Top 5 - John Davidson
1) Wilco, Summer Teeth (Warner). With his first band Uncle Tupelo, Jeff Tweedy was kind of the kid brother, the one whose songs always seemed to look up to the mature introspection of cohort Jay Farrar. My how time changes. As Son Volt and Farrar falter, Wilco with Tweedy at the helm have become one of the best bands in America. A rootsy, edgier version of Pet Sounds, Summer Teeth is a spellbinding trip through thirty-something mid-America.
2) Guided By Voices, Do the Collapse (TVT). For years they were a working man's band that indie snobs tried to keep a secret, but with a jump to the sort-of major leagues in TVT, the rest of us could finally appreciate the GBV chant. The bad habits that once sprung from minimal finances and unrestrained songwriting (tape hiss, fragmentary song ideas, beer-induced craziness) are peeled back on Do the Collapse, letting Robert Pollard's love for the Who and Big Star come shining through.
3) Gomez, Liquid Skin (Virgin). A condensed, modern, British version of Widespread Panic. Sort of. Laid back psychedelic front porch folk jams. A couple of killer ballads. Proof positive that not everything coming from Britain is Oasis, Blur, or techno. In fact, this might be one band worth the NME hype.
4) Jason Falkner, Can You Still Feel? (Elektra). He's a pop artist with skills on the level of Jon Brion, yet Falkner can't seem to get a good break.or the press. Can You Still Feel? was as good a Big Star record as there's been in years, though not as starkly lonely as Chilton's fare tends to be. A first-rate songwriter, arranger, and musician, here's hoping that the millenium will offer Falkner a better label home next time out.
5) Sloan, Between the Bridges (Murderrecords). Yes, they're that good. Five solid records have made them famous in Canada yet they appear to be stuck in the same state as Tragically Hip down here in the United States. No matter, Between the Bridges was another fine tribute to the joys of Cheap Trick, Bad Finger, and My Bloody Valentine. One of those ambitious indie records that you can still hum along with.
