Digging for Something with John A. Nieves
Overlooked, underrated, over-hated or regionally specific gems.
I’m reaching out and asking writers, band members and music curators to tip us all off to their favourite underrated albums, overlooked or unfairly obscure gems… even the downright over-hated. Hopefully it’s another fun way for you to find some new-to-you music to love.
Excited to release the first new edition of Digging for Something in quite a while today. This time, I’m joined by John A. Nieves (“Poet. Pushcart Prize Winner. Co-Editor The Shore Poetry. Professor at Salisbury University. Posting about pairings of poetry and music.”) who writes eloquently (and eponymously) about lyricism over on their Substack:
And now, let’s get to their album recommendations:
Braid - Frames and Canvas (1998)
Genres: Midwest Emo, Post-Hardcore, Post-Hardcore, Math Pop
John says:
From the ray-gun effect to the static to the moment the drums open the song until Nanna rips it wide with “1998 looked great on plain white paper,” “New Nathan Detroits” is a towering opening to a towering album that deserves far more credit. The sound has an interesting combination of some of the discordant contemporaries like Jawbox, Archers of Loaf and Cursive, but there is something here, perhaps a carryover from Nanna’s previous band Friction, that creates a looping dance between the vocals and the rhythm section—almost an audio double-helix. The emotions are big and swing far: from joy to resignation to anger to nostalgia to agony.
There are melodic sing-a-longs like “Killing the Camera” and “First Day Back,” moody-broody slow songs like “Never Will Come for Us” and “I Keep a Diary,” unforgettable driving songs that make you want to punch the roof of your car like “A Dozen Roses” and “Collect Call from Clark Kent,” in which Nanna begs, “Please save me from the super powers I don’t believe in.”
I bought this record on release day because I had loved their previous album. I was not ready for what would become a constant companion. I teach at a university and often use “A Dozen Roses” to talk about rhythmic and melodic variety. Frames and Canvas is a workhorse album. It has something for nearly every mood or occasion without ever losing its honesty or identity. I suggest cranking this after a tiring shift or day and going for a long drive into the album, into the night—you will be better for it.
Dan says:
One of my spiciest emo-related takes, it seems, has been my long-running claim that Hey Mercedes are better than Braid. There are things I really appreciate about Braid, like the back-and-forth of Bob Nanna and Chris Broach on vocals or their general approach of taking a post-hardcore DC-style foundation and adding tasteful levels of melody and hooks. They compare as easily to Jawbox as they do a Cap’n Jazz, and their sound clearly influenced many in the wave of emo revival bands.
When I was in High School, I definitely had MP3s of “The New Nathan Detroits” and “Killing a Camera” hanging around, but I guess their tastefulness has always been their downfall to me. I’ve softened up on them over the years, but the way Hey Mercedes took the best parts of Braid and laser-focused them into enormous riffs and enormous hooks will always have me reaching for them first. Regardless, this is an essential document of the era and if you haven’t heard ‘em but are a fan of this type of thing, you’ve gotta try it.
The Draft - In a Million Pieces (2006)
Genres: Punk Rock, Alternative Rock, Emo
John says:
The Draft is three members (Wollard, Black, Rebelo) of the storied punk/hardcore band Hot Water Music and a member of Florida pop-punk band Discount (Rockhill) and the record sounds like it. This is anthemic adrenaline. It is less crunchy than HWM and less poppy than Discount, but the merger is gold. The two opening tracks, “New Eyes Open” and “Lo Zee Rose” are serious earworms. If you make the mistake of stopping the album after the first two songs, you will be doomed to repeat their choruses for a week. We even get cool moments in the album, like the opening of “Bordering” that sounds like it could be the intro to an 80s radio hit. Jason and George are the best rhythm section in the Indie world. The bass and drum work are fun and inventive and really set off the playful guitarwork and Chris’ slightly raspy soulful punk lyrics.
“Wired,” my favorite track on the record feels like a strange merger of early 80s punk, Epitaph Records punk punch and Hot Water Music A-Side with a weird tinge of rattlesnake slither. The clear desperation in Chris’ cry of, “I cough when I breathe, shake every time I leave this town” really stays with me. There is even subtle brass backing. It’s just a master class in inventive catchy song writing. There are no duds here. Any track could bring energy to your greyest day. This album flew completely under the radar. I hope you will join me in correcting that error.
Dan says:
This is a perfect example of an album I’ve listened to a few stray times over the years, but not enough to form an opinion on. Around the time I started streaming music (circa 2010 the Rdio platform [RIP!]), this was one of those records I came across while looking into underrated punk stuff from recent years. I’m not entirely sure, but I don’t think I knew the Hot Water Music connections (or Discount, for that matter) back then, and to me it was just an orgcore style gruff punk album. Thankfully, there seems to be some level of resurgence for this record, as opening track “New Eyes Open” has 3,300,000+ streams on Spotify at the time of writing this. I’m glad that John prompted me to circle back on this one.
Murder by Death - Bitter Moon, Bitter Drink (2012)
Genres: Alt-Country, Indie Rock, Gothic Country
John says:
This is a moody molasses-thick masterpiece. From the quiet, hauntingly spare “My Hill,” we enter the mythos of the record that solidifies in the folkloric and cello-driven “Lost River.” Turla’s dark-Johnny-Cash vocals work their magic in the deep sorrow and will-o-the-wisp creepiness of the song. From the relative hush of the first two track, we break into the bass-driven full, round sound of the unforgettable “Straight at the Sun.” This track really kicks the proverbial saloon door open to Murder by Death’s signature blend of folk, goth, western, punk and dive bar rock. The album is high concept but never feels like it is trying to outsmart you. It is love songs, elegies, picaros and hexes all tinged supernatural and rolled into something as deep and resonant as the body of Sarah Balliet’s mesmerizing cello.
This album plays like a movie. “I Came Around” will make you want to grab a partner and dance through its brutal but boppy elegy. “Hard World” is all tumbleweed and whirlwind. “The Curse of Elkhart” might actually be the musical avatar of a highway at night. It is hard to resist writing about every track. The album culminates in one of my favorite last songs of all time. “Ghost Fields” brings a bluesy Celtic twinge to what is both a sad break-up song but also perhaps a dark fey myth. It skates the line, but it leaves you with figurative arms around the others drinking mournfully at the saloon bar, swaying and chanting “na-na-na-na” until the music quits, heck, even after it. I hope you will let this overlooked album cast its spell on you.
Robert Pollard and Doug Gillard - Speak Kindly of Your Volunteer Fire Department (1999)
Genres: Slacker Rock, Power Pop, Neo-Psychedelia
John says:
Two of the members of indie rock gods, Guided by Voices, got together to create this jampacked 60s/70s/80s rock mélange of totally original songs that could have made Casey Kasem spit. They have Pollard’s signature quirk, but don’t be fooled—they are straight-up rock n’ roll. I pre-ordered this album (mail order, hah!) sight unseen because of the title’s nod to my favorite fiction writer, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. I was not disappointed. There is wangle and jangle. There is space rock. There is Bee Gees-esque balladry. There is indie-funk barroom bazookaing. And through all the variety, it always feels true to Pollard/GBV/Rock-a-Thon ethos. The soul of Dayton, Ohio drinks here. And, honestly, some of these songs could have easily been radio hits: “Pop Zeus,” “Tight Globes,” “Do Something Real.” Every day Pollard is not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame proves that institution is more about the last word in its title than the first one.
This record is perfect if you want to jump in the time machine and hang out with your friends in a parking lot, sneaking beers. This is the soundtrack of the drive to the beach at 2 in the morning where you never get out of the car. Gillard’s guitar work is varied and soaring without ever being too mathy for the pop project. We definitely get darker moments like “I Get Rid of You,” “Port Authority” and “Larger Massachusetts.” There is also the cough-syrup sweet groove of “Slick as Snails.” In the wonderful meta-ending to the album, Pollard mocks the very record industry trying to popularize GBV at the moment of this recording in “And My Unit Moves.” This is carrock. We all need it. Turn it up and sing along with Pollard’s “I’ll never stop drumming my thumbs on your dashboard.” He won’t. You won’t. This is a must have record.
Dan says:
Like many indie rockers, I had a devastatingly hyper focused Guided by Voices period to my life, where all that mattered was hearing everything they had released and absorbing it all. For me, that was around 2006 or so, post-Half Smiles of the Decomposed but pre-reunion albums. Despite this, I never dove head-first into Pollard’s solo career for some reason. I guess I had enough to dine on with the mainline GBV (plus the speed at which those reunion albums started dropping) to need to? Anyway, I’m surprised I don’t hear about this record more, because it friggin’ rips! When I listen to this, I wanna crank “Pop Zeus” up and leave for an unplanned road trip, like, yesterday.
The Weakerthans - Reunion Tour (2007)
Genres: Indie Rock, Indie Folk, Power Pop, Alt-Country, Folk Rock
John says:
They only lasted four albums. The first got attention because of bandleader John K. Samson’s departure from punk badass group Propagandhi. The second and third records might be two of the most influential indie records ever. The final record though, this one, is a largely ignored gem. There might not be a lyricist that knows how to light up every crack in the human condition more beautifully than Samson. You have to be ready for all the truth this album will show you. It is the kind of light that reveals details of your own face you never noticed and maybe never wanted to. It is honest, catchy and sad. How does anyone make mournful the cry of “O Ontario, O Jennifer Jason Leigh!”? The album inhabits different personas to show us all the facets of our human condition it can. While there are relationship elegies, there are also laments for urban sprawl, a heartbreaking song told from someone with a rare medical condition (“And if they remember me at all, make them remember me as more than a queer experiment. more than a diagram in their quarterly. Make them remember me.”), to the sad tale of a vendor in a sasquatch tourist town who sees Bigfoot and becomes a joke because of that belief.
In one of the most crushing moments of the record, in the song “Relative Surplus Value,” through the driving drums, Samson sings “and the pause feels like an extra year of high school” and “I’m down twelve points and selling. The graphs in the boardroom show, by the time the markets open in Tokyo, I’ll be worthless.” I won’t spoil the epic ending of the song. It leads into the single greatest curling song ever recorded. Yes, the sport. The Weakerthans are so good they can kill you singing about curling. I suggest everyone crank “Tournament of Hearts.” You will never watch the Winter Olympics the same again. The haunting pang of this possible future for the curlers will ride your shoulders like a ghost cloak. The next is song the second part of a trilogy of songs told by a cat. The first is on the previous album and the third is on the last Samson solo album. Be careful. The cat named Virtute songs will even make tough guys sob.
You didn’t know you needed this, but, trust me, you do. The album ends with a western-tinged prayer called “Utilities,” where Samson speaks for the album itself, ending with the plea “Make this something somebody can use.” Prayer granted. This album is something anyone could use. If you need to write, to feel, to think differently, turn your attention here. The Weakerthans have what you need.
Dan says:
I’m Canadian, so of course I love The Weakerthans. “Left is Leaving” was labeled a masterpiece pretty much by most Canadian indie rock fans upon release, that it was hard not to be ever-so-slightly disappointed by Reconstruction Site and Reunion Tour in the following years; some probably also resented the (in hindsight, trivial) downplaying of their rock tendencies for more alt-country textures on those albums too. Time has been kind to them though, and I happily watch how most music fans online have decried the lukewarm1 reactions2 those albums got from cough-some publications-cough at the time and have mostly re-evaluated them. Anyway, great now I’m crying while revisiting the Virtue songs.
That’s it, that’s all. Be excellent to one other.
This rules. Some fantastic picks here!