Get Rec'd Round 5

Maroon 5, Ethel Cain, Royal Trux, The Hold Steady, Zwan

I had so much fun listening to your recommendations that I decided to review all of them. Please bear in mind that I’m not familiar with many of the artists and musical styles I’m reviewing, and therefore my opinions are often misinformed and therefore don’t matter.

Maroon 5 - Songs About Jane (2002)

I’ll be honest with you. I have NOT been looking forward to listening to an entire Maroon 5 album. Just look at that steady decline. It’s beautiful.

I even made a chart!

And this is their best album. Despite a decades-spanning career of increasingly awful music, there’s always that one person in the back shouting “But Songs About Jane was good!” Well, let’s see about that.

It’s difficult to be objective about this album since many of these songs have been the background soundtrack to so many of my worst jobs. This is the music that you turn on when you don’t want to offend any of your coworkers, but somehow everyone ends up unhappy.

I know it’s a pop album and it shouldn’t matter, but these lyrics are awful. Does it rhyme? Good enough! I never noticed the f-bomb in “Harder To Breathe.” Edgy.

Somebody needs to take the guitarist’s wah pedal away from him.

I don’t know why this album gets a pass when it’s just as bad as, if not worse, than the rest of their discography. This album makes me want to punch a wall. “Sunday Morning” might be the only song that I don’t actively despise.

Best track: “Sunday Morning” I guess

Ethel Cain - Preacher’s Daughter (2022)

Please ignore the previous snark. This is a fantastic album. Admittedly, this is not an easy listen. There is some serious grappling with a variety of traumas going on here. A little bit of internet sleuthing led me to discover that her actual surname is Anhedönia, and I think that’s incredibly apt.

Her blend of indie, folk, and gothic Americana is unique. The songs tend to plod along at a glacial pace, with moody swirling layers. It’s almost ambient in many places. This is an almost overwhelmingly emotionally heavy album that is at times difficult to listen to, but it’s certainly worth experiencing at least once.

Best track: Family Tree

Royal Trux - Thank You (1995)

Sometimes my musical instincts are correct. About 10 seconds into the first track on this album I thought “This sounds like one of those bands that signed to a major label because Kurt Cobain mentioned them in passing one time,” and you know what, I was RIGHT.

When people get nostalgic for the 90s they seem to forget that most of it sounded like this. It’s not necessarily bad, but unless you were there at the time it’s hard to be nostalgic about these types of records. The meandering, sloppy lo-fi grunginess has a certain appeal I suppose. If you’re the type of person who scoffs at the more polished “grunge” that took over the radio in the 90s this might be right up your alley. I can’t get past the vocals, unfortunately.

Best track: A Night To Remember

The Hold Steady - Boys and Girls In America (2006)

This is a little more my speed. I don’t know how I’ve managed to avoid this album for so long. I grew up Catholic. I lived in Minneapolis during the band’s peak. Somehow they have managed to elude me. Until now.

I know their reputation as being kind of like Springsteen but with even more wordy lyrics. Vocally, I’m hearing a lot of Bob Mould influence as well, which is always a positive.

I’ll take a good power-pop album any day of the week, and this effectively scratches that itch. Much of the album strays into dad-rock territory, but man that little guitar solo on “Same Kooks” is awakening something frightening in me. Maybe I’m finally okay with listening to dad-rock. “First Night” is a masterpiece.

I no longer smoke, drink, or party, but these songs kind of make me wish that I did, if only so that I could write some sad songs about it.

Best track: First Night

Zwan - Mary Star of the Sea (2003)

After releasing what many believed to be The Smashing Pumpkins’ swan song, Billy Corgan wrote some Zwan songs.

Featuring an odd mishmash of members of A Perfect Circle and Slint, Zwan showcases a lighter side of Billy and company. This is despite the fact that the band members hated each other and they immediately broke up after releasing this album.

Considering it was a post-Pumpkins Billy Corgan project there was a ton of hype leading up to the album’s release, and I vaguely remember enjoying “Honestly” as the lead single. It’s a great pop-rock song and should have been a bigger hit. And then everyone just kind of forgot about it. If you’re wondering if the 14-minute “Jesus, I/Mary Star Of The Sea” is worth listening to, it is not.

This isn’t a bad album at all. These are some decent mainstream rock tracks. The problem is that they’re rarely more than that. It’s a perfectly cromulent if unremarkable album.

Keep sending me your recs!