At Muzzle of Bees, Ryan is talking about R.E.M.'s New Adventures in Hi-Fi, and it's got me thinking about the sudden and precipitous crash of "alternative rock" wave in 1996. It's one of many releases from that year to portend doom and disappearance for major bands of the era and the sounds they represented. Hi-Fi was the last R.E.M. record with Bill Berry, and by 1998 they'd moved onto the lusher, more mature, extra-boring sound of their current style. Weezer released Pinkerton, the critical reaction to which put Rivers Cuomo off being in a band for years. Soundgarden put out their most accessible pop record, and promptly broke up. Alice in Chains and Nirvana put out their (so far) last non-compilation releases, both live records. Presidents of the United States of America released a too-polished follow-up to their quirky debut and found themselves thinking being a full-time band was no longer worth it. Pearl Jam and Stone Temple Pilots both, for the first time, released records that got ignored. I absolutely didn't see it at the time, but the upheaval that went on in my musical world that year was astonishing.

Also, I'd like to note that OK Go's cover of "Gigantic" on the latest Pixies tribute album is oddly fascinating. It's not "good," per se, but there is a quality to it. Maybe I just can't not love that song. Please, come back to us, Kim Deal.