scamp4

This Is Crime Wave was one of those records that came out of nowhere and just clicked. LIFERS doesn't quite hit that same first-listen high, but it's still a really solid record. The genre-hopping holds up better than it has any right to — D.O.C. on "Rivals," the closer "Ditch The Party," "Lonely Life" all landing hard. Fat Mike knows what he's doing behind the board. Strong album, just not the debut.

I'm not a Korn guy. Never have been. But "Blind" is legitimately great — one of those openers that earns its reputation the second it hits. The rest of the album is solid and consistent without ever touching that peak again. The guitar tone alone is doing something nobody else was doing in 1994, and Daddy landing as well as it did surprised me. Came for the baseball walk-up song, left with a real appreciation for what this record actually built.

I didn't come into this expecting much. Flea as a solo jazz artist felt like a stretch. But Honora earns it. He's not pretending to be Miles Davis — he's just a guy who loved jazz before he loved punk, finally making the record he always wanted to make. A Plea is the highlight, and Traffic Lights with Thom Yorke is exactly as good as it sounds on paper. The back half loses a little steam, but the first half more than carries it. Solid debut. Hope he makes another one.

A solid early-'90s time capsule. The Boo Radleys and The La's bookending the whole thing is perfect sequencing, and the back half holds up better than it has any right to. Ned's Atomic Dustbin and BAD II are pure era charm. Suede's "My Insatiable One" is the hidden gem — if you don't know Suede, this is a good way to find out. "This Poem Sucks" still lands. Not a no-skip record, but close enough that it doesn't matter.