Feel good hits of the 8th February

1. 'No Pussy Blues' - Grinderman
2. 'Sunday' - Sonic Youth
3. 'Swam Like Sharks' - Sparrow And The Workshop
4. 'Undertow' - Warpaint
5. 'I Don't Need Love, I Got My Band' - The Radio Dept
6. 'What's In It For?' - Avi Buffalo
7. 'Heat Distraction' - Women
8. 'Albatross' - The Besnard Lakes
9. 'Meaningless' - The Magnetic Fields
10. 'Don't Cry' - Deerhunter

Notes:

1. What a performance that is. Right up there with At The Drive-In and The Arcade Fire's debut as Later... highlights go. Getting the feeling I've undervalued Grinderman's debut, just as I'm starting to explore the follow-up.

2. Talking of undervaluing albums, one of the many merits of David Browne's Sonic Youth book that I keep harping on about is that it's had me digging out and re-evaluing their back catalogue. For years I've happily told all and sundry that A Thousand Leaves is my least favourite of their records - but on revisiting it bugger me if it isn't a great album. 'Sunday' gets the nod, but it could easily have been 'Wildflower Soul', 'French Tickler' or (most recently) 'Snare, Girl'.

4. The Fool is just starting to click. Not exactly with it, am I?

5. A lost EP track I came across when YouTube-surfing. C86 cutesiness enveloped by Mary Chain fuzz. Is their more recent stuff any good, though?

6. My assessment of Avi Buffalo in the ongoing Green Man write-up was perhaps a bit scathing. To criticise psychedelic indie this whimsical and lovely would be like punching a unicorn in the face.

7. As for 4. Could Public Strain be better than Women's self-titled debut? Not sure. Less fuzz but more post-punk hooks, it seems.

8. The Besnard Lakes seem to have a knack of finding a perfect fit between song and video. 'Albatross' is Exhibit A, here's Exhibit B.

9. This could be a first - Jen getting ME into a band. 69 Songs is patchy, as you'd expect from an album containing 69 songs, but more than a few are gems.