A short list of mine:

• American Steel – Dear Friends & Gentle Hearts
• Mos Def – Mos Dub
• Chris Wollard & the Ship Thieves – self-titled
• Jimmy Buffett – A1A
• Cheap Girls – My Roaring 20′s
• Harvey Danger – Little By Little
• Latterman – No Matter Where We Go!

That’s what I can think of off the top of my head. What about you?

Harvey Danger - Little By Little

So several months ago, I had the pleasure of catching a show on Harvey Danger’s farewell tour, (documented here) which I thoroughly enjoyed. On my way out of the venue, I stopped by the merch booth because, well, this would be my last chance, right? I picked up their last studio album, Little By Little, on vinyl because that’s how I roll.

This album is a solid argument that this band should have been way bigger than they were.

A history lesson: HD burst into public consciousness in 1997 (try and remember back that far) with the radio single “Flagpole Sitta,” which everyone remembers as the song with the “Paranoia! Paranoia! Everybody’s coming to get me!” line. In the ten years since that single, the band kept a somewhat low profile, releasing only two full-lengths.

This album finds the band with some notable changes to their sound; things are a bit slowed down, and less angsty all around than the Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone? material sounded. Singer Sean Nelson always gave the sense of being a bit brainier than his alt-rock peers from the mid- to late-’90s, and his lyrics reflect that. They still rock out, such as on the second track “Cream and Bastards Rise,” but they follow it with the pop stomp of “Moral Centralia,” featuring a decidedly ’90s-sounding fuzzy guitar. And then there’s the song that everyone deserves to hear, and that should have been a smash single, “Little Round Mirrors.” Glorious pop balladry, even featuring some tasteful horns.

There’s a lot of piano on this album. The live show found their second guitarist spending more time behind a keyboard than with his axe, which perhaps represented the band’s later day focus on writing great pop-rock rather than sticking resolutely to the alt rock sound. Jumping, as I did, from Merrymakers to this album might take listeners by surprise, as this is hardly the same band as the one that appears on the former album. At some points, they remind me more of Ben Folds Five than the band who recorded “Flagpole Sitta.”

If nostalgia for “Flagpole Sitta” attracts you to this album- I’ll admit, it’s more or less what brought me out to the show that night- hopefully you’ll be able to see past the fact that they don’t make songs like that any more, and enjoy this album for what it is. Because it’s a great record, and it needs to be heard, if posthumously. And since the band offers the record for free download on their website, you’ve got no excuse.

Harvey Danger

OK, so I admit that before I showed up at Harper’s Ferry in Allston for the Boston show on Harvey Danger’s farewell tour, I was really only familiar with their 1997 album Where Have All The Merrymakers Gone? Since that album- and rising to fame with the single “Flagpole Sitta”- the band released two more proper full-lengths, and a couple of EPs. I had heard a handful of songs from these other releases in preparation for the show, as I didn’t want to be that guy who only knew the one single.

The opening bands were alright. The first group, the Organ Beats, played some fun, indie/punk-ish music that got the crowd going. They seemed to have a lot of friends there, but the rest of us were energized by their performance as well. The second band, Magic Magic, was less effective; I felt like I was falling asleep during several parts of their set. Perhaps great for the shoegazing crowd, but I don’t know that they were the best fit for this show.

Around 11, finally, Harvey Danger took the stage, but not before a recorded intro by John Hodgman that proclaimed Harvey Danger to be the greatest man in rock’n'roll. Who can argue with that?

The band had great energy, playing songs from all over their catalog (I know now, having acquired the other two albums), and even played a new song, which might seem strange on a farewell tour. But none of us were complaining. The new song had a “classic” Harvey Danger feel, in that it felt closer to the Merrymakers-era material than the Little By Little end of their career.

They played a two hour set, including just about everything the crowd asked for- with the glaring exception of “Wooly Muffler,” which riled many. Apparently they hadn’t practiced it, and so weren’t prepared to play it. Bummer. But they did the one-two punch of ’90s alt rock when they followed “Private Helicopter” with “Flagpole Sitta,” which lead singer Sean Nelson described as the song that “has to be played. And why not?” This, I felt, was the least energetic part of the show; not on the part of the crowd, who were stoked beyond belief, but the band. Perhaps over 10 years after writing the song, it’s hard to summon the same bite that the song requires. Or maybe they’ve just matured into a different band. I wouldn’t blame them for being utterly sick of the song, either. But at any rate, the performance of “Flagpole Sitta” I saw ‘rocked out’ less than the original album version. The song was still great, but it wasn’t the crazy highlight that I had hoped for.

“Radio Silence,” however, was pretty much the best closer one could ask for. Not that it actually closed the set; the encore being a given, particularly at a show like this.

The sell-out crowd was great; as Nelson observed, this was clearly a group of people who really liked the band, as they hadn’t had a notable single in years, so there was no real hype aside from “this is the last chance you get.” The band clearly appreciated the devotion of the assembled fans, singing along to every word and cheering appreciatively after each song.

All in all, the show was great, and a great send off to a severely underappreciated band. There are a few shows left on the tour, in Chicago, LA, and Seattle. I highly recommend checking them out if you get the chance. Also, you can download their latest album, Little By Little, on their website.