You Buried Me…I Buried You

In the fall of 1994, I was sitting in a friend's car. Another friend of ours had just given us a cassette tape with the brand new album by the Seattle hardcore band Undertow. The album At Both Ends was something that a number of us were chomping at the bit to get our hands on. I remember driving to and from Chicago Diner that afternoon listening to it over and over again. In unison, everyone I knew was hailing it with every adulation imaginable. I bought my own copy as soon as I could find it and it remained in my cassette headphones for probably a solid year or more.

Today, I broke out At Both Ends for the first time in quite a while. As I am sure happens with many people, it was a spontaneous desire to revisit something that once meant the world to me. As I put the CD in my car stereo, I was fully expecting to be blown away once more. Instead, I noticed about 5 songs in that while I definitely still liked the recording, it had somewhat fallen off of my radar. I'm not sure of the reason though.

Other recordings from that time in my life still give me the feeling I had back then. Endpoint's In A Time Of Hate still propels me back to being 15 years old, skateboarding every night after school. I still refer to Turning Point's It's Always Darkest Before The Dawn as one of my biggest influences. Every time I listen to Battery's Until The End, I remember traveling to Middlesex and then Philly just to see them.

Then again, it could just be a matter of shaking off the rust. At Both Ends is an album I have neglected for longer than I care to admit. Whenever the name Undertow has been mentioned to me over the years, I never hesitate to acknowledge how amazing that they were the one time I actually got the chance to see them live in Madison, WI. I guess that is sort of the beauty and the curse of music. As time goes on and more music is acquired and enjoyed, other former favorites take on the role of relics.

Playlist 10/2/09

Cable - The Failed Convict

Bloodlet - all

Intronaut - Void

Neurosis - Sovereign