The decade in local music: 2003
The Soviettes
It's December, and you know what that means: lists. But this isn't just the end of a year, it's the end of a decade, which means even bigger lists (and an even bigger chance of pissing people off by forgetting something). Over the next two weeks, The A.V. Club will roll out year-specific lists of our favorite local albums. Is it a best-of? Not quite. We thought it would be more interesting to make it a little looser in scope, the better to highlight both some of the most well-known albums and also the ones that we love even though they've gotten a little lost in the mists of time. We've limited each artist to one album for the entire decade, and limited ourselves to no more than six albums for each year.
Halloween, Alaska, Halloween, Alaska (originally released on Princess Records, reissued by East Side Digital in 2005)
The band: Formed by members of 12 Rods and Love-cars, Halloween, Alaska gave its seasoned rockers a chance to decrease the volume, experiment with electronics, and sit down to play.
The album: Halloween, Alaska's debut was a surprising one, partly because it was created by musicians who seemingly had enough on their plates already. (Taking bets: How many times will Dave King show up in our "decade in local music" series?) But the introductory tracks from King, James Diers (full disclosure: a former A.V. Club editor), Ev, and graphic designer Matt Friesen were so different from their usual fare, so blissful and calming, that we had no choice but to float away with them. The band takes more chances than their easy-listening counterparts, like the way "Halloween" slips the subtlest hint of a bossa nova into the mix for a few measures and later unravels in a descent of minor-key strings. Another highlight, their cover of Bruce Springsteen's "State Trooper," is a study in building and dissolving tension, its one constant being a keyboard line that, by the end of the song, has morphed into the Close Encounters Of The Third Kind theme.
The Hang Ups, The Hang Ups (Trampoline Records)
The band: Though they've been inactive for a while, The Hang Ups made a name for themselves in the '90s as the local scene's preeminent pop purveyors.
The album: Around the same time that The Hang Ups were releasing and promoting their self-titled fourth album, they were being eclipsed by The Owls, frontman Brian Tighe's side project with his wife, Allison LaBonne. (And really, isn't that the ultimate way to go out? Being overshadowed by yourself?) Maybe Tighe just had too many catchy melodies rolling around in his head for one band. But the groups are far from interchangeable: The Hang Ups aren't nearly as precious, putting their love of '60s rock just ahead of their love of '60s folk. (Tighe's voice sometimes takes on a Ray Davies-like tone, and "One Of These Days" is one stately French horn short of Abbey Road.) The Hang Ups is a satisfying exit for a band that never officially broke up, and nothing leaves a band's future open-ended like the ability to write timeless songs.
Jeff Hanson, Son (Kill Rock Stars)
The artist: One of the more promising young songwriting talents in the Twin Cities died unexpectedly earlier this year at just 31 years old, leaving three albums of shimmering folk pop as his all-too-short recorded legacy.
The album: While the first reaction to hearing Jeff Hanson's music is invariably, "Wait, that's a dude singing?" Son is more than just a showcase for his otherworldly, high-pitched tenor. Recorded in Omaha with Bright Eyes' production team of A.J. and Mike Mogis, Hanson's debut moves confidently between solo acoustic troubadour numbers (the poignant "Hiding Behind The Moon") and wide-lens orchestral pop ("The End Of Everything Known"). Unfortunately, subsequent releases from Hanson never quite scaled the same heights, but that's a testament to the expert execution of his debut.
Oddjobs, The Shopkeeper's Wife (Third Earth Music)
The band: The hip-hop collective made up of two producers and three MCs came up in the mid-'90s before disbanding in the early part of the decade. Several members went on to form Kill The Vultures.
The album: The Shopkeeper's Wife is technically an EP, but feels solid and complete on its own. A dizzying array of samples, basslines, and drum hits are layered to perfection, fitting perfectly with the smoky, soul-spelunking lyrics by all three rappers. The EP also marks the beginning of the Oddjobs' evolution into Kill The Vultures, as the group moved away from its more radio-friendly early work and toward the more sweeping experimentalism of its last album. Oddjobs were well on their way to deliberately abandoning the safer elements of hip-hop for far more abstract and interesting sounds.
The Soviettes, LP (Adeline Records)
The band: The three ladies and one dude who made up The Soviettes rose to local punk-rock fame through the early 2000s, eventually signing to Fat Wreck Chords. After the band's split in 2006, guitarist Annie Holoien and Danny Henry went on to form Awesome Snakes.
The album: Chock-full of big riffs, fast beats, sing-along vocals, and sheer energy, The Soviettes' debut stays consistently raucous through its half-hour run time. The vocals, handled by all members (occasionally on the same song), hit all the points a good punk-rock record should: relationships, the sucky government, living in the city, and how much fun it is to be in a band. Other than a few brief moments of cool-down—the bridge in the excellent "Matt's Song" and the slow-build intro to "Undeliverable"—LP never relents in energy or charm.
