Oblivians - Popular Favorites
Not only is Popular Favorites one of my top albums of the ’90’s, it’s pretty damn close to joining that hallowed ground reserved for “desert island discs” and other such nonsense. Yep, I can listen to this one over and over again. Hardly a surprise given the mythic quality taken on by the Oblivians since their demise in the late ’90s. From 1993 to 1997 the Memphis trio of Jack, Greg and Eric “Oblivian” graced us with releases full of sleazy, fuzzy fun. Mixing soul, 60’s garage, post-war blues, gospel and even some kraut rock into their standardrock and roll framework the Oblivians defined the new “garage” sound of the 90’s. It isn’t fair to lump all their releases into one post, so I’ll focus on Popular Favorites. 14 tracks of fuzzed out mayhem, released by Crypt in 1996. It is probably their most immediate and most satisfying moment, though you could hardly go wrong picking up the earlier Soul Food or the incredible gospel punk of 9 Songs w/ Mr. Quintron. My favorite cuts:
tracks to pin your ears back
Oblivians - Christina.mp3
Oblivians - Pinstripe Willie.mp3
a couple designed to get you up and moving
Oblivians - Hey Mama, Look At Sis.mp3
Oblivians - Do The Milkshake.mp3
5 Comments so far
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Surely The Grifters are up there as what Memphis is/was about?
I was lucky enough? to be in the Antenna club about five years ago, or was it longer?? Probably so…
One of my favorite albums of all time. All other bands of their ilk, are pretenders to the not so prestgious throne.
Killer post. Love them
Great record. “Bad Man” is so good that you would almost think it was a cover.
I ‘ve got some Reigning Sound here:
http://employeeofthemonth.blogspot.com/2005/04/reigning-sound.html
[…] Every review I’ve come across compares Sweden’s The Blacks to The Oblivions, and after you take a listen I’m sure you’ll see the similarities. Not that this is a bad thing - The Blacks spew out some mighty fine Memphis-via-Stockholm 2 guitars-and-a-kit trash, all dirty and gritty. A total of 4 7″ records released from 1997 through 1999 ( 2 more posthumous 7″ ep’s were released in 2003) on labels including Big Neck and Savage (guitarist Martin Savage’s own label). Below are a handful from those first 4 records: […]