I recently made a playlist (the modern-day equivalent of a mixtape) for my younger daughter, carefully selecting a series of songs I hoped would appeal to her particular sensibilities. I’m happy to report that she loves it.
One song on the playlist is ‘Ramona’ from Guster’s 2003 album Keep It Together, their fourth studio release. I settled on that one after listening to almost the whole album, knowing any one of its tracks would make a fine selection.
Here’s a track from 1999’s Lost and Gone Forever, the third studio album by Boston-based indie rock band Guster.
This album was my introduction to Guster and I put it up there with follow-up Keep It Together as the best thing they’ve done.
On this album, the band was still sticking to its “no sticks” percussion philosophy, with drummer Brian Rosenworcel playing bongos and other instruments by hand.
Keep It Together is the fourth studio album by Boston-based alternative band Guster, and my #7 album of 2003.
After three records on which the band stuck to its signature sound of two acoustic guitars and a set of bongo drums, this album saw the trio introduce traditional drums and bass to the mix. While the move was met with skepticism by some fans, it resulted in their best album.
This track from Guster’s 2006 album Ganging Up on the Sun is apparently about the G.W. Bush administration’s propaganda surrounding the war with Iraq.
That was a bad period in American politics, to be sure, but it’s hard to look back at any of the national crises pre-Trump and not think we were all completely oblivious to what a true Oval Office threat to American democracy would look like.
Every time I hear a Guster song, I like it. I own their five most recent studio albums (two earlier releases are out of print) and each of them is chock full of thoughtful, melodic pop.
Even the best acts release a bad song once in awhile, but these guys are remarkably consistent. They remind me of Ron Sexsmith in that way. You can always count on him (and them) to deliver, even if no particular song stands out head and shoulders above the rest. Solid, dependable. Like a well-made car.
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