fluf
"Home Improvements" CD (Headhunter)
Although quite a bit of this rocks with fluf's nearly institutionalized hooks, the other songs require some acclimation. "Sticky Bun," "Snapper," "Mark Andrea" and "Rooked" are tracks that demand immediate attention, while the other 9 songs are punkier than most of the fare on "Mangravy." Ah well. This is nearly perfect music to sledgehammer a house to. Enjoy.
"24-7 Years" b/w "Entire" and "The Troll Song" 7" (Silver Girl)
There is one overwhelming reason to buy this single - fluf covers the Spinanes' "Entire," and it's enough to break your heart and make you drink hard liquor. It's a song to accompany a lost weekend when only a bottle of Jim Beam and a Fisher Price turntable are there to console you. If you only own one fluf single, despite the cool picture disc, the split with Further and the P.J. Harvey cover, let this fluf single be the one in your collection. The other two songs may not be much to write home about, but "Entire" really is that good. I swear.
"The Classic Years" CD (Headhunter)
When O. and company are on, they make some of the best melodic, distorted pop songs in existence, crafting spine-tingling music from noise and Fender guitars. Even when they aren't, they still rule. For the most part, this is quite a bit of the former, not much at all of the latter. As the members of fluf rip through songs like "One Trick Pony" and "Lobster Tree," they're as good as they've ever been and when they slow down to cover the Spinanes' "Entire," it's enough to yank a tear from your eye.