Lollipop Magazine

The Pixies – Death to the Pixies – Review

April 1, 1998

Hearing the wall-eyed melangé of surf riffs, pop sniffles, end-of-the-world shrieks, and the cracked harmonies of Black Francis and Kim Deal is always a treat.

The Lynnfield Pioneers – Emerge – Review

April 1, 1998

They infuse the standard flat-footed indie-rock beat with an ineffable sense of motion that rides a pale groove without grafting on an ill-fitting negri ‘tude.

The London Suede – Sci-Fi Lullabies – Review

April 1, 1998

These are the extra tracks Suede included on their European singles from 1992-97, all of which are every bit the equal of those found on the albums proper.

The Jesus Lizard – Review

April 1, 1998

It’s as if, in their quest for integrity, they forgot what reptile they’re supposed to be – suddenly, they’ve morphed from Lizard to Tortoise.

The Jesus Lizard – Blue – Review

April 1, 1998

For years, the ultimate in alternate sources of power, only to suffer slings and arrows unimaginable when they signed onto the label the Knack recorded for.

The High Llamas – Cold and Bouncy – Review

April 1, 1998

Somehow, banjos and bleep-bleeping psyilocybernetics don’t seem as incongruous in tandem as they might on paper. A fine aperitif all around.

The Elevator Drops – People Mover – Review

April 1, 1998

You come out of People Mover like you do from a dream: disoriented, a little frightened, and unable to explain it to anyone else.

Swervedriver – 99th Dream- Review

April 1, 1998

Big, cracked-crystal pop songs with as many noises crammed in as a Sonic Youth or a Hendrix record, but with a steady eye on the perfection of the landscape.

Soundgarden – A-Sides – Review

April 1, 1998

Here’s an indie band that hitched a ride on the corporate juggernaut and actually got much better.

Sonic Youth – SYR3 – Review

April 1, 1998

A sustained burst of tonal improv, with the ubiquitous Jim O’Rourke on hand, which pulsate with ionic radio wave-bursts, trumpet bleats and near-ambient drifts.

Nine Inch Nails : Closure – Review

March 1, 1998

The relentless barrage of bleak symbolism and stylized squalor can get a tad wearying in a single sitting, but you’re unlikely to find better all in one place.

Filler! – #7 – Review

March 1, 1998

A nifty, compact little organ that traverses some of the better waves of the underground sea without the snippy pretension and uppity attitude.

The Essential Pebbles Collection – Review

March 1, 1998

The Essential Pebbles Collection – Volume One, a bargain-priced two-disc collection skimming the most exquisitely curdled cream of the circa-’66 crop.

The Saints – (I’m) Stranded – Review

March 1, 1998

At the vanguard of the new punk explosion, even though the album that followed, named for the single, mined a fairly-pure vein of derived sound.

The Saints – Howling – Review

March 1, 1998

Only Bailey remains from the original lineup and the modernized sound is a far cry from the enlightened primitivism of the Ed Kuepper days.

The Saints – Eternally Yours – Review

March 1, 1998

Both punkier in its cynicism (“Know Your Product,” “This Perfect Day”) and slicker in its approach, using full horn sections and more ambitious arrangements.

Iggy and the Stooges – California Bleeding – Review

March 1, 1998

Newly-unearthed live takes from the declining days of Stoogedelia are lovingly packaged, and Iggy’s ferocious, untamed stage presence bleeds through.

Stereolab – Dots and Loops – Interview

March 1, 1998

An interview with Laetitia Sadier

Pink Floyd – Through the Eyes of… The Band, Its Fans, Friends and Foes – Review

March 1, 1998

Samples of some most entertaining rock writing that, at best, inserts those same elements the band carefully filtered out of the actual albums.

Tobin Sprout – Moonflower Plastic (Welcome to My Wigwam) – Review

March 1, 1998

This album may finally help Tobin Sprout duck those George Harrison comparisons he’s been tarred with these last few years.

The Posies – Success – Review

March 1, 1998

They have crawled back to their childhood home (their original label) to gasp out a final course of high-quality pop songs, and then expire.

Congo Norvell – Abnormals Anonymous – Interview

March 1, 1998

An interview with Kid Congo Powers and Sally Norvell

The Vibrators – We Vibrate – Review

December 1, 1997

“Baby Baby” and “London Girls,” from this pseudo-greatest hits collection, are straightforward, unabashed love songs, more Dave Clark Five than Buzzcocks.

Television Personalities – They Could Have Been Bigger Than The Beatles – Review

December 1, 1997

A reissue of a nostalgia act, which makes it double-retro, alongside Weezer’s “Buddy Holly” video and the impending big-screen re-release of Grease.

Pastels – Up For a Bit with… – Review

December 1, 1997

One of the most beloved indie bands of our era, their early singles created the template that other bands and entire labels (like K) would take for their own.