Six months into living in a new apartment in a new city in a new state on the opposite coast and we were still getting used to it. The furthest we’d gone outside of town at that point was probably down to Serramonte Mall in Daly City to buy home furnishings at Target, or me driving A down to SFO for one of her occasional work-related trips. Even driving to the west side of town felt weird, as we did once or twice to check out the beach or down to the SF Zoo. I was still getting used to navigating the roads when we drove around, trying to find the best way to the various neighborhoods when we weren’t taking public transit. We’d get used to it eventually, taking day trips north to Santa Rosa and Petaluma or south to Half Moon Bay. We’d even make the looooong trip up to Sacramento for the state fair now and again!

I was still feeling a bit lost and distracted creatively. I wasn’t writing too many poems or lyrics, my then current WIP (Love Like Blood) was moving in fits and starts, and I was heavily distracted by the internets. About this time I’d made the ill-advised foray into political blog reading and occasional online ranting, which lasted about a year and ended up being a lot of insufferable whining and echo-chambering that I’ve since taken offline. [I would soon realize that that particular avenue would serve no purpose to me other than raise my blood pressure.]

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Brian Vander Ark, Angel, Put Your Face On, released 1 May 2006. The Verve Pipe singer is looking a little scruffy here. His band had gone on hiatus, and over the next few years he’d put out multiple solo records that were more acoustic and ballady, but continued to prove that he never lost his stellar songwriting chops.

Pearl Jam, Pearl Jam, released 2 May 2006. After four years, a protracted Ticketmaster fight and a b-sides compilation, the group reconvened on the quasi-indie label J Records (really a subsidiary of BMG at the time) and released an album that sounded a lot like their early grungier years. It’s not one that gets a lot of play these days, but at the time “World Wide Suicide” and “Wasted” got a fair bit of play on Live 105.

Snow Patrol, Eyes Open, released 9 May 2006. I always get this one confused with 2003’s Final Straw because they sound very similar in tone, and both contain some of their most popular songs. This one, however, contains the evergreen “Chasing Cars” that is possibly their biggest hit in the US, and got a significant bump when it was used on an episode of Grey’s Anatomy (a show which handily used the Miami Vice rules of mood soundtrack).

Gnarls Barkley, St Elsewhere, released 9 May 2006. The project of CeeLo Green and Danger Mouse offered a huge hit with the song “Crazy” which still gets play everywhere (including supermarkets). CeeLo had been known as a member of the hip-hop group Goodie Mob and had previously put out a few soul-tinged solo records, but this album gave him some major publicity, enough that he’s shown up on hit songs ever since.

Hot Chip, The Warning, released 22 May 2006. A band I knew of, thanks to the music magazines and blogs I was reading at the time, but also one that very rarely got play anywhere except online. I’d eventually hear the ridiculously fun and catchy “Over and Over” and both A and I would become loyal fans. We even got to see them at Outside Lands some years later!

Soundtrack, Ergo Proxy opus01, released 25 May 2006. I don’t exactly remember when I first heard of this anime TV series, but I’m pretty sure it was from seeing trailers for it when we rented Funimation anime through Netflix. “Kiri” by Monoral is one of my top favorite opening themes.

Paramore, The Summer Tic EP, released 19 June 2006. I’ll be painfully honest, when their debut All We Know Is Falling came out in 2005, I let them pass by as yet another hard-rock-with-angry-female-singer band (as there were many out there at the time, and I totally blame Evanescence and their inescapable “Bring Me to Life”), but it didn’t take me long to change my mind when I realized just how fun they were. This EP was a sort of thank-you to fans while on the Warped Tour, and contained the brilliant cover of Failure’s “Stuck On You”, a band who deeply influenced singer Hayley Williams. Interestingly, she shows up on the band’s 2026 album Location Lost!

Silversun Pickups, Carnavas, released 25 June 2006. While a lot of newer bands weren’t really capturing my attention, this one did due to its unique sound and style. “Lazy Eye” was boppy and catchy and I of course loved the quiet/LOUD dynamic of it. They’d become a consistent favorite band of ours.

Grant-Lee Phillips, nineteeneighties, released 27 June 2006. The former Grant Lee Buffalo leader’s solo record of 80s covers could have been a throwaway, but Phillips shines by using tracks that translate incredibly well with his acoustic work and forlorn vocal style. This one got a lot of play on my mp3 player that summer.

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Coming up: Odd indie albums, reissues, and overwrought bombast