Feel good hits of the 1st December

1. 'Mary-Christ' - Sonic Youth

At the time of Goo's release, 'Mary-Christ' was probably Sonic Youth's most concise, direct statement to date - a clear signpost towards Dirty. Having not listened to Goo in an age, I'd forgotten how fantastic this song is, overshadowed perhaps unfairly by both 'Dirty Boots' and 'Kool Thing'. I'd also forgotten how the album sadly falls away from 'My Friend Goo' onwards - albeit culminating in the spectacularly good 'Titanium Expose'.

2. 'Skeleton Key' - The Coral

With the benefit of hindsight, it's remarkable how The Coral ever found themselves tangled up with the likes of The Libertines in the pages of NME - and disappointing how they soon slid into solid, respectable songsmithery. The exuberant, joyous eccentricity of their debut is best encapsulated by the Beefheartian stomp of 'Skeleton Key'.

3. '2 Kindsa Love'/'Flavor' - Jon Spencer Blues Explosion

Massive thanks to Stevie Chick for introducing me to this beautiful chaos, which he declared on Twitter to be "among the top 3 televised musical performances of all time". One watch and I was powerless to disagree.

4. 'Forecast Of Rain' - Bob Mould

As someone who discovered Bob Mould through Sugar rather than Husker Du, I'm probably predisposed to prefer the more melodic material on Blue Hearts - though that's not to say that the whole LP isn't an exhilarating fury-fuelled ride.

5. 'Never Understand' - The Jesus & Mary Chain

I came to The Jesus & Mary Chain late, some time in the late 90s, having already had my life-changing musical epiphany courtesy of Nevermind - but one listen to this and it's not hard to comprehend how Psychocandy, which recently celebrated its 35th birthday, turned numerous impressionable teens' worlds upside down.

6. 'Raindrops' - The Besnard Lakes

The Canadians may have broken off with Jagjaguwar (it seems), but the typically sublime 'Raindrops' and the title of the forthcoming album of which it's a taster, The Besnard Lakes Are The Last Of The Great Thunderstorm Warnings, hardly hint at any other radical departures. Which is a relief - we need their proggy balm more than ever.

7. 'Clean Kill' - Coriky

Is there anything that would tempt Fugazi out of hibernation? Dischord's 40th birthday, perhaps? Probably not - and in truth it hardly matters now that Ian MacKaye has reunited with Joe Lally in Coriky and, together with Amy Farina, the pair have picked up exactly where The Argument left off.

8. 'Hell For Certain' - Gwenifer Raymond

Gwenifer Raymond is such an extraordinarily accomplished guitar player that you start to wonder whether she's done a Robert Johnson and sold her soul to the devil at a crossroads, this song title an acknowledgement of the fate that lies ahead. Second album Strange Lights Over Garth Mountain, which I recently reviewed for Buzz, is one for fans of The August List.

9. 'Delco' - Uniform

Anyone who's heard Uniform's latest LP Shame will have no trouble at all in believing that Michael Berdan's scream has the power to alarm his neighbours.

10. 'Motor Away' - Guided By Voices

"I've always been overwhelmed by the amount of releases there are", admits Cedric Bixler-Zavala in his excellent episode of What's In My Bag?, explaining why he was a latecomer to Guided By Voices. Same here, Cedric. But 'Motor Away' - his favourite track on Alien Lanes - seems as good a place to start as any.