A pivotal moment for the king of indie — Your Arsenal — Morrissey Morrissey’s first three albums struggled to escape the shadow of his past. Which is understandable: The Smiths were colossal figures in British indie music, and everyone was dying to see if Morrissey could write a truly great song without Johnny Marr. (Answer: no, he couldn’t, although ‘Suedehead’ is close.) His…

It’s not quite selling out — Dirty — Sonic Youth A cool indie band is like a cool indie bar. They don’t need an aggressive door policy. They just put out this extremely weird, alienating vibe that drives away the squares, townies and boring people. I spent several years in the late 90s drinking in indie bar that had a…

Ding a ding a dang a dong dong ding dong — ΚΕΦΑΛΗΞΘ, or, Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed and The Way to Suck Eggs — Ministry Sire Records; Charted at Number 33 on July 19, 1992 Ministry recorded their first album in 1983; listening to it now is a trip. Al Jourgensen, volatile pioneer of industrial metal, used to play synths and sing like Marc Almond. But this first album is perhaps the key to…

U.F.Orb — The Orb One of the most insulting things you can say to any artist is, “wow, you must have been on so many drugs when you made this!” …

The old school’s final lesson — It’s July 1992, and we are heading for a momentous culture shift in the world of hip-hop. In a few months, Dre will drop an album that has the cultural impact of 100,000 Neverminds, flattening everything that stood before it. But we’re not there yet. Right now, there is time…

Groundbreaking desert rock by some legendary teenagers — Blues for a Red Sun — Kyuss When Queens of the Stone Age played Coachella in 2014, it marked one of those Circle Of Life moments in rock history where a legendary figure ends up back where it all began. QOTSA frontman Josh Homme began his career playing gigs in the desert, including a few in the…

The sound of beautiful chaos — Angel Dust — Faith No More Reprise Records; Charted at #2 in the UK this week in 1992 Faith No More have a complicated history with lead singers. Their first frontman was usurped in a coup instigated by the rhythm section and briefly replaced with a young Courtney Love. …

Genre-hopping insanity from the best pals in rap — Check Your Head — Beastie Boys We, as a society, do not spend enough time discussing the sheer weirdness of the Beastie Boys. Like, what are they? Are they rappers? Are they an alt-rock band? Are they an early nu-metal band? None of these descriptors feels entirely accurate. The Beastie’s genre-defying nature was actually a problem…

Genre-hopping madness from an Irish legend — Valhalla Avenue — The Fatima Mansions Radioactive Records, charted at #52 on May 31, 1992 Cathal Coughlan, frontman of Microdisney and The Fatima Mansions, passed away last week at the age of 61. For me personally, it was a bit of a wake-up call because I realised I have spent over 30 years saying “I should…