purge

Bright Eyes - I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning

I don’t know why I bought this.  I like BE, but I am fairly certain I already had this on vinyl and just wanted a copy for the car.  Wait—I bought this along with Digital Ash 2 for $15 with the intention of giving them away to a friend.  Obviously, I never did.  This album reminds me of my ex-girlfriend Lauren, who made a believer out of me.  She hated the reworked/retitled “One Foot in Front of the Other,” but I did not. 

This is an easy album to get behind—even got a copy for L’s mom.  The artwork is fantastic too.  But keeping a CD copy is just not necessary.

Best song:  Lua 

Ben Kweller - On My Way

I am still in love with BK’s debut full length, Sha Sha.  That is unquestionably one of my favorite albums and I probably won’t be able to get rid of it.  But I had to do something.

OMW has some solid songs—without the straightforward garage rock of “The Rules” and the lovely, tongue-in-cheek charm of “Hospital Bed,” 2004 wouldn’t have been the same.  La la la la la.

I even saw BK at Bonnaroo when everybody else was watching The Wailers or something like that, and I got to hear a lot of these songs before they were releassed.  So that was special, but I find myself hanging onto that memory and the one where we booked him at my school (NIU) the year before.  Like Weezer’s Green, the previous effort was just way too important to me.

Best song:  On My Way 

Weezer - Self Titled (Green)

I’m grabbing these at random, but in many ways this is a perfect place to start.

I was eighteen and was a diehard Weezer fan back when it meant something. Weathering the post-Pinkerton storm, happening upon another fan was meant you had an instant connection, and I remember wanting to go to the Outloud shows so bad.

This album is about impossible expectations, which is perfect because it was at this time when I finally started dating Abby, who I’d always loved but never had the time right. The 28:29 was just as anticlimactic after all that longing—it was enjoyable, perfect at moments, but not mindblowing in the way I had hoped.

One more important Green Album memory: I was watching a local band I had mixed feelings about in a Cafe. Lots of parents there—a somewhat typical audience for a high school coffeeshop band. The lead singer: “We’re gonna play this new song by Weezer. It’s called ‘Pipe.’” I quickly corrected him in front of everybody, because I was an asshole like that. He even bleeped out the H word during the song, which I still think is hilarious.

Best song: Crab