St. Johnny - High as a Kite (1993, Caroline)

I haven't talked about St. Johnny on these pages, at least not much. These Connecticut by way of NYC noiseniks were worthy of significantly greater attention, both in the blogosphere and generally speaking.  1993's High as a Kite (perhaps these lads were self-referential to their own mental state?) functioned like a bona fide debut album but it actually compiled from a trifecta of early singles and previously unreleased clatter.  And what a glorious din St. Johnny concocted, not unlike equally squalling but tuneful contemporaries Monsterland, Sometime Sweet Susan, and pretty much every other mid-90s headache wallowing in that post-You're Living All Over Me sort of hangover. They were adept enough to insert just enough poignant melody amidst feedback-addled screeds "Stupid" and "Go to Sleep" to get me stoked for their nearly as impressive 1994 premiere LP, Speed is Dreaming, coming down the pike c/o Geffen Records, of all labels.  Some comparatively sensitive, slacker-esque feels were the icing of St. J's dissonant, bittersweet cake.  Again, we should have made them a bigger priority than the vast majority of us did. 

01. Go to Sleep

02. God in My Head

03. Highway

04. Velocity

05. My Father's Father

06. Matador

07. Black

08. Stupid

09. High as a Kite

10. Ashes+Slashes

11. Unclean

Hear