The last days of living at the Shoebox were coming fast, and I knew that if I wanted to stay in Boston, I was going to need to find a roommate and a place that was much cheaper than the $500 a month I was spending. Back then of course, you couldn’t just go online and meet up virtually within minutes. You had to check the personal ads in the Boston Globe or the Boston Phoenix, call the number and leave a message and hope to hell they called you back. I knew Back Bay was too expensive and I figured that heading west to Allston and Brighton might be more in line with my pathetic finances. As long as the building was within walking distance of a T line and didn’t take forever to get across town.

D came with me for some of the initial meetups and while there were a few hard no’s, there were definitely a few wish-they’d-chosen-me’s. By the end of the month, I’d meet up with a kid who was a Berklee music student and a keyboard player looking for a roommate in Allston. His only request was that I didn’t mind him practicing at various hours and he’d even put dampers on the bedroom doors. I had no problem with that considering my own penchant for listening to music all hours of the day and night while I wrote, and the rent was $100 less than what I was paying, so that worked well for me.

It would become my final year in the city and end not with a bang but a soul-crushing whimper, but for now I took what I could. And hoped that I could turn my life around while I focused on writing True Faith.

The Judybats, Full-Empty, released 2 August 1994. The final album from this band was great but sadly the label continued to ignore them and never gave them promotion. I know “What We Lose” popped up on a few promotional cd mixes and got some minor play on WFNX now and again.

Love Spit Love, Love Spit Love, released 2 August 1994. Richard Butler’s new band after the dissolution of The Psychedelic Furs was a great new direction for his music; it injected a much needed power that was lacking in the final few Furs records, but continued with Butler’s amazing songwriting. “Am I Wrong” got significant radio play and would also pop up the following year in the movie Angus.

Stereolab, Mars Audiac Quintet, released 2 August 1994. I’d heard of this band previously but this was the one that broke them in America with their funky and bloopy “Wow and Flutter” single. I loved that they were in a universe and a decade all of their own, not quite futuristic but not quite fifties-cocktail-jazz.

Sponge, Rotting Piñata, released 2 August 1994. The first time I heard “Plowed” I was convinced it was a new Social Distortion song, but I absolutely loved how loud and unrelenting it was. It signaled a fresh new sound that had power behind it and yet wasn’t the doom of grunge. I like to think of this album as the one that opened the gates to alternative rock in the latter half of the 90s. It’s a really great record worth owning.

Barenaked Ladies, Maybe You Should Drive, released 16 August 1994. I’d heard this band many times previously, but this was the one where I finally paid attention to them, specifically with the fun and breezy “Alternative Girlfriend” single. If you like their latter work, this one’s another great record to pick up if you don’t have it already.

Portishead, Dummy, released 22 August 1994. “Sour Times” blew my mind so much I went out and bought the cassette not that long after the album came out. I was somewhat familiar with trip-hop at the time — I knew who Massive Attack was and loved a few of their tracks — but this was the one that made me stand up and pay attention. It’s not just the spookiness of the music that I love on this album, it’s the torch-song quality of the vocals as well. Highly recommended.

Jeff Buckley, Grace, released 23 August 1994. I didn’t quite understand why he was so huge in the alternative circles, as I felt some of his work was a bit too meandering, but “Last Goodbye” was the song that changed my mind. I love its slow beginning and its multiple angelic heights. And yes, I used to sing along to this to practice my falsetto! Heh.

Luscious Jackson, Natural Ingredients, released 23 August 1994. This quartet’s debut album was well worth the wait, although it took me quite some time to catch up! (Being broke and all.) “Citysong” got a lot of play on WFNX and I loved that they really leaned into the summery pop but retained their hip-hop roots.

Toadies, Rubberneck, released 23 August 1994. I could not escape the “Possum Kingdom” single for months after this came out, and I’ve come to appreciate this record. This was also band that was alternative yet decidedly not grunge, welcoming in that late-90s indie sound.

Oasis, Definitely Maybe, released 30 August 1994. This debut was huge everywhere — MTV, alternative radio, they even popped up on commercial radio. While Blur would be the pop-oriented Beatles of Britpop, Oasis was…the latter-era Beatles! The Gallagher brothers borrowed heavily from that band over the years while injecting their own sneer and swagger and becoming ridiculously popular. “Live Forever” changed my mind about them and I’ve been a fan ever since.

Bad Religion, Stranger Than Fiction, released 30 August 1994. I knew of this band during my college radio years but I never really got into them until hearing the title song for this record, which ended up opening one of my favorite mixtapes I’d make later in 1995. They’d get heavy play on both WFNX and WBCN.

Sloan, Twice Removed, released 30 August 1994. Their second album was a distinct change from their indie-grunge power pop of Smeared and their label wasn’t too thrilled by that, but this ended up being one of their smartest moves as they’d become one of Canada’s best and most loved indie bands. This one’s more melodic and poppy and it’s definitely worth checking out.

Dinosaur Jr, Without a Sound, released 30 August 1994. “Feel the Pain” seems to be the Dino Jr track that gets the most play on alternative radio these days – and that makes sense considering it’s their most radio-friendly song – but by this time the band was essentially J Mascis and friends, and his mid to late 90s records would be decidedly less about the noisy punk and more about melodic indie rock.

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Next up: a new neighborhood, a new roommate, and a slightly healthier outlook.