Center Of The Universe #36: 120 Minutes (Minus Ads)
Giant Sand, “Center Of The Universe”
Hole, “Miss World”
Ride, “Cool Your Boots”
Porno For Pyros, “Tahitian Moon”
Welcome to the Center of the Universe! While previous “episodes” have certainly their fill of the genre, this week features nothing but ‘90s alternative rock bands that I believe I haven’t played on here yet. Yes, I found more than two dozen! To be fair, Courtney Love has been featured on the playlist before, even if Hole hasn’t. Though “Miss World” remains my favorite song in her songbook, America’s Sweetheart is usually the album I go to when I’m in the mood for her shit magnet vibe. Hole was more of a singles band, in my mind. Ride was very much not a singles band, but “Cool Your Boots” might be my favorite of their early brain-melters (even before I realized that was Withnail & I being sampled!). Porno For Pyros was at the very least a two-single band. There’s “Pets,” whose glib resignation about humanity has aged great as far as I’m concerned, and “Tahitian Moon,” with a driving baseline I always wanted to credit to ringer Mike Watt until I finally checked the credits. Ah, well. At least the actual player used to be in Thelonious Monster!
Manic Street Preachers, “Faster”
Juliana Hatfield, “Universal Heart-Beat”
Superdrag, “Destination Ursa Major”
Sublime, “April 29, 1992 (Miami)”
I’m not sure if I ever heard Manic Street Preachers before a video in 1999 or so, and I’m still trying to marry their hype to the audio artifacts. But, boy, do I love them in theory, and “Faster” from The Holy Bible is one of the singles that has dug its hooks in over the last twenty years of trying. “Universal Heart-Beat” is officially Juliana Hatfield’s biggest hit, peaking at #85 on Billboard, but I still think it should have been bigger. And “Destination Ursa Major” should have kept Superdrag from being a one-Modern-Rock-hit wonder. Ah, well. Throw both on the pile of alternative rock radio grievances. “April 29, 1992 (Miami),” possibly the only alternative rock song about participating in the LA riots, wasn’t technically a single, but it’s on Sublime’s 20th Century Masters disc, so I can’t complain about its profile.
The Sundays, “I Feel”
Luscious Jackson, “Ladyfingers”
Elastica, “Nothing Stays The Same"
The Verve Pipe, “Hero”
Radiowise, I heard “Here’s Where The Story Ends” and “Summertime” from the albums that bracket Blind in the Sundays’ all-to-brief discography, but nothing from that sophomore release. I did hear “Ladyfingers,” the first single on the follow-up album to Luscious Jackson’s surprise hit, but not for long. While “Nothing Stays The Same” first appeared on a 1999 EP from Elastica before 2000’s The Menace, I don’t know if American radio even blinked at the thing. Written by Justine Frischmann and Donna Matthews before Matthews left the band, it’s lovely and a shameless rip on Wire’s “Kidney Bingos.” Which scans. I’ve always liked “Hero,” reportedly just one of several songs on 1999’s The Verve Pipe concerning their concern about having a big surprise hit, so maybe I should check out the whole thing already.
The Charlatans UK, “Then”
Folk Implosion, “Wide Web”
Sponge, “Wax Ecstatic (To Sell Angelina)”
Soul Asylum, “Somebody To Shove”
After three songs from the very end of the ‘90s…The Charlatans UK, with a song that actually went a notch higher on the Modern Rock chart than “The Only One I Know.” I will never not call them the Charlatans UK, FYI. Wear that shit like a badge of honor, I say! You’re from the land of the Beatles, so flaunt it! I’m pretty sure Folk Implosion’s new release Music For Kids contains the actual songs from the movie’s soundtrack rather than re-recordings, but I still included the version of “Wide Web” found on their follow-up Dare To Be Surprised just in case. Do you remember that Sponge released a single hooked around the name “Angelina” on the follow-up to “Molly”? Can’t swear they were inspired by Hackers, though. Do you remember that “Runaway Train” was the third single off Soul Asylum’s Grave Dancers Union? If so, you get the sweet, sweet, (or perhaps, angsty, angsty) memories.
The Verve, “On Your Own”
Ben Folds Five, “Army”
Social Distortion, “I Was Wrong”
PJ Harvey, “Dress”
Is it mean to play this ballad from the Verve’s second album right after a song featuring the voice of Dave Pirner? Would fans of those British cheekbones resent the association, and the unexpected chance to compare quivers? I couldn’t blame them. I also couldn't blame them if they don’t like how natural Ben Folds sounds recounting his post-adolescent drift after Richard Ashcroft’s attempt at falsetto. If none of what I'm saying resonates or even makes sense, then I guess…”I Was Wrong.” It’s also possible I’m wrong not to own any PJ Harvey. But I still think she needs a greatest hits album.
Ween, “Don’t Laugh (I Love You)”
Amps, “Tipp City”
Jonathan Fire*Eater, “No Love Like That”
Bush, “Comedown”
A goofy duo of 4-trackers from New Hope, Pennsylvania winds up with a great live rep and demented jam-band-adjacent cult. A former side-person enjoying surprise international success with their former side-project puts the brand on halt to spend their label cred on an anonymous album featuring randos from Dayton, Ohio. A NYC-by-way-of-DC-private school band of young cuties signs a big contract with Dreamworks Records only to say…no music videos! Multiplatinum grunge arrives from England, produced by a pair that made their name with Madness and “Come On Eileen.” The ‘90s!
Green Day, “Walking Contradiction”
Better Than Ezra, “In The Blood”
Bad Religion, “A Walk”
That Dog, “Never Say Never”
Finally, four songs that made the Modern Rock airplay chart in the ‘90s. One a Top 5 hit, two making the Top 30, one spending 5 weeks between 34 and 40. Which is which? Consult Wikipedia or your local library, assuming you don’t own a Joel Whitburn Rock Tracks book like I do. And with that, I push up my glasses and depart from the Center Of The Universe. Thanks for your time!