Sunday Morning Playlist: Noise Pop - Page 2

2. Velocity Girl: Crazy Town

Velocity Girl had its roots in the DC-area music scene in the late 80's. After several lineup changes and indie releases, they were signed by Sub Pop in 1992, which earned them the moniker "bubblegrunge". Led by that point by vocalist Sarah Shannon, their debut album Copacetic came out the following year. "Crazy Town" is the most well-known cut, although the entire album is an excellent listen; it alternates between slabs of echoey, fuzzed up, wall-of-noise jangle pop and straight-ahead power pop.

3. My Bloody Valentine: Only Shallow

Here is where noise pop branches off into shoegaze. Kevin Shields and Bilinda Butcher's soothing vocals are blended into one and ride atop a roil of overdubbed and processed hard strumming guitars, warped rhythms, and a dense narcotic haze. Debbie Googe plays a heavy metal bass underneath it all, while Colm O'Ciosoig batters the drums in constantly shape-shifting tempo. Loveless, the album is a masterpiece, indispensible to the development of 90's rock. The cover art captures perfectly the sounds inside. Strangely, although the band signed with Island after this release, they never released another album after this one.

4. Yo La Tengo: Barnaby, Hardly Working

This opens with a siren-like wail of processed guitar loop that remains throughout the song, before kicking into an eerie, propulsive rocker, punctuated by some tasty fuzz slashes, and a bad-buzz vocal. Yo La Tengo is a restless band that is nearly impossible to pigeonhole. While they have the requisite Velvet Underground influence, they'd dabble in a vast array of styles and sonic experiments, all with retaining an underlying pop sense. Leader Ira Kaplan was a music critic before he formed the band.

5. Pavement: Summer Babe

Led by Stephen Malkmus, Pavement were among the practitioners of the early 90's lo-fi sound and movement; they specialized in off-kilter arrangements, cryptic lyrics, white noise, strange effects, Malkmus' Lou Reed-esque vocals, and an overall slacker aesthetic. "Summer Babe" is the leadoff track from this influential album, and moves along with a real tunefulness. Much of the rest of the album is primitive sounding, full of hiss and static; the songs themselves turn pop conventions on their heads.

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