SOUND BITES

Usually, as spring gives way to summer album releases dry up. In 2015, however, it didn't really feel like the case. Sure, there were less albums released than in the spring but pretty much every week in June and July saw something worthwhile hit the shelves. Plus, there are a couple from July 10th, which is the date all new releases shifted from Tuesdays to Fridays. This batch of nominees also represents a nice cross section of new and emerging bands, established acts and long dormant bands breaking long silences. Our third set of Song of the Year Nominees are:

The way things ended with the original lineup of Veruca Salt didn't leave much hope that Ghost Notes could ever exist. As private matters between dual frontwomen Nina Gordon and Louise Post manifested in a public dissolution of the band as we knew it, an ugliness to the split spoke of the sort of betrayal that puts permanent ends to relationships. This was reflected on the third Veruca Salt record Resolver , which found Post the last remaining original member, left alone to deal with her heartbreak and rage. By the time a fourth record was released in 2006 (featuring Post with another mostly new lineup), the band's heyday was a distant memory. It's not like Nina Gordon's solo career gained much traction either; aside from the minor hit Tonight and the Rest of My Life and a little Internet fame for her acoustic cover of N.W.A.'s Straight Outta Compton , nothing else really registered for the public the way those first two Veruca Salt records did. It was made cle...

If you took a room full of people aside one by one and asked them to name the first female-fronted rock band of the '90s they could think of, I suspect the vast majority would mention Hole. That's not right or wrong; but the point is that Veruca Salt, despite achieving a good deal of success worldwide and putting out two really good records before things went sideways for them, has been doomed to obscurity in the minds of many. It's understandable, of course; they never dabbled in controversy, went public with any details about their original break-up, or clamored desperately for attention once their fifteen minutes were up. It's not great if the goal was to stay in the public eye, but there was a staggering benefit to going about their business quietly; it ensures what we're left with to reflect on is the music, like it should always be. Stripped of any extracurricular activities or external circumstances, American Thighs is simply the excellen...