Punk Rock Monday

I first saw Walt Mink open for Cracker on Election Night, 1992 (a night remarkable also for the fact that it's the only time I had a "political" drunken hook-up), and I saw them again the following summer at the Flamingo Bar & Grill in Knoxville with my high school bud Eoin, who'd come to know them while attending college in Minnesota. We joked about them being Smashing Pumpkins on prozac, but the fact of the matter is that we thought they shredded, and we had big crushes on their bass player, Candice Belanoff.

As it stands, Walt Mink is strong contender in the running for the Best Band to Almost Make It (unless you count their drummer, who left the band in the mid-90s for a full-time gig with Beck, and eventually ended up with R.E.M. as well). Indeed, most of you probably have heard of Walt Mink without even realizing it. Case in point, I seem to recall this tune being used to advertise TDK cassettes ("the tape music sticks to better") in the early 90s - "Miss Happiness":

And how Almost There do you have to be to have a video directed by Sofia Coppola and edited by Spike Jonze? "Shine":

Miss Happiness is definitely a must for any good '90s indie collection, and Bareback Ride is a great listen as well. Enjoy!