Alpha

By Gabriel

nother music site. Regarding band or artist names, 'A' names tend to be less popular while the good ones use P, R, S and T. You gotta start somewhere. I'm getting to the point in my life where I'm really starting to purify my collection and figure out which bands and artists will still be collecting dust on my shelf 50 years from now.

Alice In Chains is one of those bands I used to be ashamed of liking. It seemed they were angry for the sake of being angry. On the other hand, when grunge was quickly realized as a fad and metal was still in its Metallica-phase, these guys were difficult to peg. Too heavy for grunge, too soulful for metal. Looking back, their EPs—even though poppier than the albums—stand out as being the most diverse.

If you jump forward to the indie and folk phase, you might have noticed that The Avett Brothers are swiftly becoming mainstream (I'm a little insulted that they've opened for Dave Matthews. I thought they were too good for that.) Thinking about the reputation of their recordings and performances, the Avetts are to folk-rock what Hot Water Music were to post-punk. Hard-working, truthful, and masters of positive art.

Lastly is the aforementioned Akron/Family. I caught a single prior to the release of Set 'Em Wild, Set 'Em Free and was excited by their Beatles/Wilco/Beach Boys sensibilities. Once the album surfaced it took a while for me to see the big picture. It has an odd tapestry, not unlike the album cover. For me this album is the whole package. The music and artwork—a manipulated American flag—manage a soft hand in voicing dissent that we don't often associate with "indie" rock. Buy the CD. A PDF file for an album cover and MP3s can't replace every record, tape, or CD.