The Magnolias “For Rent” 1988. Twin/Tone Records. Midwest punky power pop. For Rent is the Minneapolis band’s second release. High energy with buzzed-out guitars and scratchy yet enthusiastic vocals, For Rent is super-catchy; more so in my opinion than their Minneapolis contemporaries Soul Asylum and The Replacements (sorry!). There’s a high probability that The Magnolias played some show or other that I went back in the 80’s in the Fox Valley area; I do know they played with Dead Kennedys in ’85 (a show I was not at) at The Riverside Ballroom in Green Bay. My top picks on For Rent include the rockers “Glory Hop,” “Down & Out” (excellent shredding solo on this one), the snotty “Halfway Down the Road” and the ass-shaking “Bring it Back.”  The Magnolias do occasionally slow down, like on the jangly “Gangs In My Town” though the twanged jangle sound on the mid-tempo “A Little More” veers a bit too country for my taste.

Clorox Girls “Clorox Girls” 2004. Smartguy Records. Punchy, poppy punk; their debut LP. These guys would have been perfect on Dirtnap Records (they didn’t put anything out on that label but were from the Portland area so for sure were in the nexus of that scene): they have a fun, loud, snappy early aught punk/power pop sound and the tracks are super short, like two minutes or less each. According to their Allmusic bio, “guitarist and singer Justin Maurer met drummer Clay Silva while both were both living in a punk rock squat mostly populated by doom-struck crust punks. Tired of the gloomy and abrasive music they were hearing day and night, Justin and Clay decided to form a band that paid homage to their love of poppy old-school punk (they took their name from a tune on Redd Kross’ first EP, when they were still known as Red Cross), first-generation rock & roll, and smart ’60s pop from England and France.” Clorox Girls definitely shows that inspiration, but I do think that most of the songs kind of sound alike so it’s hard to pick a favorite or two. I think “Protect You Girl” might make that cut – it’s got a harder, more punk flavor than most of the other songs, particularly when juxtaposed to the track that precedes it, “Stuck in a Hole,” which is very 60’s mod-pop, and the song after, “End of a Fantasy,” which veers just a teeny bit 60’s psych-pop and is one of the few mid-tempo tracks on the LP. I’m not entirely certain what happened to the Clorox Girls – they put a couple more LP’s in the early to mid-2000’s; their Instagram is waaayyy out of date and basically is selling off old Clorox Girls t’s found in Clay’s basement.

And while it’s not one of my favorite songs on Clorox Girls, they do have a funny video for “Don’t Take Your Life” which films a live show  after which there’s a party and a short-lived zombie apocalypse.

Run-D.M.C. “Tougher Than Leather” 1988. Profile Records. If you need a pick-me-up, throw Run-D.M.C.’s fourth LP on and get ready to dance your a** off. Classic 80’s hip hop with a rock edge and a who’s who of samples; it went to #9 in the US and to #13 in the UK. What I did not know: producer Rick Rubin directed the band in the ’88 “crime” film (also titled Tougher Than Leather) in which “Run-D.M.C. must find and punish the evil drug lord-record company executive who murdered their friend. Along the way, they encounter racist bikers, blonde bimbos, and the Beastie Boys.” (Wiki) Apparently it is not good – you can watch it in its entirety here (maybe I will at some point, not now). The record, however, is fantastic. I love it all but if I had to choose, my top pick is “Mary, Mary,” a Monkees cover (not released as a single but rather included as a cereal box prize in 1969) which changes the lyrics – Run DMC’s version samples the original so much that the song’s credits go solely to Michael Nesmith. It’s ridiculously infectious and ass-shaking and went to #75 in the US and #86 in the UK. I also love the album opener “Run’s House” (also the name of Rev. Run’s reality tv show) which samples The Soul Searchers and James Brown, and the funky “Papa Crazy” which samples The Temptations’ “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone.” The title track “Tougher Than Leather” combines serious 70’s funk with heavy metal guitar shredding, as does “Miss Elaine.” The only track I don’t love is the album closer, “Ragtime,” mostly because it is, indeed, ragtime and it’s not a style I’m fond of and rap over ragtime doesn’t improve on it.