The Dallas Observer's music section has compiled a list of their favorite local releases from the past decade, with several of ExplodingInSound's included. Highlights are...
*Baboon, Baboon (2006): After a four-year wait and a building fear that there was no more to come, Baboon self-released an album so aggressively listenable you could easily play it through several times before considering skipping a song. And yet Baboon's eponymous victory wasn't and isn't safe: Punk and experimental tendencies combine here with ferocious vocals and pop melodies, and, in turn, the band produced something not only edgy but notoriously fun. Now with another four years gone and members in other projects [*including The Boom Boom Box], Baboon might've been a swan song. We truly hope not—but if it was, it's one helluva way to go. —Merritt Martin
*The Paper Chase, Someday This Could All Be Yours, Vol. 1 (2009): At the risk of losing what local music scene cred I ever had, I'll admit that John Congleton's cartoonishly dramatic singing kept me from fully embracing this band for years—even if there was always something about his band's jittery instrumentation, ominous feel and gallows humor that appealed to me. This is the first Paper Chase album that grabbed me immediately, and it's largely because of the subject matter: 10 songs document natural calamities of various forms — God's hand smiting without mercy or cause—and there's something brilliant about the subsequent comic helplessness intermingling with the uplifting relief that comes with knowing there's absolutely nothing you can do to save yourself. —J.H.
*The Polyphonic Spree, The Beginning Stages of... (2002): The argument, at least 'round the office, goes something like this: Yes, the Spree's debut was a pleasant surprise and sunny rebirth following Tripping Daisy guitarist Wes Berggren's overdose in 1999, but it doesn't capture the shout-out-loud spirit of the live show. Whatever. It's almost defiant in its optimism, and its joy is infectious. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band sitting in with a high-school glee club? What's not to love? As beautiful ("Days Like This Keep Me Warm") as it is buoyant ("Light & Day/Reach for the Sun" was put to magical use in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), it's epic-ness is outdone only by its intimacy. —R.W.
*Toadies, Hell Below/Stars Above (2001): This wasn't Toadies' original follow-up to 1994's Rubberneck; there's an unreleased second album still floating around out there, which the band occasionally threatens to unleash, fingers crossed. But Hell Below was worth the wait. It never became the smash Rubberneck was (finally). Hard to say why—the songs were every bit as brash and catchy (openers "Plane Crash," "Push the Hand" and "Little Sin" make a most unholy trinity of car-radio classics courtesy of the addition of Clark Vogeler on guitar), and the title track was a two-part roller-coaster ride that clocked in at less than 4:30 and had you winded halfway through. Song of the decade? No doubt. —R.W.
*Honorable Mention: True Widow, True Widow
Check out the entire article HERE.
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