1001 Albums Summary

Too hot for the cubicle, so saved it for the car on a sunny day. When I got where I was going, Chain of Fools was playing in the bar. Timeless bangers all the way down, even/especially the tracks that were new to me. My only complaint is the band didn't get to jam on Niki Hoeky for longer! Actually, a lot of the songs felt too short, but that's okay because whatever came next always ripped.

This is fine. Short and sweet, saunters by with a shaggy adolescent charm, but mostly just made me want to listen to the Beatles!

At first I felt like we'd been had -- first few tracks felt spooky to the point of silliness, but something clicked around Skipping. Maybe all I needed was a chorus to hold my hand and lead me down the spiral staircase to synth hell. I'm not surprised this hadn't crossed my desk until now, but there are a solid couple of bops in the back half. I fear any party these two would host, but I guess I'll dance anyway.

I think I love this, in spite of myself and "chocolate, bananas, donut and salami." Bursting with personality and idiosyncrasy and crucially, hooks. Every time I felt myself letting the 80s-ass production (derivative or innovative? old heads, enlighten me) production wash over me, I was snapped back into the groove by some inspired, sincere, silliness. Still wondering how a can baby be "two sixths Chinese," though.

Hard not to be moved by Harris' voice, especially alongside production that tucks gorgeous golden guitars into a beguiling bed of y2k electronics. First album on the list to make me cry, which it did several times. Some clunky lyrics in "One Big Love" killed the vibe for a minute, and I was very pleased to learn that it's the only song she didn't (co-)write. Overall though, I loved this! Not sure I'd call it canonical but definitely a hidden gem that I'll return to.