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by gmilner_Archive
If I understand this correctly, we're talking about bands we think of as being criminally underrated, bands that if we had a soapbox we'd get up on it and sing their praises (kind of like when Nirvana used to wear Melvins t-shirts on MTV). With that in mind, I nominate Minneapolis' Party Of One, whose "Caught the Blast" album was my 2003 favorite. I naively thought it would be one of those "talked-about" records, but it seemed to sink without a trace. I posted a C/NC about them, mainly to see how many people on this board had heard of them, and got no replies. I really think a lot of people on this board would really like them. The songs are funny, sad, jarring--pretty much everthing I look for in music. "Six Million Anonymous Deceased" is just devastating--it lives up to the title. Of all the bands of the last few years that have tried to channel the "post-punk" vibe, Party Of One are the only ones that I think get it absolutely right--not just the bass lines, angularity, etc., but the vibe of anxiety and regret, the weight of history, all that. Plus, it's the only album I think I've ever heard that's helped by it's lo-fi down-in-the-basement sound.