OK, they are really just from Sara but if I just put Sara up there then you’d be at a loss for who’s recommending these great albums!

I’m not sure if this is ok…but…what i am most struck by when I’m speaking to our fans is how many of them don’t know some of the bands and albums that were super influential on me when I was a teenager!

So instead of picking obscure bands, I thought I might just recommend five albums that people might not know about that are still as important and influential today (on me) as they were then!

1. Violent Femmes- Violent Femmes
This album came out when i was three years old. I discovered it in 1995. It sounded as contemporary and raw as anything i was listening to at that point in my life. I had never heard punk music performed this way. No electric guitars, no crazy drums or feedback. controlled power in the vocals, so much restraint. I wore a hole in my bedroom carpet charging around in a circle singing along to “ADD IT UP”.

2. Hayden- Everything I Long For
Similar to the experience I had with the violent femmes, this album had all the emotion and violence of the punk and rock music i was listening to in a single fist. quiet and tough and personal.

3. Bruce Springsteen- Nebraska
I loved this album in jr. high. I could sing the entire album acapella. the melodies and the haunting harmonies made me feel queasy. i didnt understand what made this record different from other bruce sprinsteen albums at the time. I now credit this recording with my obsession for/over demos. the music is sad and hypnotic. it still sounds so original and spooky.

4. Cyndi Lauper- She’s So Unusual
We did a half a dozen shows with Cyndi Lauper last year and i was SHOCKED that some of our fans didn’t know her or this album. It is still one of the most original, spastic, killer pop albums EVER. the live video of ms. lauper performing “MONEY CHANGES EVERYTHING” makes the hair on my arms stand up. Still one of my top five favorite albums EVER. I wish people would compare us to cyndi lauper…I borrow from her shamelessly.

5. The Replacements- Let It Be
I discovered this album well after I had discovered “indie rock”. The guitar tones, the melodies, the torch and intensity were helpful in helping me connect my desire to be emotive but also reserved in my own songwriting. unsatisfied is still a slow burning scorcher.