, but listen to Pearl Jam, Toad The Wet Sprocket, even a pop band like the Gin Blossoms, and you can hear a surprising timelessness. By contrast, listen to something from the ’80s like Howard Jones or Human League, and you can hear the time stamp.

I’ve been predicting a renewed interested in ’90s music, and it’s starting to slowly but surely happen. Oasis has a new album out. My Bloody Valentine reunited, and so did Stone Temple Pilots. Younger fans of indie rock that trace the roots of their new favorites will be led not only to Sonic Youth but also ’90s acts like Pavement and Built To Spill.

One thing about the ’90s that won’t be coming back is the influence of TV. It wasn’t that long ago, but it seems like another era, not only because of the non-existence of the Internet, but more important, MTV. In 1993, you could see Rush, Nirvana, Armored Saint, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden all played consecutively on “Headbangers Ball.” You could see Live, James and Ned’s Atomic Dustbin on shows like “120 Minutes” and “Alternative Nation.” I had a Primus T-shirt in high school, and it was because I had seen the band on MTV and bought their album.

Nowadays you have to dig a little more. Besides MTV2, which does play music videos, and oftentimes good music videos, you’re out of luck if you’re depending solely on traditional TV or radio to key you in. But check out the cable station Fuse, and if you have On Demand service, check out all of the great music content available there, like Concert.TV, Havoc and more. If you have Comcast On Demand, right now you can watch Of Montreal, Sixx A.M. and the Rosewood Thieves. Not too shabby.

But back to the ’90s … Smashing Pumpkins are doing a 20th anniversary tour. That’s kind of cool, but Billy Corgan’s act has grown tiring, and the Pumpkins’ 2007 comeback CD was a buzzkill. James has a new album out, and that’s kind of cool, too. My fingers are crossed that Catherine Wheel will get back together and make an album that rivals 1997’s “Adam and Eve.”

Nostalgia’s OK, though. So don’t feel bad about throwing on “Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness” or “Badmotorfinger” and reminiscing a little. Flannel shirt is optional. 

You know there’s a big election coming up. So vote. Even the famously apolitical members of the Grateful Dead think you should. 

Read our coverage of the band’s reunion show for Sen. Barack Obama at http://www.theweekender.com/bonus/exclusive/Election_is_a_Dead_issue.html and listen to the show at http://www.archive.org/details/PLF2008-10-13.jw.mod.akg.463.V2.722.suraci.sbeok.flac16. 

You can tell this is a band that means business. Below, see a fan-shot video of “ Franklin ’s Tower” from the show. 

There’s several new albums coming out soon, or out now, that might get lost in the storm of major releases that will precede the holiday season. But they deserve some attention. Here’s a few that I’m especially fond of:

 

Marillion, “Happiness Is The Road”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The news item is that Marillion — which in some ways is the precursor to Radiohead, sonically and business-wise — is releasing this 2-CD set as a free download via peer-to-peer sharing. What’s really interesting, though, is that the music is more experimental than anything this band has done before, and that’s saying a lot.

Most latter-day Marillion albums have a handful of lengthy, exploratory tracks broken up with more mainstream songs. “Happiness Is The Road,” however, is wall-to-wall weirdness. The first disc, “Essence,” is short on discernable melodies and long on ambient mood-building. The second disc, “The Hard Shoulder,” is more traditional, with headphone-jams like “The Man From Planet Marzipan” leading the way.

 

Early Man, “Beware The Circling Fin”

 

 

 

 

 

What caught my attention about this metal band was the classic lettering of its logo and the sinister sharks on the EP cover. The only negative thing about “Beware The Circling Fin” is that it’s so short — only four songs. The young New York band is true metal, with no hint of tongue-in-cheek novelty — these guys are not The Darkness or DragonForce. The take-no-prisoners vocals of Mike Conte and the piledriver guitars of Conte and Pete Macy recall very early Metallica and pre-Bruce Dickinson Iron Maiden.

Jimmy Herring, “Lifeboat”

 

 

 

 

 

If you’ve been hired to play the guitar parts of Duane Allman and Jerry Garcia, you’re a virtuoso. But while Jimmy Herring may be known for his lighting-quick fretwork as a jam-band hired gun, when left to his own devices, his work hews closer to Southern-flavored jazz-rock fusion. “Lifeboat,” his debut, is similar to his work in experimental groups like Project Z. It’s all-instrumental and surprisingly song-oriented; there are flights of fancy, but Jimmy keeps it reeled in, which is appropriate for this avid fisherman.

Wait a minute. The Pete Seeger that wrote “If I Had A Hammer”? The kindly old man, nearly 90, that strummed his banjo and taught the audience the words to “Take It From Dr. King” two weeks ago on “Late Show with David Letterman,” is a punk?

Yep, that guy. There is no one more punk rock — defiant, anarchic and fearless — than Seeger, whose band The Weavers was blacklisted in 1953 at the height of their popularity because they were “pinko commie bastards” in the eyes of Sen. Joe McCarthy and Cold War America. He popularized the traditional “We Shall Overcome” — a punk song, if you think about it. The Weavers took their name from a 19th Century play about a workers’ strike that included the line: “We’ll stand it no more, come what may!” Very rebellious. 

Understand, when I say punk I don’t mean Hot Topic and eyeliner and rich 40-somethings from California singing in fake British accents (not to mention Green Day by name, of course). I mean that defiant, DIY spirit, the spirit that drove Rosa Parks and Bobby Kennedy and countless, nameless others that stood up for something unpopular but important.

Here’s a link to watch Pete singing “Take It From Dr. King,” which is relatively new — he wrote after 9/11 — on Letterman.

“Take It From" Dr. King on Late Show with David Letterman

Here’s a snippet of the lyrics:
Don’t say it can’t be done
The battle’s just begun
You too can learn to sing
So drop the gun.
Pinko commie crap to some of you. Inspiring words to others. Either way, it takes courage to stand up and fight — or stand up and not fight.

About the Author

Education
Penn State University, University Park
Bachelors degree: Journalism, English minor
Saint Joseph's University, Philadelphia
Masters of arts degree: Writing studies
Manchester University, Manchester, England
Communications

Selected Publications
The Weekender, LexisNexis Securities Litigation, ESPN.com, The Associated Press, Philadelphia Daily News, Philly Edge, Universitywire.com, The Daily Collegian

From
Pittston

Resides
Scranton

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