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Here’s 5 albums and bands that I have in my collection that I talk about a lot, but most folks have never heard of.  There are Amazon affiliate links with each one to listen and buy if you wish.  By my count, 4 out of the 5 bands listed are long broken up, but regardless, they made some great albums.

#5: “Caution” by Hot Water Music.

I discovered HWM after they had fizzed out.  Hailing from Florida and releasing albums sporadically since the mid-90s, I always describe them as “swamp-water punk,” and I think it’s really fitting – throaty, thick music with a nice southern thwomp.  Their later albums are the better ones, and this is my favorite release from them.

#4: “Year of the Rat” by NY Loose

NY Loose came and went with one release in 1996.  I offer this as a mid-nineties predecessor (and truthfully, a better alternative) to Paramore.  New York City grimy rock with a female vocal.  Plus, they cover Velvet Underground!

#3: “Hoarse” by 16 Horsepower

I know like 4 people who’ve ever heard of 16HP.  16HP released 8 albums from the late nineties until they broke up and made little more than a ripple in the alt-country scene.  They’re from Denver, and I tell people to imagine if the Cure made a country album, but I think that doesn’t give enough credit to 16HP.  They’re dark, dreary, hard, and spiritual in all their recordings and as their releases went on, they got darker.  This one is a live album with most of their best songs, so it’s a good start.

#2: “Smack Smash” by Beatsteaks

Beatsteaks are a German band who’ve been around since the mid-nineties, but unlike most on this list are actually still together.  This album is one of their most recent and is unbelievable.  It’s a punk album with incredibly catchy songs but none of the pop-punk goofiness.  The vocals are beefy and cool, the music is tight and refined.  As far as I can tell, there were initially no US releases of their stuff, though through the miracle of the internet, you can get them on Amazon and iTunes now.  I got this album in 2004 from a German friend and it’s one of my favorite albums ever.

#1: D-Generation’s self-titled album

This album is so cool, you can’t even find it anywhere.  If you do, buy it!  With Jesse Malin on vocals (who has some great solo albums as well), D Generation single-handedly introduced the US to glam again in the 1990s.  The link above is for their second release, No Lunch, which features a few of the songs here, but this one is a gem – think Appetite for Destruction.  Rumor has it, DGen was so frustrated with their original record company Chrysalis, they took the masters of this album and threw them in the East River.  Don’t bother with their third album, Through the Darkness, my friend Jason is the only person I’ve ever met who likes it.