Big Trucks - Pedro the Lion

Big Trucks - Pedro the Lion

2:34

It's Hard To Find a Friend, 1998

Written by David Bazan

This is a conversation song between a son and a father.  The boy, perhaps an impulsive teenager, asks his father why he took some unspecified insult calmly rather than getting physical, suggesting the father should have "beat him down to the ground."  Rather than lecture, the father, like Jesus, uses a simple metaphor to try to explain to the callous youth that other people have feelings and are trying their best as they can in this crazy old world: "There's real people in the big, big trucks / That you flip off when they get in your way."  They may not be able to go as fast as a Tran Am, but they're doing their best.  As in the parable of the sower, the father's words fall on the stony ground of his impetuous boy's ears.  Musically, it's lo-fi folk-rock, reminiscent of Yo La Tengo or Crooked Fingers.

Weightless Again - The Handsome Family

Weightless Again - The Handsome Family

3:37

Through the Trees, 1998

Written by Brett Sparks and Rennie Sparks

This song, like the rest of its album, was written after Brett Sparks was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and hospitalized.  The song's lyrics reflect this grim and probably frightening time.  Disjointed images of an Indian tribe who must carry burning sticks, having forgotten how to start a fire, dying of TB after contact with the white man, are interspersed with memories of a first kiss, sitting in a motel room reading, and suicide by overdose and leaps from the Golden Gate Bridge.  These eerie lines land like punches to the brain, powerful despite being delivered in an offhand, almost lazy baritone.

Do the Pup - Steve Lucky & the Rhumba Bums

Do the Pup - Steve Lucky & the Rhumba Bums

4:10

Come Out Swingin', 1998

Written by Steve Lucky?

Another in the gaggle of neo-swing bands that proliferated in the late 90s, Lucky and company deliver the authentic goods, but with a wink and a smooth-voiced croon.  They're like a cross between Cab Calloway and Seth MacFarlane.  It opens with a cool sax and then Lucky's rich vocal begins, talking about a new dance called the Pup.  Whoever's tickling the ivories here is shouldering a lot of the weight, but the whole band keeps the uptempo, jumping blues party vibe.  

What Lack Of Love Has Done - Nick Lowe

What Lack Of Love Has Done - Nick Lowe

2:50

Dig My Mood, 1998

Written by Nick Lowe

The narrator of this song has an occupation, a vocation, maybe an obsession.  He goes around the world, goes up on stage, and tells people about his bad love affair.  "And though I do it nightly / It never is the same / For it's a never ending story / Of jealousy and blame."  This is a man whose past haunts him, weighs heavy on him.  The title is a deliberate misnomer.  It isn't lack of love that's done this to him, it's perfidy.  But doesn't all betrayal stem from lack of love?  The song has a cool, relaxed vibe with understated vocals that belie the hurt in the words.

Black And White World - Suicide Machines

Black And White World - Suicide Machines

1:52

Battle Hymns, 1998

Written by the Suicide Machines

Unfortunately, this is not the punk cover of the Elvis Costello song that we all want and need, but an original.  It's more fast-paced hardcore musically and snarling vocally than their typical ska-punk sound, but the new approach fits the theme of this song.  The lyrics are a good-intentioned, if somewhat ham-fisted, declaration against racism.  "Some persecute their brothers because of the color of their skin, oh yeah / Well that's wrong." Seems pretty on the nose, but the people who need to hear it aren't known for subtlety, anyway.

Chimurenga del Guadiana - Perrofláuta

Chimurenga del Guadiana - Perroflauta
3:53

Perrofláuta, 1998

Written by Perroflauta

I have no context for this song. The band seems to be Basque or Spanish, with a name that translates literally to "dog flute" but apparently is a slang word meaning a vocal extreme leftist, what we might call a "social justice warrior."  As for the title, "Chimurenga" is a Shona word meaning “struggle,” most famously associated with anti-colonial resistance in Zimbabwe, while the Guadiana is a river marking the border between Spain and Portugal. The song itself is vocal-heavy, built around repeated "ley ley ley" chants, call-and-response singing, and long, bent notes that clearly draw on African musical traditions. The rhythm leans hard into African beats rather than Iberian folk, creating a deliberately hybrid sound. The final thirty seconds shift abruptly into a militaristic, chant-like rap delivered in what sounds like a Romance language I can't identify.  I may not fully grasp what Perroflauta are trying to synthesize politically or culturally here, but musically it works. The collision of styles feels earnest rather than gimmicky, driven by energy, rhythm, and communal voice.

Thank You - Dido

Thank You - Dido

3:37

Sliding Doors soundtrack, 1998

Written by Dido Armstrong and Paul Herman

A soft ballad over a steady percussion, some probably programmed.  In this song, the narrator is depressed over, possibly an absent love, but also just the trails of living ("I drank too much last night, got bills to pay / My head just feels in pain / I missed the bus and there'll be hell today").  But then she sees the picture of her inamorata, or gets a phone call, and "it's not so bad."  It's a tender sentiment, delivered with an etheral voice.