Hey Mercedes :: Everynight Fire Works
These guys play music that is just so goddamn good you have to crank it and set the player on repeat. Great autumn driving music. •

Superchunk :: No Pocky For Kitty
I wish I had thought of this band name. Superchunk's music has always had a real 'soundtrack' quality. It's the kind of stuff you expect to hear in the background of some cool independent film or while you're shopping for records or cooking dinner or going for a long walk with no particular destination. •

Bad Religion :: Suffer
This is from when these guys seemed so vital and raw. They were like a faster, more powerful Dead Kennedy's for the next generation. They've fizzled out in recent years, but this one is essential. •

Garden Variety :: Knocking The Skill Level
This is one of those really great but totally underrated bands. Searing guitars and raw emo fury, you can't beat it. I wish they had gotten their due. Also great autumn driving music. •

Fugazi :: 13 Songs
To give you an idea of what this one means to me I point you to the very first Motor Skills entry. Waiting Room was the very first song that came to mind the first time I held my daughter. This has been with me from the high school art room, through the frustrations of college, to the birth of my first child to right now and beyond. The staying power of this music is defies definition. The other day my daughter, now almost two, just started singing "Everybody's moving, everybody's moving..." out of the blue. •