The Playlist: July 13, 2012

"The narcotically hot Viveca Hawkins is a bad, bad, bad girl, and her druggy, ragged rapping and spoken word are the unapologetic raised fist for weedhead/street culture in this heavy, remarkable hard-rock trip."

Every week, we are highlighting the rad, the bad and the straight-up sad in music. This week: Dinosaur Jr. makes a comeback, Viveca Hawkins is a bad, bad girl and not another ode to L.A. Check out last week's pop music roundup here.

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"Watch the Corners" by Dinosaur Jr.

He was the (only) alt-rock guitar hero for a generation, but J Mascis’ band never fully lived up to its creative or commercial potential in their first go-round. Given their genuine weirdness, it’s perfectly logical for the trio to have mounted one of the more legitimate reunions in rock. After 2009’s terrific Farm, the Dinos lower this lurching rocker, with Mascis’ affectingly weary groan and still-piercing guitar tone packed into a tighter-than-expected song jacket. If the solo is too brief, the rideout is cochlea-searing. May they play it loud live.

"Holy Touch" by Foxy Shazam



It’s Friday the 13th! Pass the snakes, mom, and let’s pray for deliverance as moustachioed Eric Sean Nally turns his Cincy vaudeville band’s louche glam into Queenly gospel-rock. If you’ve seen them live, you know Foxy Shazam embraces all the ass-spanking kitsch and jive of big balls-out operatic rock, shot through with a dirty urban soul -- especially in Nally’s voice. It compresses their loony Midwest energy into a concise anthem. Cast your sins upon the altar of St. Bombasticus.

“Fluorescent's Unforgiving” by The Memorials



The narcotically hot Viveca Hawkins is a bad, bad, bad girl, and her druggy, ragged rapping and spoken word are the unapologetic raised fist for weedhead/street culture in this heavy and remarkable hard-rock trip. Check the spacey floating bridge and art-jazz trumpet spliced into a relentless, edgy headbanger mess driven by earthshaking former Mars Volta drummer Thomas Pridgen, the youngest-ever recipient of a Zildjian endorsement back when he was 10 (!). Consider your Freak Flag raised.

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“The Love You Love” by The Walkmen

Sean Pecknold’s B&W montage turns a lonely kid in a suit into something very oneiric, a cool sidestep from a very hot summer. Reportedly shot in an actual haunted house in Philadelphia, the video complements the classicist austerity of the band with a series of eerily retro scenes, like missing bits from Burnt Offerings. The sparkler scene may linger with you.

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"The Only Place” by Best Coast



Maybe it’s the twee Cali triumphalism or the feeble irony intended to offset it, but Best Coast’s ode to L.A. reminds us that we don’t really need another one. We know its warm there. And if we’re going to celebrate sunstroke, it might as well be Van Halen with the stripper teachers.

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