I finished off my freshman year slightly bruised and battered but not entirely out of the game just yet. Let’s just say that I was just glad that it was over and done and I could move on. Thinking over what had gone on that year — dealing with a long-distance relationship, me and my roommate figuring out our boundaries (and a third roommate who’d come in during second semester that had pretty much been the one to keep us separate), and carving out new friendships with people not from my hometown for the first time…it wasn’t all bad, but it did leave its mark.

Billy Idol, Charmed Life, released 1 May 1990. Idol had shifted from meathead UK punk to greasy pinup to peroxided crooner (and a major motorcycle accident, if I recall) in the span of one decade, that by 1990 he’d embraced that tightly-polished sound everyone else had by then. But this album has quite a few really great radio-friendly tracks such as the ballad “Prodigal Son” and a wild cover of The Doors’ “LA Woman”.

Wire, Manscape, released 1 May 1990. The last album to feature the original quartet before drummer Robert Grey left (he wouldn’t return until their 2000 reunion tour), this one comes across as a little stilted and overproduced — it’s a little too glossy and takes away from their trademark quirkiness — but it’s got some really great and memorable deep cuts such as the fan favorite “Torch It!”, AOR radio track “Morning Bell” and the amazing ten-minute album closer “You Hung Your Lights in the Trees/A Craftsman’s Touch”.

Fuzzbox, “Your Loss, My Gain” single, released 1 May 1990. One last single from the original Fuzzbox lineup before splitting, it’s a poppy track that’s not quite as club-oriented as those on 1989’s Big Bang but just as infectious.

O-Positive, toyboatToyBoAtTOYBOAT, released 2 May 1990. This Boston band was a huge favorite of both WFNX and WBCN, and did manage to get some airplay on numerous other AOR stations as well with their minor hit “Imagine That”. This is a really fun album that’s worth checking out. They were part of a run of Beantown bands signed to major labels (mostly Epic/Sony, and many produced by Ed Stasium) that didn’t last there long, but shone brightly while they were there.

Something Happens, Stuck Together with God’s Glue, released 14 May 1990. A one-hit wonder with the oddly titled “Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello (Petrol)”, they fit in easily with the Adult Alternative sounds such as Toad the Wet Sprocket, but it was such a fun song that it got major airplay during the summer on WFNX. The whole album is just as catchy and enjoyable.

The Charlatans UK, “The Only One I Know” single, released 14 May 1990. Everyone’s favorite Britpop band not from Manchester (they’re from the West Midlands) dropped this single with a groovy beat, swirly Farfisa organ, and dreamy vocals and kickstarted an incredible career that lasts to this day. (Lead singer Tim Burgess also currently runs “listening party” events with other bands on his Twitter account that you should definitely check out.)

Katydids, Katydids, released 18 May 1990. Another alternative subgenre of the early 90s that often got passed over or ignored was the alternafolky AOR sounds of bands like Katydids. They weren’t out to prove anything other than to write lovely and relaxing melodies.

Revenge, One True Passion, released 25 May 1990. Peter Hook’s side project away from New Order may not have ventured all that far away from NO’s then-recent techno dance sound, but he was able to retain his own rock-dance hybrid on his own terms, creating an album that’s less about the sequencers and more about the melodies.

The Breeders, Pod, released 28 May 1990. Initially a side project with Pixies’ Kim Deal and Throwing Muses’ Tanya Donelly, this first album set the course for Deal’s solo career (along with her twin sister Kelley) for years to come with its weird blend of deconstructiive tension and tender melody. This record isn’t nearly as cohesive as their next, the multi-selling Last Splash, but it’s just as intriguing.

Concrete Blonde, Bloodletting, released 29 May 1990. Their third album brought them a vastly wider audience with the single “Joey” (a track that’s half Social Distortion drunken ballad and half late-80s-era Heart pop song), but the album as a whole is one of the best of their entire career. The gothy “Bloodletting (The Vampire Song)” rocks and the lovely “Caroline” delivers the heartbreak, and it closes with a chillingly gorgeous cover of Andy Prieboy’s “Tomorrow, Wendy”. Highly recommended.

Ultra Vivid Scene, Joy: 1967-1990, released 29 May 1990. Kurt Ralske’s second album was more about the poppier side of UVS, toning down the spacey drone and turning up the jangly melodies. “Special One” is a duet with Kim Deal that got him significant airplay on alternative radio. (There’s also a b-side deep cut from that single, “Kind of a Drag“, that heavily samples Led Zeppelin and is one of my favorite UVS tracks.)

*

I moved back home at the end of the month, settling in for another summer at the DPW. It wasn’t what I wanted exactly, but it was my only option at the time. Besides, I’d already decided this was going to be the last time I’d do so. My plan for next summer was to save up enough money to find a place to live in the city, where I’d be happier and have more options open to me. And more to the point, make it a point that I’d stay in Boston, even after I graduated.

In the meantime, I would let this one last hurrah in my small hometown slide by with minimal fuss. Save up some money, see my girlfriend more often, think about new writing projects to work on, practice the bass and guitar more, and hang out with the Vanishing Misfit gang when they came back to town at the end of the season. Time to take it a bit easy for a few months before heading back into the fray.

Best laid plans, and all that.