Ack Phhht!

Rows Of Teeth

I’m feeling a bit nostalgic tonight, so bear with me while I reminisce.

One of my big personal milestones as I transitioned from alternative rock to indie rock just after college was Rows Of Teeth, the Merge Records five year anniversary compilation.  I was only about two months out of school when I picked this up via mail-order in 1994 (along with, as I recall, a pile of 7″ singles), and even now it surprises me just how many great bands are on this comp.

Rows Of Teeth pretty much served as an indie rock primer for me back then.  I already was listening to Rocket From The Crypt and Drive Like Jehu, and was at least familiar with a couple Superchunk tracks from college radio.  But there was so much other good stuff here:  Archer Of Loaf’s rampaging “What Did You Expect?”, the Magnetic Field’s melancholy “Plant White Roses”, the Renderer’s mournful country ballad “Million Lights”, and more great tracks by Lambchop, Butterglory, Pipe, Polvo, and Portastatic.  It’s little short of amazing that Merge had so much talent on its roster (and even moreso when you read the liner notes, which mention the bands that didn’t get onto the comp – Seam, the 6ths, the Bats).

Anyway, this is what I’m listening to right now.  Give it a shot if you like mid-90’s indie rock.