The Real Michael Lee

Eddie Vedder – Earthling

Sometimes, when the front person of a band gets a bit creatively antsy, they strike out on their own and release a solo album. These tend to yield, shall we say, mixed results. Some are inspiring and innovative, while others are sad and full of ego. Eddie Vedder, however, more than proves his talent outside of Pearl Jam with his stellar 2022 album Earthling. Backed by a band that includes TWO Red Hot Chili Peppers members, Alanis Morrsette’s bassist, and the guitarist for The Frames, Eddie and “The Earthlings” as he dubbed them bring their A-game on 13 rock solid tracks. Here we see Eddie utilize his soaring growl of a voice over songs that range from driving punk-styled offerings to ballads with a signature Vedder twist. Oh, and one KILLER collab with Elton John. Earthling doesn’t feel like Eddie is trying to show he’s more than Pearl Jam. Instead it’s an album that easily clears the high bar set by that legendary band and shows he’s so much more than just a frontman trying to prove something.

I’m sure you’re probably wondering why I would feature an Eddie Vedder solo album before a Pearl Jam album on Sound Selections. Well, simply put, this album is JUST THAT GOOD. Along with his previous solo album Ukelele Songs (which I WOULD have featured if I owned it on vinyl), Earthling is a well-crafted effort that impresses and proves Eddie is not about to rest on his laurels. His powerful voice and expert songwriting are inspiring to hear and his rapport with his backing band makes every song feel tight yet relaxed, with the working well with each other as if they have been in the band for ages. Pearl Jam might have set the bar high for Eddie’s solo works, but this album sets the bar high for every other frontman’s solo efforts. It more than lives up to expectations and is an excellent listening experience even if you’re (somehow) not a fan of Pearl Jam. 

TRML’s Sound Selections #60

The Presidents of The United States of America – The Presidents of The United States of America

As far as debut albums go, there are only a select few that could be considered “iconic.” Most bands don’t find their groove until the second or even third album. But The Presidents of The United States of America tapped into something special and knocked it out of the park on the first go. With ultra-catchy radio-friendly hits like “Lump” and “Peaches,” their self-titled debut brings the listener on an incredibly fun mid-90’s alt-rock journey that begins with the delightfully raunchy “Kitty” and continues at full-speed through 13 tracks soaked in fuzzed guitar with driving drums and Chris Bellew’s quirky and often funny lyrics. Oh, and let’s not forget a blistering cover of MC5’s Kick Out The Jams, because WHY NOT?!

When “Peaches” hit the airwaves in the mid-nineties, I was at just the right age to latch onto that kind of quirkiness. Like much of the PUSA output, it was silly and had a sense of fun that young me could enjoy. However, it wasn’t until many years later that I actually listened to the rest of the album and discovered a WHOLE ALBUM of excellent songs like the beloved “Peaches.” It also helped that the album opener is laugh-out-loud funny and has an expletive-laden verse you can shout along to (which apparently was NOT the band’s idea but rather the record label’s). The President’s debut is a banger all the way through and an excellent jumping-on point for this band’s excellent (albeit short) discography. 

X – Under the Big Black Sun

When X released “Under the Big Black Sun” in 1982, they were already gaining major traction on the L.A. punk scene. But this didn’t mean they had to adhere to the standard “punk” sound. With their major label debut, X took the opportunity to polish their sound and begin incorporating some of their other influences, like those from country music and old-school rock and roll. Largely inspired by the unfortunate death of vocalist Exene’s sister, Under the Big Black Sun maintains the punk edge of their previous two albums, but adds a bit of country twang, goth darkness, and even some doo-wop inspird rythm. Hard driving numbers like “How I (Learned My Lesson) sit comfortably with songs like “Come Back To Me” which sounds like it’d be right at home in a goth malt shop. It’s got a little bit of everything and would prove that punk music is not only poorly-played noisy guitars and snotty lyrics like much of the music press claimed it was.

My first experience with X was their “The Unheard Music” documentary. I’d heard of them before, but never actually HEARD them, so I figured I’d give it a watch to get to know their music better. Almost immediately I was blown away by their sound. Exene’s vocals, John Doe’s drive, DJ Bonebreak’s energy, and Billy Zoom’s signature (and occasionally creepy) smile all drew me in and sent me on a deep dive of their discography. They’re a shining example of how you can successfully meld influences into a cohesive sound that is also your own. I find them inspiring and I know you will too.

The Dismemberment Plan – Change

With the release of Change in 2001, The Dismemberment Plan reached the height of their popularity and solidified their spot in the pantheon of indie rock. Largely smoothing out the edginess heard in their previous albums, the band opts for a more complex yet laid-back sound that’s less art-punk and more psych rock. That isn’t to say the songs are lethargic. No. Most of the 11 tracks on Change is driven by energetic drums that push the songs forward as the guitars chime and ring out while singer Travis Morrison sings in his unique and then newly-honed singing style, which soars significantly more than it used to on the Plan’s three previous albums. It’s a winning combination that brought them into the spotlight and onto college radio stations across the country (that and opening for Pearl Jam). It’s also the sound they chose to retire on. Well, at the time we thought they were finished as they played their farewell show just two years later in 2003. They returned, however, in 2011 for a live album then released a fifth studio album in 2013, but have unfortunately been quiet since.

The Dismemberment Plan was huge in my friends circle in the early 00s. Their sound was perfect for our little arty group of nerds. They put forth enough of a punk aesthetic to not be seen as “sell outs” but also had enough of a serious side to them that we could name-drop them when trying to sound hip (every teenager needs a stable of bands to name drop to sound cool to the college kids). They were and still are great listening for late-night car rides home from concerts, when you’re tired and your ears are still ringing and you just want something to bring you down slowly. The D Plan’s sound hasn’t aged a day and even though they’re likely not coming back (please, Travis, prove me wrong), we still have five excellent albums to play back and enjoy over and over again. 

Cheap Trick – Dream Police

When Cheap Trick released Dream Police in 1979, they had just broken into international stardom thanks to a massively (and surprisingly) successful live album. That album, Live at Budokan, did a better job of capturing the energy of these Illinois boys than their previous studio albums did. (Compare the live and album versions of “I Want You to Want Me” and you’ll see what I mean.)  They changed that with Dream Police. This album brings the energy of their live shows and expands their sound, emphasising the “power” in “power pop.” It’s heavy AND catchy and definitely takes some inspiration from the hard rock and metal scenes, with killer hooks expanding into nine plus minute hard rock anthems. It’s an album by a band that has figured out their sound and learned how to kick butt.

Being from Illinois myself, Cheap Trick was textbook listening growing up. They are one of those “hometown heroes” bands EVERYONE from that area knows. Every big city has them (yes, even in Iowa) and it’s always an event when they play their home town. Cheap Trick is a legendary band with an iconic sound and a lead guitarist who asks “How many necks CAN I fit onto a guitar?” They’re a band that when their song comes on the radio, you have no choice but to crank up the volume, because music this good needs to be played LOUD. 

The Cure – Pornography

Despite what the title might imply, this is not a saucy album. In fact, The Cure’s fourth album is one of the darkest, most bleak albums you’ll ever hear. A reflection of Robert Smith’s mental state at the time, Pornography is full of nihilism and macabre imagery. But in this darkness there is beauty. Sonically the album is the most full and lush sounding of the band’s output at the time, which creates this gothic garden of sounds that broods as it blooms and, like any beautiful garden, must be taken in slowly and in full. This album isn’t one you can skip tracks or drop the needle on the hit single. No. If you put this album on you’re in for the long haul to relish the darkness of it all from start to finish.

As anyone who knows me is aware, I’m a huge Cure fan. Despite being the grandfather of goth rock, Robert’s music covers so much ground that there’s a whole album for any mood you’re in. This is probably why they have stuck with me so consistently. It’s not a matter of being “in the mood” to listen to the band, but rather which album I’m feeling at the time. That’s a very rare thing for a band to accomplish in my books. It just goes to show how good of a songwriter Robert Smith is and how he’s not going to let himself be pigeonholed into one style. The Cure are a band that needs to be represented in every music collection, be it just the greatest hits or a whole collection of studio albums. It’s timeless music that resonates through every new generation and sounds just as fresh today as it did when it was first released.

The Dandy Warhols – …The Dandy Warhols Come Down

While the Pacific Northwest was fertile ground for the grunge movement in the early Nineties, by the middle of the decade there was another musical movement blossoming where grunge was wilting. The new psychodalia movement was well under way when The Dandy Warhols released their second studio album “…The Dandy Warhols Come Down.” Greatly expanding upon the sound of their first album from two years prior, the Dandys stretched out into more refined power-pop and combined it with sprawling psychedelic jams. The songs maintain the signature catchy hooks and balance of humor and the serious, but now they gel together in a fluid and sometimes trippy fashion. Pulsing drone guitar ebbs and flows and mutates into jangly riffs punctuated with bouncy synth lines as Courtney Taylor-Taylor’s chameleon-like vocals bid the listener good morning or raunchily describe their love interest in Minnesota. It’s a winning formula that has carried this band through all these years.

I’ve been a fan of The Dandy Warhols for decades and have long sung their praises. They are definitely in the top five bands I listen to most out of my massive music collection. I just find myself coming back again and again to their sound like an old pair of jeans. It’s comfortable and it has been there through many phases of my life. Even their new output slots right in with the songs from 20+ years ago and brings that sense of comfort, which isn’t something every band can provide. This isn’t to say their sound is stale, far from it. If anything I’d say it means they know how to stay fresh without constantly reinventing the wheel each album. It’s a skill that makes for a great listening experience for the veteran fans and the ones discovering them via beloved album reviews like this one.

My Morning Jacket – Z

Z, My Morning Jacket’s fourth album, was a departure from their previous alt-country efforts that veers into more psychedelic territory. Jim James’ signature heavily reverberated vocals are still there, but the loss and replacement of two members, along with utilizing a producer that WASN’T also the lead singer, put the band on a path towards what would become their defining sound. Z was MMJ’s best-selling album to date when it came out in 2005 and it’s easy to see why. Like many famous psychedelic albums before it, Z incorporates a wide variety of influences and packages them up in 10 well-crafted tracks (11 tracks if you have the vinyl). You have the ever-catchy radio-friendly single “Off the Record” on the same side as the whimsically eerie waltz “Into the Woods.” It’s a trip that takes you on quite a few twists and turns but gets you there in the end with a feeling of satisfaction in a journey well travelled.

While I had been a casual fan of My Morning Jacket since their third album, It Still Moves, it was Z that really solidified my fandom of the band. At the time it was a sound that really jived with my interests and it stuck with me. Aside from their live album “Okonokos,” Z is the album of theirs I listen to most. There’s just so much to love here, and each listening yields something new to enjoy. Z is an album that is not just listened to, but is EXPERIENCED. It’s an excellent jumping-on point for the band and highly recommended if you want an album you can really sink into and enjoy.   

One Year Anniversary

That’s right! It has been one full year of my weekly bite-sized album reviews. Although “review” is a bit of a misnomer, as I’ve not so much critiqued these albums as I have told you why you should listen to them because ALL OF THEM ARE GOOD. With that in mind and to celebrate this auspicious anniversary, I tortured

tasked myself with picking the top five tracks from the past year of TRML’s Sound Selections. This was no easy task! There are so, so many amazing songs across the 52 albums I’ve written about. These five are my personal favorites and are songs that exemplify a range of inspiring songwriting.5) Jonathan Coulton – Glasses

In my opinion, no song better encapsulates adulthood than Glasses. Jonathan Coulton perfectly distills the adult-with-kids experience into a tight 2 minutes 47 seconds. It’s catchy, a little funny and, most importantly, it’s RELATABLE. I feel that last bit makes it one of his best songs overall, as it dispenses with forced humor or nerdy whimsy to deliver a song that is an excellent snapshot of many listener’s daily lives. 

4) Elvis Costello – Indoor Fireworks

Indoor Fireworks is NOT a happy song. It’s about a couple’s argument and Elvis, clearly drawing from his recent divorce, offers some of his best wordplay to describe this dissolving relationship. Comparing an argument to a firecracker is a perfect and delicious analogy and this song is a prime example of why he’s such a legend.

3) The Mountain Goats – Younger

For an album about role-playing games, you might not expect as much depth as you find in the song Younger. But then again, if you’re not expecting that, then you’re not listening to the Mountain Goats.  Younger not only portrays an interesting situation in an engaging way, it also expertly shows the depth players put into their tabletop game characters, as not only is the character in the song looking back at his younger self, John Darnielle is too by reusing a chord progression from an old song. This kind of meta songwriting is why, out of the HUNDREDS of songs he has written, Younger is, for me, one of John’s finest.

2) Stevie Wonder – Living for the City

Simply put, Living in the City is a very, very powerful song. So powerful that it can move someone who has not even remotely experienced what this song is talking about. Stevie was already well respected when he wrote Innervisions, but he solidified his status as a master songwriter with this song. Living in the City is not an easy listen because it’s disturbing, but that’s entirely the point. The spoken audio bits as a young man’s life is ruined is an important and powerful message and is part of what makes it so incredibly good.

1) Iggy and the Stooges – Search and Destroy

Search and Destroy is, bar none, the BEST album intro song of all time. Right away it grabs your attention by your sensitive nether region and drags you through what Iggy and the band are about. It’s songwriting 101 for a mission statement song and one that is well worth a study for any aspiring songwriter. It certainly influenced me as I’ve learned so much from these simple three and a half minutes. That’s why it’s number one in this list and in my list of favorite songs of all time.

Phew! There you have it. the top five songs from the first 52 Sound Selections. Next week it’s back to normal with more album picks you need to hear or, if you’ve heard them already, albums you need to hear again. Thank you all for sticking around this last year and I hope you continue to enjoy this little pet project of mine. I’ve got plenty more albums to write about! You might see a few alumni pop back into the Selections, but that’s because you need to hear those albums too! Although I do promise to keep it to one album per artist per year, so I’m sorry to say it won’t be four months straight of Lou Reed albums. (I know, don’t threaten you with a good time.)

Thanks again for reading and see you next week!