Tag Archives: post-college years

The Boston Years Continued: Slacker Central, Part XIX

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So what happened during the summer of 1994? That’s a good question. Not too much excitement, really. Living day to day, working at Brigham’s slinging scoops and making frappes, and working on True Faith. One thing that comes to mind is that I started reading again.

As much as I loved hanging out in bookstores, I would usually only get magazines and music reference books. I was just too involved in the visual, renting and watching movies because of my college years, not to mention my lack of patience and focus in actually sitting down and reading. D suggested I start reading Stephen King’s The Stand since we’d watched the miniseries by this time (she’d taped it for later viewing). Yeah, I know…going from being a non-reader to investing time in a Giant Doorstop, and the Complete and Uncut Edition at that? But it was a great idea because King can be a very visual writer in his worldbuilding and prose style, and that was the same style I was trying to create. The Stand was an unexpected yet vital influence on the Mendaihu Universe in that respect; I was fascinated by how vast the story universe was, and that inspired me to do the same. I spent the next year or so devouring several of his novels, finally realizing how much I did enjoy reading once I allowed myself to.

Meanwhile, D and I had realized we both enjoyed parody songs and came up with our own, focusing on parodying alternative rock under the name Mercy Buckets. We even had an album cover idea: on the walk to her apartment, we’d pass by an alleyway that had a sign with the misspelled words “Do not throw any thrash here.” In stark black and white, we’d be captured pogoing and headbanging in front of it. Our proudest moment was a parody of Hole’s “Miss World” written about Dan Quayle running for president. Yes, we were nerds.

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The Smashing Pumpkins, “Rocket” single, released 1 July 1994. This wasn’t my favorite track off Siamese Dream, but this single featured a great b-side that WFNX picked up on: a live-in-studio cover of Depeche Mode’s “Never Let Me Down Again”. The track would show up a few years later on the For the Masses DM tribute album, but this is where it first appeared.

The Prodigy, Music for the Jilted Generation, released 4 July 1994. A few years before the ubiquitous “Firestarter” song and video, this group was known then for their noisy yet exciting techno that always fired up the dance floor. This was their second album and “Voodoo People” would get minor airplay on WFNX during their weekend techno shows.

Hootie and the Blowfish, Cracked Rear View, released 5 July 1994. I know WFNX wouldn’t dare to touch this band at all, but WBCN played the hell out of them. I’d switch to that station when I was in the mood for more commercial rock stuff, and you couldn’t go an hour without hearing at least one or two tracks from this record. Terrible band name aside, this is actually a pretty decent album!

Des’ree, I Ain’t Movin’, released 5 July 1994. I would hear “You Gotta Be” everywhere I went that summer. And it really is a great track, full of lovely melody and positive and inspiring vibes. I’d also hear it a lot into the next year when I started the movie theater job as part of their in-between movie music.

311, Grassroots, released 12 July 1994. The band’s second album didn’t quite get all the attention it should have, but it did have a minor hit with “Homebrew” which would get play on WNFX and WBCN now and again.

Harry Connick Jr, She, released 12 July 1994. “(I Could Only) Whisper Your Name” was another pop gem that I’d hear everywhere. More known for his jazzy covers of old pop standards, this was an album of fresh new songs for him and was an unexpected success.

Seal, Seal (II), released 19 July 1994. I loved the first album (“Crazy” remains one of my all-time favorite songs of the 90s), but this second record is the one that pushed him further into the mainstream with its many great singles, including “Don’t Cry”, “Prayer for the Dying” and “Kiss from a Rose”, which would be used the following summer in the movie Batman Forever. This remains my favorite album of his and I highly recommend it.

Satchel, EDC, released 26 July 1994. Shawn Smith certainly got around in the 90s and 00s. He formed this band with a coworker from Tower Records, formed the band Brad with Pearl Jam’s Stone Gossard soon after, formed Pigeonhed in the late 90s and had a minor hit with the remix of “Battleflag”, and showed up as a guest member on several albums and songs with bands from the Pacific Northwest. This one almost fell under the radar, but I’d heard a track or two from it and eventually found a used copy that I’d play during writing sessions now and again.

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Next up: Summer’s end, making future plans and planning future moves

The Boston Years Continued: Slacker Central, Part XVIII

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By the time summer arrived, I’d started spending more time with D at her apartment because a) it was air-conditioned whereas the Shoebox was a sweltering hotbox, and b) my day job was right across the street. We were that couple, spending far too much time together mainly because most of our friends were out of town and constantly joined at the hip. We were both broke and spent as little money as possible, sometimes to our own detriment to our health. We had our fun times and our down times. And we talked a lot about this science fiction project that had been dogging me for months now.

And it was here late in the afternoon on the 18th of June that I suddenly had a moment of clarity: I knew how to start that project now! We’d been talking off and on about the various versions of new age religions that fascinated us — whether they were earth-based like Wicca or universe-based like astral souls, I realized that there was a lot to mine here. Not so much with appropriation, mind you, but inspiration to come up with my own version. It was that afternoon that I’d come up with an opening scene: one of my characters appears out of nothingness in her apartment, head spinning dangerously, having just returned from some magical traveling through space and time. And this woman had returned because she knew that something big, something life-changing, was about to take place that affected the world. And it had to do with people of Earth finally reconnecting with alien ancestors.

I knew what I wanted to do with this novel now.

This would be the beginning of True Faith, a novel D and I would co-write over the next two years. Most of the writing would be done by me though she would write certain scenes featuring a certain character, and she’d also become a sounding board for all the new ideas that were bursting forth now. We soon had an idea for an extended universe complete with vague ideas for several related novels.

True Faith was never finished, spanning only seven or eight lengthy chapters, several outtakes and a lot of scribbled notes, but it would set the stage for what would be a complete rethink and revision of this universe two years later when I started The Phoenix Effect. The two novels are not related in any way other than the basic idea of alien contact via spiritual means, but I’d like to think that was where the Mendaihu Universe finally went from its planning stages to actual writing.

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Stone Temple Pilots, Purple, released 7 June 1994. I’d been a passing STP fan, but after hearing the absolutely amazing “Big Empty” single on the soundtrack for The Crow, I had to check this one out. I bought this one used at Nuggets and it soon became one of my all-time favorite records of the year. I think it’s their best record, full of great songwriting and excellent playing, and several of its songs were radio favorites. This one would get major play during my Belfry years as well.

Velocity Girl, ¡Simpático!, released 14 June 1994. This band from DC would get a lot of play on WFNX, and their lighter take on the grunge scene, leaning more towards indie pop than hard rock, was a favorite for the indie crowds in Boston. I’d hear “Sorry Again” on that station a lot that summer.

Lush, Split, released 14 June 1994. It took me a while to get around to buying this one due to being so broke, but I do remember listening to it down at Strawberries when they’d opened a store on Boylston Street not that far from the library. This one feels a lot gloomier than their previous records, more introspective and dreamlike, and while that may have caused it not to get as much play or attention, it did in fact grab my attention with the slow but gorgeous “Desire Lines” which has become one of my favorite songs of theirs.

Everything But the Girl, Amplified Heart, released 17 June 1994. This was an album that didn’t get too much attention right away, as it was another of their quiet semi-acoustic records with some good but not exciting tracks. That would change a year or so later when Todd Terry remixed “Missing” and gave them a surprisingly huges hit. I’d hear both versions sometime later after I moved back home and worked once more at the local radio station.

Ride, Carnival of Light, released 20 June 1994. Another band I loved but never got around to picking up for years other than 1992’s Going Blank Again, this one contains a great cover of The Creation’s “How Does It Feel to Feel”, making it just as noisy and psychedelic as the original.

Guided By Voices, Bee Thousand, released 21 June 1994. It took me years to finally get around to getting this band’s output, considering Robert Pollard drops new GBV every other month or so, but I do remember hearing “I Am a Scientist” on WFNX and liking it a lot. I also remember this was the breakthrough album that gained them countless new followers.

Various Artists, Kiss My Ass: Classic KISS Regrooved, released 21 June 1994. An odd yet exciting tribute album featuring bands as diverse as Anthrax, Garth Brooks, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Extreme, and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. The latter band of course getting all the local play on both WFNX and WBCN!

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Coming up: Terrible band names, musical silliness and a pop album with unexpected longevity.

The Boston Years Continued: Slacker Central, Part XVII

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By the end of spring, D had finished off her semester and was going to live in an apartment that was literally just across the street from Brigham’s where I worked. And given that the summer of 1994 was going to be a very hot, sticky and humid one, we realized that it might be a better idea for both of us to hang out in the air-conditioned one instead of the sweltering Shoebox.

In the meantime, we both started talking about what to do with my Nocturne idea. We were both budding writers and I appreciated that she understood where I was willing to go with this story. At the time I still wanted it to be centered around the rebel “Vigil” group I’d come up with — essentially the science fictional version of my IWN characters — but I wasn’t sure exactly how to start the damn thing. I had a few ideas, but none of them seemed to work. We spent a few weeks in May beating it back and forth, doing a bit of world building and kicking ideas about. In the meantime I’d focus mostly on Two Thousand until something came of it.

Oh, and May was also when I met comedian Steven Wright, who’d walked into Brigham’s one night and ordered a milkshake and some food to go. I remember this because the place was dead due to the fact that the long-awaited television miniseries of Stephen King’s The Stand had premiered that night and everyone was at home watching it, and he could pop into our restaurant in relative peace. Being that we were both Emersonians, I recognized him but mainly talked about the college with him. [Side note: a few years earlier, when I lived with L on Beacon Street, I learned he lived the next building over. Small world!]

Sonic Youth, Experimental Jet Set, Trash & No Star, released 3 May 1994. I was never the biggest SY fan, but I did like “Bull in the Heather” quite a bit, and it was a huge hit on WFNX. I still hear it every now and again!

G Love and Special Sauce, G Love and Special Sauce, released 10 May 1994. WFNX also loved this band…it wasn’t quite funk, but it wasn’t quite folk or rock either, but a mix of all sorts of things. That first album is just full of goofy fun summery funk songs, and well worth listening.

The The, Solitude EP, released 10 May 1994 (US). This was primarily released in the states due to the remake of his well-known track “This Is the Day” as if played on a cheap Casio keyboard, and heard on the Threesome soundtrack earlier in the year. It’s essentially the British version of the four-tracker of the same name plus 1991’s Shades of Blue EP (which featured the great “Jealous of Youth” single).

Indigo Girls, Swamp Ophelia, released 10 May 1994. I’ve been a longtime fan of this duo since the self-titled 1989 album, and while it took me a while to get around to buying this record I loved hearing the wonderful “Least Complicated” single on WFNX.

Weezer, Weezer (aka the Blue Album), released 10 May 1994. I remember this band was just so HUGE from the very first single. Both WFNX and WBCN played the hell out of most of the tracks from this album, because it was just a refreshing take on power pop with a slight Gen-X slacker edge, but without the heavy cynicism of most indie bands of the time. It was more goofy than ironic, and I think that’s why it did so well. It took me a few singles to get around to buying it though…”Say It Ain’t So” is what sold it for me.

The Future Sound of London, Lifeforms, released 20 May 1994. Speaking of WFNX…for most of the early 90s they had a weekend evening show in which they’d play a few hours of great electronic music, and this band was one of their favorites. As I was too broke to be picky, I never quite got around to picking up this one until I found the CD used years later, but I remember liking the single mix of the title track.

Beastie Boys, Ill Communication, 23 May 1994. They’d come a long way from their meathead rap of the mid-80s, and this was the album that shot them into the stratosphere with several singles like “Sure Shot” and the listen-only-at-high-volume “Sabotage”. It’s similar to Check Your Head in that there’s a lot of actual instrument playing here, but while that album is scattershot and experimental, this one is a lot more exciting and enjoyable.

Toad the Wet Sprocket, Dulcinea, 24 May 1994. I’d been a fan of this band since hearing “One Little Girl” back in my freshman year in college, and I’d always look for their records. I owned most of them on vinyl except this one which I found used on CD. It wasn’t quite the winner chartwise but there are a lot of great tunes on it!

Frank Black, Teenager of the Year, released 24 May 1994. His second solo record isn’t quite as wild and diverse as his self-titled first album, but it does share a lot of the same weird humor that he’s always been known for, such as the happy-yet-sad “Headache” and “Two Reelers”, a song about being a Three Stooges fan. D and I loved doing his “happy dance” from this video whenever we wanted to crack each other up.

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Up next: a sudden spark of inspiration finally kicks my science fiction novel into high gear!

Thirty Years On: Slacker Central, Part XII

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So here we were, finishing up the last month of 1993, putting to bed whatever my life had been over the last several years, but having no idea what to do next. Or rather, kinda sorta knowing, but having little to no ability to reach for it and being extremely aware that I could be easily distracted and influenced? Yes, I was well aware of the mental and emotional issues I had at the time, and yet I felt I had to function with them regardless, having very few available spoons to figure them out and make them retreat.

Still — on those quieter days and evenings where I sat down at my table and played around with a possible new universe to write in, that’s when I was most at peace with myself. That was what I wanted to do, and I would need to learn how to harness it, keep it in mind and keep it alive.

Distractions and all.

Ramones, Acid Eaters, released 1 December 1993. This was a bit of an odd detour for the band, who’d decided to release an album full of garage band influences. It didn’t get much positive attention but regardless, it’s got some really fun covers on it.

Underworld, dubnobasswithmyheadman, released 1 December 1993. I remembered this band from 1988 when they came out with the synthpoppy song “Underneath the Radar”. I did not expect them to immerse themselves so deeply into the growing techno scene. They didn’t get much airplay on WFNX except on their weekend electronic show, and “Cowgirl” was a big favorite not to mention the biggest flipping earworm ever!

Cocteau Twins, Snow EP, released 1 December 1993. I wouldn’t have expected the band to record Christmas songs like this, but they’re just as light and heartfelt and enjoyable as you’d expect them to be! WFNX used to play “Frosty the Snowman” a lot as it’s the best of the two tracks and the one that closely mirrors their own style.

Mixtape, Untitled V, created December 1993. This one’s interesting in that it mirrors two different previous Untitled mixes: one from earlier in the year, full of recent purchases that reflect my changing musical tastes, and one from 1989 where I purposely made one side loud and the other one soft. Because of this it became one of my favorite mixtapes and one I’d listen to quite a bit over several years.

Enigma, The Cross of Changes, released 6 December 1993. “Return to Innocence” was the other big hit by this band and one that would get airplay everywhere, from pop to alternative stations and beyond to several movie and television soundtracks. It proved that they weren’t just a one-hit wonder with their world-meeds-techno groove.

Deep Forest, Deep Forest, released 14 December 1993. …and on the coattails of Enigma came this group, full of ambient chillwave grooves and ethnocentric samples. This was a style that would hit its apex within a few years before sliding back into obscurity, but for awhile they were just as prevalent as Enigma if not more so. “Sweet Lullaby” was a big hit for alternative and AOR radio.

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I literally ended the year working my shift at the Coop, heading down the slushy sidewalks towards the E Line and listening to WFNX’s Top 101 of the year that started just about when I punched out. I missed maybe the first half hour of songs but made it back to the apartment to listen to the countdown and of course tape it, the first time I’d done that in years. This was also the first time I’d spent New Years’ Eve not with family, partly because of work and partly because I just wanted to see the year out on my own terms.

So what did 1994 have in store for me? Good question. Come January JA would play matchmaker whether I was ready for it or not and one of my more turbulent long-term relationships would commence. On the plus side…I’d continue writing, eventually (and finally) starting the Two Thousand project. It was slow going, but it was at least going in the right direction.

In retrospect, I see now that my dark mood during the Boston post-college years wasn’t just about being poor, directionless and frustrated…but also being acutely aware of my worst habits, tendencies and problems and having little or no way to fix them or figure them out other than through sheer fucking stubborn will. It would take another couple of years and personal events before I’d climb out of that morass and make my way into something more positive and healthy.

And also in retrospect, even though a lot of what came out in 1993 is inexorably tied with those moods, I can listen to a lot of this now and accept that there were some really great records that became not just personal favorites but major influences in my life and my writing.

So all in all…1993 wasn’t all that bad. It just kind of sucked in certain ways. But I survived, and that’s what matters most.

Thirty Years On: Slacker Central, Part IX

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Okay, so before we go any further, I have to show you this picture.

[Miraculously, I managed to find a somewhat recent picture of it online. I can confirm this is indeed 213 Beacon St #5C, the same place I lived from September 1993 to August 1994.]

This was the shoebox apartment. Almost the entirety of it. What you see there is 95% of the apartment itself: a single room with a single window and a tiny loft — the photo is taken from the narrow kitchen/entryway that also included the stove, a sink and a fridge, and the super tiny bathroom is around the corner to the left. It really was that small, and it cost $500 a month. I could have looked for cheaper, but that would have meant moving to one of the outer neighborhoods and depending wholly on public transit to get anywhere. By living here I had much better and walkable access to work, entertainment and the few people I knew who still lived in town.

This is where my adult life started. This is also where my writing career started.

My plan was to start at Day One with the writing. I had my spiral bound notebooks and my typewriter, a foldout table, a TV and a hand-me-down VCR, my stereo and boombox, and most of my music collection, and that’s all I needed. I knew I had to start somewhere, so I relied on the reliable: yet another attempt at writing the Infamous War Novel, at this time called Nocturne. This must have been the fourth or fifth iteration, but the first not to explicitly take place in a small town. I also attempted a resurrection of the Two Thousand project I’d started a few years earlier in my sophomore year.

I was broke, I was lonely, I was always hungry, I had a smoking habit (Newport Light menthols at the time), and I was moody as hell, but I was also committed to writing. I wasn’t about to let that go.

I just had to keep going. I learned how to find entertainment cheaply if not freely: T rides up to Harvard Square to hang out and people-watch, walks on the Esplanade and through Back Bay, visits to Waterstones Books to read and chill, visits to Tower Records to see what they had in the listening booths and rent a few movies for a few bucks, and digging for gold in dollar bins at the used record stores.

Mixtapes, Good Grief, More WAUGH!!! Vol 3 and The WAUGH!!! That Wouldn’t Die… Vol 4, created September 1993. These two cheesefest mixes follow up on the “songs I like but don’t have in my collection at the moment” and clearly sourced from the family collections over the years with a few of my own dollar bin purchases thrown in. These were my favorites of this series and got quite a lot of play on my headphones. Noted: the Volume 3 title is a nod to the Charles Schulz Peanuts paperback I owned as a kid.

U2, “Lemon” single, released 1 September 1993. This oddball track from Zooropa got some pretty heavy airplay on WFNX. It’s my least favorite track on the album, but I’ll admit it’s catchy as hell too.

Chapterhouse, Blood Music, released 6 September 1993. I really liked this record, even though it unfortunately didn’t get much airplay anywhere that I knew of, other than hearing “We Are the Beautiful” on WFNX every now and again. It’s a much headier and heavier record than their previous one but it’s just as great. A few years later I’d discover that a UK edition had a remix cd entitled Pentamerous Metamorphosis by a duo called Global Communication added to it, which would become a Belfry writing session mainstay.

Prince, The Hits/The B-Sides, released 10 September 1993. I never had the money to buy this until years later, but it was hard to resist wanting it considering it was the first official ‘best of’ collection for him. For the time being I made do with the cassettes of his I already owned.

Counting Crows, August and Everything After, released 14 September 1993. It was hard to escape “Mr Jones” that autumn, as it was played EVERYWHERE, constantly. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the band and ended up lumping them in with the earthy-crunchy 90s hippie bands for a while, but I eventually grew to enjoy them. I did in fact like the single “Round Here”.

Morphine, Cure for Pain, released 14 September 1993. These local boys always put out fantastic blues rock with their unique bare-bones sound that sounded just that little bit boozy. I picked this one up on cassette and loved it, especially the deep cut “In Spite of Me”.

Dead Can Dance, Into the Labyrinth, released 14 September 1993. This one got some seriously heavy play in the shoebox during my writing sessions. I’d always loved their work, but this record went in a slightly different direction, sneaking out of their chamber music style and veering towards folk music but not without dropping an amazing nightmarish goth staple in “The Ubiquitous Mr Lovegrove” single.

Soundtrack, Judgment Night, released 14 September 1993. I remember seeing this movie with JA but I’ll be damned if I remember any of it other than the heavy-as-fuck soundtrack made up of hard rock/rap duets. Helmet and House of Pain’s “Just Another Victim” got some major play on WFNX that season.

Cocteau Twins, “Evangeline” single, 17 September 1993. Three years later and the trio finally release an absolutely lovely — and yes, autumnal-sounding — single preceding their upcoming new album. I’d hear this one all the time on the radio and it would make it onto one of my next mixtapes as well.

Buffalo Tom, Big Red Letter Day, released 21 September 1993. I loved this local band since first hearing “Birdbrain” a few years previous, and this record proved they weren’t going to stop putting out amazing albums any time soon. I’d hear “Soda Jerk” on the radio all the time, but my favorite track from this album is “I’m Allowed”, which I know I’ve posted here a few times already. Highly recommended.

Curve, Cuckoo, released 21 September 1993. I was so on the fence with this particular record that I ended up not picking it up for a few years, but when I did it became a Belfry staple for a good number of years. While not as tense and dense as Doppelganger (which I loved, especially “Fait Accompli”), this album is just as moody if not more atmospheric. It’s since become my favorite of their catalog.

Nirvana, In Utero, released 21 September 1993. It took me a while to grok this third album of theirs, and it still feels a bit disjointed and desperate, but it also features my favorite Nirvana song “All Apologies” which would pop up on a few of my mixtapes over the years.

Melissa Etheridge, Yes I Am, released 21 September 1993. I remember this album being a huge thing when it dropped because at the time mass media rarely provided us with such a positive message of sexual and gender self-expression. Not to mention that the glorious “Come to My Window” was one of her biggest hits ever.

James, Laid, released 27 September 1993. Yes, that band with that one song of theirs most alternative stations will ever play, and sadly it’s become my least favorite because of that. It’s a great album regardless, especially with a single like “Sometimes”.

Pet Shop Boys, Very, released 27 September 1993. It had been a good couple of years since their last studio album (Behaviour in late 1990), and this was quite a welcome return. They were still slowly moving towards the heady techno sound that would become their style for the next several years, but this one still had the feel of their last couple of albums, creating a nice middle ground.

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Next up: A chance video rental and a trip to the laundromat changes the course of my future.

Thirty Years On: Slacker Central, Part VIII

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The summer was ending and I knew the last thing I wanted to do was move back home, so I had to do some quick thinking: who do I know that can help me get an apartment in Boston? JA of course. He managed to hook me up with the same rental agency that owned the brownstones on Beacon right down the street from Emerson. [This was well before many of them were bought and given some serious renovation and became overpriced condos, mind you.]. By the end of the month I’d found what would become known as The Shoebox Apartment, one building over from where I’d lived with L just over a year previous.

It was going to be hard and I’d be living from paycheck to paycheck, but I stubbornly refused to give up this easily.

The Pogues, “Tuesday Morning” single, released 1 August 1993. Their latest minus their longtime singer Shane MacGowan, this was a radio favorite on WFNX (on Tuesday mornings, natch). KEXP likes to play this on Tuesdays as well!

The Juliana Hatfield Three, Become What You Are, released 3 August 1993. The ex-Blake Babies singer gives herself a slight band name change for her second solo release and has a huge hit with “My Sister” on alternative radio. This was on heavy rotation on both WFNX and WBCN that summer.

Sheryl Crow, Tuesday Night Music Club, 3 August 1993. Sheryl’s debut knocks it out of the park with an interesting blend of blues, alternative rock and maybe even a bit of country, and manages to pop up not only on MTV and VH1 but also WFNX and WBCN and other indie and commercial stations. “All I Wanna Do” ends up getting played everywhere and you still hear it to this day.

Swervedriver, Mezcal Head, 5 August 1993. Another band whose music I loved but never quite got around to purchasing (I had to be extremely picky considering how frequently broke I was), I was always fascinated by their odd blend of PNW grunge and British shoegaze.

The Breeders, Last Splash, released 8 August 1993. Everyone loved the odd and quirky Pod from 1990 but this one was miles better and more radio friendly. You could not escape “Cannonball” even if you tried. There are several other great tracks on here as well, including the boozy ‘Saints”, the bluesy “Do You Love Me Now” and the very Pixies-like “Divine Hammer”. It is indeed a great record.

Paul McCartney, The Paul McCartney Collection wave two, released 16 August 1993. Sir Paul’s next rollout of catalog rereleases focuses on the late 70s-to-late-80s albums that may or may not have seen him at his best but it did contain several of his most memorable singles of the time.

The Sisters of Mercy, A Slight Case of Overbombing: Greatest Hits Volume One, 23 August 1993. At this point the last Sisters of Mercy release (not including the remasters of their three albums from 2006), it also includes their last single to date, the intense and alluring “Under the Gun” featuring Berlin’s Terri Nunn. This one got a lot of play over the next couple of years during my writing sessions.

Nirvana, “Heart Shaped Box” single, released 23 August 1993. Two years on and the famed grunge trio release a new single that feels not only harder and angrier but more desperate. There were several rumors that Kurt was already feeling the strain at this point, and it truly shows in their music of this era.

Cracker, Kerosene Hat, released 24 August 1993. David Lowery’s follow up to their wonderful self-titled debut may not have seen the same popularity, but it did offer the bluesy “Low” single that was indeed a huge hit on both alternative and rock radio, and still gets played on it to this day. There’s also a fun and goofy hidden track on this one called “Euro Trash Girl” that is also a fan favorite.

Unrest, Perfect Teeth, released 24 August 1993. TeenBeat is an interesting indie label in that it’s full of jangly indie pop bands — some twee, some punky — as a sort of response to other indie labels that release the hardest punk ever. Unrest were also signed by 4AD as part of their move towards a new indie sound. They’re one of those wonderful Bands You’ve Never Heard But Should, and this one’s a perfect place to start.

Stereolab, Transient Random-Noise Bursts with Announcements, released 24 August 1993. The band’s second album and the first with a full band (and the first released in the States) features the single “Jenny Ondioline” which got considerable play on alternative radio. They’re definitely in a field of their own, but they’ve attracted a major fanbase from the beginning.

Eve’s Plum, Envy, released 31 August 1993. A band named after the actor who played Jan Brady, their lead singer was one Colleen Fitzpatrick, who was not only an actor herself (she played Amber Von Tussle in John Waters’ Hairspray) but would also release glossy pop gems in the late 90s as Vitamin C. This first of two albums of their short career are definitely worth checking out for their blissfully perky alt-rock.

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Next up: the Shoebox, the bad habits and terrible decisions, and a sudden change of employment

Thirty Years On: Slacker Central, Part VII

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Living with my senior year roommate on the Symphony Road sublet was an interesting couple of months. For one, it was an easy commute to DeLuca’s on the E Green Line to Arlington Street and a quick walk through the park. It was a relatively short walk to various places where I could buy groceries or buy cheap take-out. And of course it was a short walk to Tower Records (and other local record stores). I had a tiny room that just about fit my bed and the meager possessions I’d brought to Boston, with a single window that looked into an extremely echoey lightwell.

Somehow or other I’d managed to reconnect with JA, the guy I’d met my sophomore year and had quite the love/hate friendship with — hey, when all your other friends leave the city, you take what you can get — which in retrospect was probably not the best of choices. Meanwhile, I’d inherited my parents’ old VHS player and gotten an account to rent movies and whatnot from Tower, and that soon became my summer distraction from being as broke as I was. I could afford the two-dollar rental every now and again to keep me entertained and creatively inspired.

All I had to do was survive this summer, find a new apartment at the end of the season, and perhaps find a job that paid just a little bit more…? Easier said than done, of course. Especially when the local economy seemed to be flagging at the time.

Chapterhouse, “She’s a Vision” single, released 1 July 1993. It took a few years for this great Britpop band to follow up, but it was well worth the wait. Unfortunately anything they did was overshadowed here in the states by the proliferation of Grunge at the time, but it was out there.

Mixtape, Son of WAUGH!!! Vol 2, created July 1993. The second volume of this cheesefest focuses on records I had in my collection that were 80s favorites of mine that I wanted in one place when I wanted to listen to them on headphones. This one got a lot of play especially during my commutes to and from work.

Various Artists, Sweet Relief: A Benefit for Victoria Williams, released 6 July 1993. This benefit album got a lot of play on WFNX, especially Pearl Jam’s loose and boozy take on “Crazy Mary”. You couldn’t escape this album that summer!

U2, Zooropa, released 6 July 1993. I was of two minds on this album: on the one hand, it feels like Achtung Part Two: The Outtakes, but on the other hand it stands alone as a strong record continuing the band’s foray into futurism. It’s kind of weird and maybe a little disjointed but I love it despite all that. This tape got a ton of play on my Walkman.

Matthew Sweet, Altered Beast, released 13 July 1993. This album feels so much darker than his more cheerful Girlfriend from a few years previous, but that’s part of its charm. “Time Capsule” is a weird song with a weird video but it’s one of my favorite songs of his.

The Smashing Pumpkins, “Cherub Rock” single, released 13 July 1993. It had been awhile since we’d heard from this band as well — Gish was such a fantastic record that everyone loved — and this song was a hint at what we’d expect on their new album: less psychedelia and more blistering guitar, less obscure lyrics and more crafted pop.

Bjork, Debut, released 13 July 1993. The Sugarcubes had split up sometime ago, and we were all wondering what would come next from its oddball pixie-ish lead singer. I didn’t quite expect her to lean towards dance beats and deeper experimentation at first, but it fit her style perfectly. An auspicious start to a very strange and fascinating solo career.

Tribe, Sleeper, released 13 July 1993. One of Boston’s best local bands ever sadly bowed out after this record, which didn’t quite hit the same heights as their Abort record (which was essentially a collection of previous singles with a few new tracks sprinkled in), but it’s got a lot of great tracks on it like “Supercollider”.

Candlebox, Candlebox, released 20 July 1993. One of the first bands I can recall that wasn’t quite grunge and not quite hair metal but somewhere in between and easy on the commercial rock radio ears, their debut helped the alternative scene expand into commercial territory. Say what you will, it really is a good album.

Catherine Wheel, Chrome, released 20 July 1993. This band’s follow-up to the weird yet fascinating Ferment was hard to digest for some but it’s earned its place as a solid record with several great deep cuts on it, as well as the radio favorite “Crank”.

The Smashing Pumpkins, Siamese Dream, released 27 July 1993. This is probably my favorite Pumpkins record as I feel it’s their most cohesive and best written. There are a few filler tracks, but for the most part it’s got all you need: the swirliness of their trademark guitar sound, a number of big radio hits like “Rocket” and lovely ballads like “Disarm”.

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Coming up: The end of summer and the start of the shoebox apartment.

Thirty Years On: Slacker Central, Part VI

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So. Out of college, working at minimum wage for an overpriced market in a tony neighborhood, and cutting financial corners wherever and whenever you could? Well, not yet. There was a slight problem in that I had to wait a couple of weeks between leaving the dorm on 6 Arlington and moving into the sublet on Symphony Road for the summer. I borrowed the apartment of a friend of my sister’s up in Lowell and took the train in for about two weeks first. I remember staying up late, watching MTV and thinking about how I was literally starting at the bottom rung while most of my somewhat more financially secure fellow college students had it a bit easier. I pretty much experienced that rich vs poor dichotomy from day fucking one. Not to mention being disconnected from friends and family because this was well before social media and email were easily available, let alone personal computers being affordable.

Still — despite being a moody bastard most of the time, I wasn’t about to let it beat me down. I’d survive somehow. And I certainly wasn’t going to give up on the writing.

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U2, “Numb” single, 1 June 1993. So how do you follow up a genre-defining album that completely rearranges your sound and style? Well, in the case of this band, you write and record new songs while still on the road and in between tours. Those who thought Achtung Baby was a weird album had no idea how to parse this single, but alternative stations like WFNX was all over it.

Sun 60, Only, released 1 June 1993. A sunny breezy summer song about Christmas? Sure, why not? “Mary X-Mess” was a favorite of the alternative stations and got a ton of play, even though they weren’t a band anyone these days remembers all that much. Still, it’s a record worth checking out!

Slowdive, Souvlaki, released 1 June 1993. The genre-defining shoegaze band’s second album is a lovely and relaxing record and one of my favorites (and it’s the first one of theirs I’d bought, though a few years after release). They sound stronger and more cohesive on this one.

Mixtape, Untitled IV, created June 1993. The first post-college tape was made at that Lowell apartment as a mix of my favorite tracks that had been released during my senior year, so while it’s a great and fun collection, it had a certain melancholy baked into it. It got a lot of play on my headphones during work commutes, but it was also a stark reminder of a time that was over and past.

Mixtape, WAUGH!!! Vol 1, created June 1993. The second post-college tape was originally planned as a collection of songs my sister’s friend owned that I wanted in my collection but didn’t have the money to buy. Named after a Monty Python line (from the ‘Argument Clinic’ sketch), it was my take on the ‘cheesefest’ of 70s and 80s retromania going on at the time.

https://youtu.be/7dimO83BtyY

Tears for Fears, Elemental, released 7 June 1993. Curt Smith had left the band by this time so this was essentially a Roland Orzabal solo record, but it’s got some great tunes on it like the big single “Break It Down Again”, which I still hear every now and then.

Urge Overkill, Saturation, released 8 June 1993. By far their most radio-friendly record at that point, this album divided fans who felt they were selling out and others who were happy for their success. Little did they know that an obscure EP track of a Neil Diamond cover would become their biggest hit ever in about a year…

Paul McCartney/Wings, The Paul McCartney Collection reissues, released 8 June 1993. It took me quite a few years to get around to picking these up, but they were easily available at the bigger record stores like Tower. These were lightly remastered with several b-sides and would become the choice collection until Sir Paul started his major remaster project years later.

The Verve, A Storm in Heaven, released 15 June 1993. A good few years before the ubiquitous “Bittersweet Symphony” plagued the airwaves, this band introduced themselves with a strange yet perfect mix of shoegaze, psychedelia and Britpop and garnered fans almost immediately.

Liz Phair, Exile in Guyville, released 22 June 1993. At the time I lumped Phair in with PJ Harvey, an indie woman songwriter with no fucks given, and it took me a bit of time to get used to this record, especially with its majestic length and its curious nod to the Stones record I felt (even then) was a bit overrated. It’s not for everyone, but it’s definitely an interesting listen.

The Flaming Lips, Transmissions from the Satellite Heart, released 22 June 1993. Yes, that band with that song that finally put them on the indie map. They’d always had a loyal fanbase, but this was the record that expanded it considerably. To this day this is most likely the one of maybe three Lips songs you’ll hear on commercial alternative radio.

Billy Idol, Cyberpunk, released 29 June 1993. I remember this coming out and being fascinated by the concept, even as critics and fans alike dismissed it as a terrible and misguided album. The fascinating thing is that Idol really did do his homework on this one and a lot of the songs do tie in with the burgeoning SF subgenre that wouldn’t catch on in the mainstream for another couple of years. He still plays “Shock to the System” in his live shows!

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Coming up: The Gen-X story continues: the trials and tribulations of not knowing what the hell you’re doing.