3x2: Volume 2
February 2025: Sam & I bring a few underrated three-record runs to the table
Good morning!
Today Sam Colt and I are each sharing a few three record runs.
Welcome to the second edition of our new series! For those of you who missed last months kickoff post, here’s a bit of context:
You ever had a record that you loved, but for whatever reason, no one else did? I'm not talking about what we might consider a guilty pleasure (though those are rad, too). I mean records you knew in your bones your peers would love only to see them fall flat. Or they were a hit in your circle, but that's as far as it went.
In this monthly series, Sam Colt and I will each share our picks for titles that haven't received their due. You'll recognize Sam's name from our On Repeat and Friends Best of Series and also our Top 100 of all-time series last fall. These posts will adopt the latter's format; I will make my case for my three picks and my reaction to Sam's. Sam's page will do the reverse.
From Sam:
Each month, we’ll put forward three albums and our responses to each. Every installation of this series will have a different theme, with Kevin and I alternating between who picks the theme. So to kick things off, we’re rolling with three slightly under-the-radar albums that are absolutely worth checking out. Hope you enjoy them, and let us know what you think in the comments, or if you have any ideas for monthly album themes.
In the inaugural post, we noted that successive editions would narrow things down slightly. Maybe a specific genre…maybe a specific era…maybe a specific…well, who knows! This month, we're each making case for a few underrated three-record runs by an artist or band.
You can make the case that many " big names” have had good runs—and you're encouraged to do just that in the comment section. But in my case, I didn't think anyone needed another Led Zeppelin hagiography or 1500 words on Let It Bleed/Sticky Fingers/Exile on Main Street. We've all been there and done that. For those of you who are half expecting to see New Order here, well, same. But I also just did that with our friend
.That said, the ultimate goal is to find new listeners and fans for the featured records. I hope you find value in reading them and find a new favorite record or two! If you have, then we’ve done our jobs.
When you're done here make sure to check out This Is a Newsletter!
Let's get to it!
KA—
Yo La Tengo: Painful/Electr-o-pura/I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One
At this point, Yo La Tengo has been around long enough—and with a lengthy enough discography—that one could start at almost any point, find a three-record run, and make one's case with little trouble.
I started with Painful for a couple of reasons. First, it's my favorite record by the band, and I wanted to include it. So there.
Second--and more importantly--up to this point, Yo La Tengo always felt like one of those "next big thing" bands with a critical mass just around the corner. For five records, that was just out of reach, as was finding a consistent bass player. With Painful, both became a reality. Not big on a Pearl Jam level, but they were locked in as a bona fide indie band. 30+ years later, they still are.
Writing about the record for Matt Fish’s Best Music of All Time, I noted:
One of YLT's hallmarks is that any song feels like it could be remade in a dozen different ways. Much of Painful continues that tradition- see the two wildly different versions of "Big Day Coming" as exhibit A- but it also feels fully fleshed out. The record turned 30 earlier this year, but it’s the one I repeatedly return to. I can’t say the same for many of the records released around the same time.
The first lyrics we hear are "Let's be undecided," but Painful is a decisive statement record of a band fully formed. One hitting its stride and never looking back.
The first "Big Day Coming" is calm, almost a lullaby. The one near the end is much more muscular and chugs along nicely. In between, we get an all-timer in "From a Motel 6" (my all-time favorite YLT track), "Doubler Dare," and the surreal "Nowhere Near." A few tracks later, the second "Big Day Coming" shows up, and the record closes with "I Heard You Looking." Maybe it's just me, but the latter is the sort of song that you pulls in and leaves you with a 40-yard stare and nothing else. It's exquisite.
I've mentioned it before, but there are two sides to Yo La Tengo. Both are very good sides.
The first is quiet, contemplative Yo La Tengo. That's the one we've seen the most of in recent years. Sometimes haunting and/or listless, other times endearing. Occasionally, a sonic lazy river that seemingly stretches forever.
The second is rocking Yo la Tengo. Sometimes, it's vaguely menacing. The sound is locomotive. I'll also include their poppier side and impeccable taste in picking covers here.
Either way, they're giving us straight rippers with Kaplan barely in control, playing like one of those inflatable wavy guys you see at low-rent used car lots. Instead of a specific direction, they just choose 'em all
Messy. Precise. Jarring. Soothing. Over the last forty(ish) years, Yo La Tengo has consistently been an exercise in contradiction. And yet, it all fits together nicely, as it's supposed to.
It's hard not to feel a little bad for Electr-o-pura. It's sandwiched between two fantastic records that are (generally speaking) more popular than this. But that's not to say that this one doesn't hold its own— it totally does. Opener "Decora" is a woozy, tremolo-filled ride with Georgia Hubley signing. Follow-up "Flying Lesson (Hot Chicken #1)" is an excellent example of what I meant when I talked about Kaplan being barely in control… and of odd song titles. "Tom Courtenay" is probably the poppiest thing the trio has ever written, and it's a gem. "The Ballad of Red Buckets" and "My Heart's Reflection" adopt a slower pace and feel like a lazy summer day under a merciless sun.
Electr-o-pura isn't as fleshed out as the records on either side of it (see the borderline unlistenable "Attack on Love" as Exhibit A), but somehow, that only adds to its charm.
I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One can usually be found battling it out with 2000's And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out for the consensus pick of best YLT records, and it's an album worthy of the claim.
Opening with, um, "Return to Hot Chicken" (I know! I know!), it quickly kicks into gear with the subdued but steady "Moby Octopad," a track that felt like it had a bit more ferocity when I saw them play it live.
Speaking of what might've been, "Sugarcube" is the closest the band has come yet to having a hit. If asked, this seems to be the one song most people know—or at least recognize, even if they don't know who sang it. "Autumn Sweater" might be similar, though I might be overestimating its reach (it was big in my circles).
YLT has always come across as a decidedly urban band (they're from New Jersey), but listening to "Green Arrow" will instantly transport you to whatever you imagine a front porch in rural America might look like. Listening to it, you can imagine a star-filled sky-- one that's impossible to see in the city-- and a chorus of crickets serenading you into the small hours.
Yo La Tengo also has a penchant for covering songs you'd never think of in a million years, yet somehow seem the perfect choice. Here, they take on the Beach Boys' "Little Honda."
Now more than ever, this was a time for them to expand, explore their curiosities, and experiment with styles. And they nailed 'em all. The result is a 16-song masterclass on how to become your favorite band's favorite band.
Sam’s pick and my take: Animal Collective - Feels / Strawberry Jam / Merriweather Post Pavilion
Sam kicks things off by noting: "How very millennial hipster of me to go with Animal Collective," and all I can think of is how GenX of me not to know any of these songs off the top of my head. That's not to say I'm new to the band (or an indictment of Sam's taste), but if pressed, I might consider myself, at best, a casual fan. This is just one of those cases where a group came along at a time when my attention—and ears— were pointed elsewhere. To be fair, Feels came out at almost the same time I became a dad, with Merriweather Post Pavilion coming out just in time for round 2, so I think I get a pass for at least this one.
So, yeah... the music. Animal Collective might not be top of mind, but anytime they come on, appear in someone's playlist, etc. I always think, "I should listen to these guys more."
To my ear, Feel feels like an indie record. I'm mindful that this is the polar opposite of a thoughtful review, but here we are. With Opener "Did You See the Words" at one end of the spectrum and closer "Turn Into Something" at the other, the record covers all the usual bases and all the boxes in between. For the record, the latter is my favorite on the LP; it turns out I like my Animal Collective on the spiky side.
Strawberry Jam sounds like a record where they went into the studio, wrote "Write catchy choruses" on construction paper, and taped it above the door. This is not a bad thing; tracks like "Chores" sound like their take on the Beach Boys. I might like them on the spikier side, but I'm a sucker for earworms and easy-breezy choruses.
This brings us to Merriweather Post Pavilion. The 00s were a decade full of blindspots for me, but even I recognize this as one of the era's more important/defining records. MMP is a kaleidoscope field trip into psych rock aimed at a demographic that might not've seen a whole lot of it before. Sam notes that the LP is not for the fainthearted, which is both fair and accurate. But objectively, interesting records aren't always immediately accessible (see my YLT picks), but it's worth it for those willing to make the jump. Fortune favors the bold.
Fleetwood Mac: Tusk/Mirage/Tango In the Night
I have two hot takes when it comes to music; the first is that Radiohead is overrated. The second is that Mirage- not Rumors- is Fleetwood Mac's best record. This is a hill I'm willing to die on for a whole lot of objective, subjective, and completely random reasons. I get the allure of Rumours - it was clearly a record that meant a lot to many people, but I wonder if people pick it 'cause they think they should. Kinda like when they say things like:" Radiohead's awesome."
Anyway, enough of that. IMO, this three-record run represents the peak of this era for the band. Some outstanding albums were made with previous lineups and some awful ones made with successive ones--but for their sake of discussion, it's this lineup—and musical style— most people know, and not the one with Bob Welch, Peter Green, or Jeremy Spencer. So how does a band follow up a record like Rumours? With a 20-song double LP, of course. Is Tusk excessive? Yes. Is it a testament to the industrial amounts of cocaine and internecine drama that both threatened to wipe that band off the face of the Earth? You bet. Ostentatious? Yep, that too. I mean, they got the USC marching band on this title track. Who does that?! Fleetwood Mac in 1979, that's who.
And despite all of that, it is, frankly, a helluva good record. I love me some Christine McVie (more on her in a second) but listen to Stevie Nicks on "Sara" and try not to be amazed. "I Know I'm Not Wrong" is a bop and one of my favorites (Lindsey Buckingham's got the wheel here). Is it a no-skips record? Probably not- there are 20 tracks, after all, but each holds up nicely.
Here’s the thing about Mirage.
If Tusk is a monument to excess, Mirage is a much more straight-ahead pop record. It's also eight songs shorter. Perhaps more than any of the band's other releases, this one emphasizes vocal harmony-- McVie Nicks and Buckingham are on their game, and the whole thing has a collaborative vibe to it, even if offstage, their worlds were going up in smoke.
Things kick off with McVie singing "Love In Store," which is nothing if not catchy. We don't have to wait long before we get to "Gypsy." When I was young, my dad was very strict about music. Comically so. I still think I might be the only kid who wasn't allowed to buy or listen to Prince's 1984 Purple Rain album.
But even before that, we didn't have cable because he thought MTV was a bad idea.
Luckily, my grandmother had it (ironically, my uncle was an installer at the time) and enjoyed it. And so when I would visit, she would make lunch, set up TV trays, and we'd watch "music movies" on her 13" Toshiba TV. "Gypsy" and "Hold Me" were both in heavy rotation.
Some she liked, and most she tolerated. But we both loved "Gypsy." She liked the video's homage to Classic film, and I was in love with the melody. I still am. It is the best song the band has ever made, and it tops a long list of stellar tracks so when I say that, I mindfully that I'm planting a big flag. Nevertheless.
Those are some big shoes to fill, but McVie pulls it off on the next track, "Only Over You," another fave I always thought should've at least charted somewhere. You can go your own way and have Rumours if you want. For me, it doesn't get any better than Mirage.
It took a few years, but next up was Tango in the Night, a high note marking the end of an era and the last good record before Buckingham hit the exit and the band entered its Coy and Vance era, replacing him with Billy Burnette and Rick Vito. Of course, it would take two people to replace that sound! On Tango, he shows why right from the first notes on "Big Love," a track that builds in intensity before ending in one of the chorus of uhs and ahs and some blistering guitar work. "Seven Wonders" is purpose-built for light rock radio, as are "Everywhere" and "Little Lies," the former another chance for McVie to showcase her perfect (heh) vocal style. "Little Lies" was, of course, one of the band's last "big" hits and can still be heard on the air today. Tracks like "Caroline" and "Isn't It Midnight" nicely round out the record.
1987 was a time filled with synthesizers, drum machines, and neon. Perhaps more than anything, Tango in the Night proved that a band could still put out an amazingly human-feeling record and be successful.
Sam’s pick and my take: Kendrick Lamar - Section.80 / good kid, m.A.A.d city / To Pimp a Butterfly
Poor Drake. If there was any question about who won this summer's beef between him and Kendrick Lamar, this year's Super Bowl determined the winner once and for all. Having a dis track accusing you of being a pedophile is lethal enough. Having 70,000 people singing along in unison? You're buried under the jail.
So K-dot has that title, but if there was any question about whether he'd earned it, these three records answer in the affirmative. No one will ever accuse me of being a hip-hop expert, but for my money, few MCs can spit bars and bend words like Lamar can.
More than anything, Lamar's superpower is making a record that feels "real." The vibes are always immaculate, and the pictures are perfect-- flaws, rough edges, and all. The samples, beats, and bars keep things locked in. Each of these records does that--and does it progressively better. If I'm honest, this is one helluva pick for a three-record run. One of the best in hip hop's modern era-- and yet, it's one that I'm willing to bet wouldn't immediately come to mind for many people.
In our top 100 series last year, Sam pegged To Pimp a Butterfly at #4 (FWIW, mine was The Cure's Disintegration--just to show what worlds each of us are coming from).
He wrapped that up by stating: To Pimp a Butterfly is a celebration of the audacity to wake up each morning to try to be better, knowing it could all end in a second for no reason at all.
Sounds like a message that one Aubrey Drake Graham should've taken to heart.
Peter Gabriel: Melt/Security/So
Before my mailbox starts filling up with postcards from Pedantry Place, let me note a couple of things: first, yes, Melt and Security are also known as Peter Gabriel 3 and Peter Gabriel 4, respectively. Why Gabriel did this is beyond me and the scope of this article, but here we are. Maybe he took a page from the George Foreman playbook? I don't know. Second—and I should have specified this earlier—this is for studio albums only. So no Birdy Soundtrack and no Plays Live.
Music fans love to talk about their favorite deep tracks. Sometimes, they'll skip right over the bigger songs and claim a lesser-known one as if doing so is a way of passing a purity test.
And if the subject is Peter Gabriel's 1979 3rd eponymously titled album, one might skip over "I Don't Remember" and mention this one instead.
And through the wire, I hear your voice
And through the wire, I touch the power
And through the wire, I see your face
It's through the wire
They might pass right by "Games Without Frontiers," with its synthesizers and gloomy overtones, and instead, talk about the fantastic guitar riff on "And Through The Wire," making sure to mention that it's courtesy of The Jam's Paul Weller.
They might note that the album was Gabriel's only US release on Mercury Records after Atlantic decided it wasn't commercial enough and chose not to distribute it.
Maybe they'd note that distinct absence of cymbals on the song.
In an interview with Mark Blake, Gabriel commented:
"Artists given complete freedom die a horrible death…So, when you tell them what they can't do, they get creative and say, 'Oh yes, I can,' which is why I banned cymbals. Phil {Collins]was cool about it. [Marotta] did object and it took him a while to settle in. It's like being right-handed and having to learn to write with your left."
Or, if you're lucky, they'll just hand you the record and say you gotta listen to it. Consider this me doing just that right now.
For many people, it's safe to say that Security is all deep tracks with one glaring exception: “Shock the Monkey.” If you're of a certain age, this song's video on MTV was likely your on-ramp to Gabriel's work. But one song does not a record make, and Security is more than “Shock the Monkey.” A lot more. This is also the record that gave us “I Have the Touch,” the disquieting “San Jacinto,” and the anthemic “Lay Your Hands on Me.” I usually prefer the rockier side of Gabriel's work, but his ballads are not to be ignored, and for my money, “Wallflower” is one of his best.
If anyone missed the bus with Shock the Monkey, they were sure to catch the next one just a few years later when So was released. “Big Time” and “Sledgehammer” were inescapable (and thankfully enjoyable) on both the radio and MTV. In the New Order podcast I mentioned above, I said that I use the band's "Weirdo" to test any new set of speakers or AirPods I get. Matty countered by sharing that he uses “Red Rain” off this record, and I may need to rethink my strategy. It's a great choice, and the first little bit of hi-hat you hear at the song's start is from none other than The Police's Stewart Copeland. If that wasn't enough, there is a duet with Kate Bush (“Don't Give Up”) because, of course, there is.
Everything here is over the top, and nothing is off the table. And lest we forget, this is also the record with “In Your Eyes” made famous when Lloyd Dobler raised a boom box over his head and made a meme 20 years before anyone knew what that was.
A little bar trivia: Dobler's car was a '77 Chevy Malibu. My first set of wheels was a '74.
I was lucky to see Gabriel in the fall of 2023 ghile he was on the road supporting i/O. I spoiled it did a little research by going to Setlist.fm to see what he’d been playing. The setlist rarely changed much, if at all. “Sledgehammer,” “Don’t Give Up,” and “Red Rain” were all there, and brought the house down. Shock the Monkey was a no-show. So is an incredible record and high note to finish on.
Sam’s pick and my take: The War on Drugs: Slave Ambient / Lost in the Dream / A Deeper Understanding
For those that might've missed the band's debut EP, Future Weather, all was not lost; much of it was included on sophomore LP Slave Ambient. For a band from Philly, this sure feels like something that could've come from the Central time zone. Speaking of the flyover states: A lot of people spend their youth looking to get the F out of wherever they're at; this feels like the millennial equivalent of Springsteen's Born to Run. More than anything else, Slave Ambient is the soundtrack to the sort of escape where you don't really know where you want to go and don't much mind.
Speaking of last year's top 100, Lost in the Dream was one of my picks. Writing then, I described the record as "unlike anything else I was hearing at the time, and the record was more of the same. Lost in the Dream redefined what the Philadelphia sound meant to me and opened the door to several other bands. And if your drummer looks like Ted Lasso's older, cooler brother? Well, then, it's all the better." I stand by that (and by my statement about Charlie Hall). So that's Lost in the Dream sorted.
A Deeper Understanding kicks off with "Up All Night," my favorite TWoD song that's not on Lost in the Dream. The piano worked its way into my head and has never really left. Listening to the record ahead of writing this part of the post took longer than it should have because I listened to Up All Night 2-3 times. You know, "for research." For me, TWoD strikes an all-too-rare balance between tracks that help you check out and ones that make you feel alive. Also: The rest of the record’s awesome.
That’s a wrap! What are your thoughts on these records? Do you own any of them? Share your thoughts in the comments! Rants, raves, and spicy takes are all welcome. And if you have any ideas on future themes, please share those as well!
Thanks for being here,
Kevin—
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"...but I wonder if people pick it 'cause they think they should. Kinda like when they say things like: 'Radiohead's awesome.'"
I see you've decided to declare war this morning...
Radiohead is over rated. THANK YOU!!!! This needs to be said more!