Salt

1982年アメリカのボストンにて結成されたオブスキュア・USインディ/ジャングリー・ポップバンドSALEM 66、メンバー選曲によるベスト・アルバム！

Though they were part of the same scene that gave rise to some of the most important alternative groups of their time, Boston band Salem 66 flew largely under the radar while some of their peers went on to lasting, worldwide fame. Led by songwriters Judy Grunwald and Elisabeth Kaplan, the band burned through the ‘80s, playing gigs with Flipper, the Butthole Surfers, and Dinosaur Jr. (in a version so early they were still just Dinosaur), and releasing multiple albums on Homestead, the same indie label that served as an early home to Sonic Youth and Daniel Johnston. Salem 66 disbanded in 1989, shortly before the release of their final album, and they left behind a small but bountiful catalog of minimal, jangly rock. Decades after the band faded into the ether, the compilation album Salt collects songs from their discography and serves as a curated look at their evolution. Moving in a loosely chronological order, songs like the 1984 single “Across the Sea,” or “Carry a Torch” from their 1985 full-length debut A Ripping Spin, have hints of both Athens, Georgia’s underground of the time and New York’s grimy punk scene of a few years earlier. In this phase, Salem 66 delivered fun and friendly guitar lines similar to the B-52s or moody R.E.M.-like songwriting atmospheres as often as they leaned into the super-charged melodic angst of Television or Patti Smith. “Playground” is an early example of all of these elements converging, with melancholy harmonies and pensive chords struggling to keep up with the song’s ripping tempo. By the time of their 1988 album, Natural Disasters, National Treasures, Salem 66’s sound had sharpened somewhat. The feminist undertones and ferocious guitar attack of that album’s narrative song “Isabella” are clear precursors for the grunge wave that followed soon after. While Salem 66 aren’t regularly namechecked as a widely influential band, songs like “Secret” were clearly in conversation with peers of their time like Throwing Muses, and it’s hard not to hear the seeds for future angular rock from acts like Hole, Liz Phair, or even Garbage in the band’s last outing, Down the Primrose Path. Salt boils Salem 66’s entire near-decade run into a succinct, album-length listen. It’s a perfect introduction to an under-championed band, one whose invisible influence is having a ripple effect decades later. Each new independent artist making their way with snarling guitars and conflicted emotions might not have listened to Salem 66, but the overview provided by Salt makes it clear that someone they were directly influenced by did. ~ Fred Thomas