The 7s, part 4: 1997

Since the beginning of the year, we have been revisiting some of our favorite albums and songs released in previous years ending in 7. So far we’ve listened to the punk sounds of 1977, the UK indie scene of 1987, as represented by the recent Cherry Red compilation C87, and the wonderful guitar noise emanating from the US underground of the same year. 

In the 4th part of this series, we are going twenty years back to 1997, a year that gave us plenty of great albums by the likes of Pavement, Spiritualized, Blur, The Verve, The Dandy Warhols, Cornershop, Wu-Tang Clan, Prodigy, Portishead, Foo Fighters to name just a few of the year’s high profile and critically acclaimed releases.

The seven albums that we have chosen to represent 1997 in this feature, include a few releases that have gained cult status over the years as the prestige of their creators has risen with each subsequent release, along with some more obscure choices which are just as dear to us and we think more people need to discover. In the first category there is Sleater-Kinney, Modest Mouse and Built To Spill, three of the greatest US rock bands to come from the Pacific Northwest really hitting their stride with their 1997 releases, and in the second there is the last ever albums in the brief but excellent discography of '90s cult heroes Helium and The Geraldine Fibbers, plus a couple of outstanding records by Swell and Prolapse, who were also at their very best around that time. Have a listen to the indie sound of 1997: 

Dig Me Out - SLEATER-KINNEY

 

Turn It On

The Lonesome Crowded West - MODEST MOUSE

Heart Cooks Brain

Perfect From Now On - BUILT TO SPILL

I Would Hurt A Fly

The Magic City - HELIUM

Leon's Space Song

Butch - THE GERALDINE FIBBERS

California Tuffy

Too Many Days Without Thinking - SWELL

(I Know) The Trip

The Italian Flag - PROLAPSE

Autocade

Killer Tracks... Now & Then edition: Speedy Ortiz vs. Helium

I don't know why, but it seems that most of the exciting, new music I'm discovering lately shares a strong bond with some of my '90s obsessions. So, after our recent Waxahatchee vs. Liz Phair friendly "showdown", here's another one: Speedy Ortiz vs. Helium!

Northampton, Massachusetts indie rockers Speedy Ortiz have been recently gaining rave reviews for their debut album "Major Arcana", and rightly so. Their sound brings together some of the finer elements of '80s and '90s guitar rock, drawing inspiration from the likes of Pavement, Sebadoh, Liz Phair and, of course, fellow Massachusetts rockers Helium, whose beloved 1995 single "Pat's Trick" was one of the first tunes to pop into my head while listening to Speedy Ortiz's excellent "Tiger Tank", the first single off their album.

You can download a free mp3 of "Tiger Tank" here, while below we have the official videos for the two singles that may have an 18 year gap between them, but they do share the same adventurous, noise-pop spirit:

Speedy Ortiz - Tiger Tank

Helium - Pat's Trick

For a deeper insight into Speedy Ortiz's influences, here's a tribute mixtape they've made to the Massachusetts scene, with songs ranging from 1966 to 2012 from their local heroes that include Folk Implosion, Sebadoh, Swirlies, Come, Blake Babies, Helium and many more (including Bell Biv Devoe!):

1997: Top 50 Singles

What do I remember from 1997? Well, one of the things that come to mind is that exactly 15 years ago today I bought the cd that became my Album of the Year for 1997, Helium's "The Magic City".

1997 was also the year that you couldn't escape from Blur's "Song 2". Normally, a song that gets such ridiculous amount of airplay is bound to get on your nerves eventually. The fact that this never happened with "Song 2" is all the proof that I need to declare it Single of the Year for 1997. Here's the rest of the year's Top 10 Singles - click here for the complete Top 50:

1.   Song 2 - BLUR
2.   The Trip - SWELL
3.   Autumn Sweater - YO LA TENGO
4.   Stereo - PAVEMENT
5.   Electricity - SPIRITUALIZED
6.   Take A Run At The Sun - DINOSAUR JR.
7.   Bitter Sweet Symphony - THE VERVE
8.   Brimful Of Asha - CORNERSHOP
9.   Autocade - PROLAPSE
10. Cowboys - PORTISHEAD

Click play below to listen to our selections for 1997 (and here's a link for the one that's missing):

And here's the video for Helium's awesome "Leon's Space Song" from "The Magic City" which is not included in our 1997 Singles list since it was actually never released as a single:

Helium - Leon's Space Song