Today's featured shit

What a treat this double CD is. You get an album of studio recordings and one of live stuff. The first album has two EPs and a full length. The second has some demos and two live shows. This is great for comparing their sound, because some songs show up three times.

“Molly’s Lips,” far and away my favorite Vaselines song was played live in London, and that means it shows up on the live CD with the other London tracks. It’s not as good as the studio version, but generally, most of these songs work well live.

“Oliver Twisted,” originally from the album “Dum Dum,” is typical of the Northwest sound that personifies the Vaselines. And to be able to hear a demo of “Red Poppy” is a real treat. I bet they love it when people call it “Red Poppy” and that they raise their hands in the air because they’re all true players.

“Rory Rides Me Raw” is a waltz and focuses on the male vocals, which are every bit as good as the female ones and helps break up the album well.

It doesn’t sound like a sextet, but it is one. “Sweet Singin’ Birds” takes a Neko Case sound-alike and gives her ’60s girl group backing vocals and throws in keyboards. I guess you do need six people to accomplish all of that.

All the songs are good. If you want more male-focused vocals, you can listen to a song such as “Sinking In.” Still, it’s a very relaxing song that makes me think of the Richmond District in San Francisco. The sun is finally out at 3 p.m., and even though the shirts won’t dry by sundown, you’re just happy to be outside watching the 31 Balboa go by. Who cares if your roommates are moving to be with a cat and you have to find new ones? That’s what crazy exes are for.

“Close My Eyes” has Beatles-inspired piano and an-octave-higher female vocals. “My First Surprise” has some hot snare drum action. I suppose the others do, but the song is so slow that it really stands out in a good way. This is also a male-dominated song for those who are into that.

“Concrete Feet” focuses on the female lead and an organ. It slowly builds but never gets crazy. After the chorus it’s like Roofi on the Simpsons: nine, ten, start over again.

They’re Japanese. They sing in Japanese. It’s a rock band with Japanese lyrics and English song titles. The onesheet smells like cigarettes. The songs all sound the same and have this Gogol Bordello feel to them (and there is a song called “Go, Gal”).

These songs are long. Twelve tracks take 72 minutes. “Solo” is shorter than most and a bit of fun. It makes me think of the Black Crowes. “The Stranger” has banjo and sounds a little different, but really it’s just a ballad.

This album has three sides, according to the track listing. It makes me wish I could see a record. All the songs on Side 3 are exceptionally long and some are instrumentals. “North Gate” isn’t, but there’s not much else to say about it.

“Slow Number” is a very Japanese title and has a bit of a country tinge to it, in addition to being a waltz. It’s a bit of fun. It’s hard to get crazy about something when I know it’s good but isn’t something I normally don’t listen to ever. At all. Not even once. But I can get behind “Slow Number,” even if it is not what the band typically sounds like.

This is a pretty cool record. The lyrics are silly, but even if you don’t understand the wit because you don’t speak English or pay attention to words, you’ll still like this album because the music is chipper.

“Vacuum” doesn’t suck. It goes on about not being born in a vacuum cleaner. Really. Even at more than five minutes, it’s still fun. “Decoy” has good harmonies at the forefront, with the accompaniment quietly doing its job in the background. This song is about their complementary vocals.

“Sunday Stopped Honking” is a slower track and more thoughtful than the rest. It may not make you cry, but the potential is sure there. Maybe the racehorse Sunday Silence was the inspiration for this song.

The title track is at the end of the album. It has xylophone and some other leftovers. Although it’s not slapped together, it sounds like they had a bunch of cool shit they wanted to do on the album but never got around to doing. Of course this is ridiculous. It’s the band’s theme song, so obviously more thought was put into this track than any other. Maybe the band sees itself as an amalgamation of loose ends.

These songs have a lot of energy, and, yes, screaming females. That’s one for the lead singer and another for the backing vocals. This makes two, and that proves the necessary pluralization of “female.”

“Sour Grapes” sounds like Kristin Hersh. You can tell that this track plays well live, because it is a good song that is mixed poorly on the album. During the chorus, the guitar is too loud, and because the lyrics are mixed high the rest of the time, you are expecting to hear a chorus whose lyrics are to jolt you like you’ve got on a pair of corduroy pants while walking on a shag carpet.

“Treacher Collins” must be a Tom Collins made with wine coolers. On iTunes it is spelled “Teacher.” This track sounds like L7. The mixing is more logical on this song. It stands up well, and it could only be improved with some more distortion. “Starving Dog” is frenetic but not out of control. The drums remind me of “This is Radio Clash.” The guitar reminds me of Primus.

“Lights Out” sounds like an old Gossip song, “Bring Back the Revolution.” I really like the guitar in “I Believe in Evil,” especially at the beginning. “Halfway Down” sounds like the mic is halfway down her throat. It takes guts to be that guttural.

Some catchy poppy stuff here. “Din” has Dambuilders music with nondescript 1980s male vocals. Like Peter Murphy, maybe? The bass is mixed really loud, but that seems intentional.

“Terra Fuego” sounds a lot like “Din,” only with Doors-era keyboards. It’s a fun song although a bit silly. “Another Monkey on the Vine” is not about KVYN DJs. This one has fuzzier guitar and more of that underground Reagan-era modern rock.

“Knockoff” is slower but still good. It leaves me with a sudden urge to wear a jean jacket. The keyboards are not central to the song but complement the rest of the music nicely.

“The Diz” is not about the kid in Wee Pals, although it would be awesome if it were. I always thought that “The Diz” was a good nickname for The Disney Channel, but some boardroom execs must have thought otherwise. This song is really long and would good for talking over.