The song illustrates my only problem with Monsters of Folk; that is, Jim James is a far better and more interesting singer/vocalist than any of his bandmates in MOF. Throughout most of the album I was waiting for him to come back into the mix, kinda like Roy Orbison with Traveling Wilburys. The video is gorgeous.

I don’t know, maybe we need to start rating these late night performances based on Fallon’s geekouts. He seems barely able to control himself after Casablancas and crew’s rousing rendition of “River of Brakelights.”

Before Phoenix became The Biggest Band on the Planet, they were a nice, French, pop quartet who released terrific singles and pretty solid albums. The band released their second album, Alphabetical, on March 29th, 2004 to mixed reviews. On their debut album, 2000′s United, Thomas Mars and company fused funk, electronic, and guitar pop to create a record filled with bright spots such as “If I Ever Feel Better” and “Too Young.” Alphabetical saw the band skewing more to the guitar pop side of things, with the exceptional one-two punch of “Everything is Everything” and “Run Run Run.” Unfortunately, what follows is an album full of missed opportunities. The album isn’t bad at all, but the singles from United led many to believe that the follow up would be a smashing success. Lucky for us, Phoenix were able to finally realize their potential on 2006′s irresistible It’s Never Been Like That and 2009′s breakout Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.  Here’s a clip of Alphabetical opener, “Everything is Everything.”

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Following 18 months of touring behind their debut album, Supergrass released their second record, In It For The Money, in April of 1997.  The LP is a near-flawless collection of pop songs highlighted by the effervescent “Sun Hits the Sky” and the dark masterpiece, “Late in the Day.”  Critical and commercial reception was very positive, and it has become the best-selling album Supergrass has released.  The maturity from debut to follow-up was astounding, not only in the melodies and production but also in the songwriting, with tracks such as “Tonight” and “Going Out” displaying a new-found confidence.  The trouble-making kids had grown up to be legit musicians with hooks for days.

Two years later they released their previously mentioned third LP, titled Supergrass, which was another critical smash that sold well in the UK, reaching #3 on the charts.  Many Americans got their first glimpse of Supergrass too, due to the popular Hammer & Tongs-directed video for “Pumping on Your Stereo” which featured the band with Muppet-like bodies.  The Beatles were obviously a clear influence as with previous outings, but this record has a more spacey, atmospheric sound which points to Bowie as an emerging influence, specifically on album opener “Moving” and third single “Mary.”  Supergrass was the work of a band in its prime; combining brilliant guitar-pop with the melodies to match, the album is as enjoyable today as it was 10 years ago.

Tomorrow: Life on Other Planets and Road to Rouen

Day 4

After At the Drive-In disbanded in 2001, fans of the El Paso hardcore band were anxiously awaiting what would come next from the principals, especially vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala and guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, or those two skinny guys with all the hair. ATDI released their most popular and most accessible record, Relationship of Command just one year previously and were on the brink of stardom, playing Conan and gaining significant airplay on MTV. Following the abrupt split, Bixler-Zavala and Rodriguez-Lopez formed The Mars Volta, while the remaining members of ATDI formed Sparta, and in an odd twist, both bands released their debut EPs within one week of each other in Late March/Early April 2002.

After hearing both EPs, it was so evident what each ATDI member brought to the table. The eerie percussion and indecipherable lyrics of The Mars Volta’s Tremulant EP stood in stark contrast to the alt-rock techno of Sparta’s Austere EP. Sparta’s debut LP, Wiretap Scars, was released later in 2002, and was a successful modern-rock record, while The Mars Volta’s debut LP, 2003′s De-Loused in the Comatorium was a prog-rock epic with incredible musicianship and little structure. Now, nearly ten years after the split of At The Drive-In, it’s tough to say whether the breakup was a good idea musically, but it is something that needed to happen for these talented artists to continue making music. In 2009, Bixler-Zavala and Jim Ward of Sparta both admitted that the former members had been in contact to discuss working together again in the future, though no plans have been finalized.

Just for kicks, leave a comment and let us know which you prefer.

Supergrass was born out of the rubbles of the Oxford band The Jennifers, which featured a teenage Gaz Coombes on vocals and Danny Goffey on drums.  The Jennifers were a promising local band who played simple pop-punk in pubs and clubs in South East England, even releasing a single called “Just Got Back Today” in 1992.  When the other members left the band, Gaz took over as lead guitarist and recruited a co-worker named Mick Quinn to play bass, along with Goffey on drums. Supergrass released their first single “Caught by the Fuzz” in 1994, quickly earning praise from radio icon John Peel.   The song recreates Coombes’ own arrest for cannabis possession at age 15, perfectly capturing the excitement and rebellion of teenage years, while hinting at the hook-writing chops of Coombes and company.

After the success of “Caught by the Fuzz” and subsequent single, “Mansize Rooster,” anticipation was high for Supergrass’ debut LP, titled I Should Coco.  Released in May of 1995, the album was a smash hit with the critics as well as the British consumer, reaching number one on the UK albums chart.  Rolling Stone gave it a favorable review, claiming that the record combined the raunchiness of Jagger with the melody of The Beatles and the cheekiness of Madness.  Though it was the fifth single released off the LP, Supergrass finally had a breakout hit in the form of “Alright.”  You may remember it from the Clueless soundtrack, but more than likely you know it from that damn cruise commercial.  As a whole the album is a ton of fun to listen to, but the quality of the individual tracks doesn’t hold up to that of their next record In It For The Money and their self-titled third LP, which we will discuss tomorrow.

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Day 3

Try and tell me you aren’t ready to fist pump with the band by the end of this video.

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With their debut EP, A Lesson in Crime, Tokyo Police Club burst onto the indie music scene with an electrifying set of guitar-punk tracks with absolutely no filler.  I must have listened to that EP hundreds of times, which wasn’t hard to do seeing as though the seven-track record clocked in at around 16 minutes.  Their debut LP. 2008′s Elephant Shell, was a more polished extension of A Lesson in Crime, but failed to be the breakout hit that many were expecting.  Lucky for us, Tokyo Police Club are back with a new album titled Champ, due out this spring, and Stereogum just premiered the first single, “Breakneck Speed.”  The track doesn’t have the frantic energy of their earlier stuff, but the unique guitar tones are as thrilling as ever, and singer David Monk’s ability to write a hook is still intact.

Head over to their website to stream or download.

I was first introduced to Supergrass during my senior year of high school when a friend gave me a copy of their self-titled third LP, along with The Man Who by Travis.  Years later I can see that this was an attempt to save me from rap-rock purgatory where I was unfortunately spending my mid-teens.   Supergrass quickly became the soundtrack to which I would spend countless hours writing and researching English papers on Jane Eyre, Beowulf, and The Stranger.  The tracks immersed themselves into my brain, to the point that now whenever I hear the album opener, “Moving,” I can’t help but to be taken back to a time when ACT scores, college scholarships, and potential prom dates were my only concerns.  I devoured their back catalog as soon as I could, and discovered a great young band with brilliant, rebellious singles.  This week we will be taking a look back at the Oxford four-piece, focusing on their transition from teenage superstars to relevant, Britpop veterans.

Tuesday: History and debut LP, I Should Coco

Day 2

At this point in his career Beck seems burdened by expectations inherent after a long recording career with a couple of classic albums in his discography, and yet, because of that career he has the pull and respect to dabble extensively, applying his unique musical mind in other areas to impressive effect. Going forward one hopes Beck can solve whatever ails his solo recording career, and at the same time continue to compile interesting producing credits and side projects.