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1999 – Angry Salad – self titled


Boston boys Angry Salad had a few albums and received some national recognition. Their major label debut was also their last album together, but the self titled Angry Salad is one of my most favorite albums of all time. I, like many, was introduced to the band through The Milkshake Song, featuring the lyrics “she gave me / a milkshake and a kiss… / I don’t need / a whole lot more than this.” Angry Salad features a not-very-edgy 1990’s alternative rock kind of sound (remember bands like Tonic and The Flys?), and the album even features a cover of the famous song 99 Red Balloons.

The song was simple, sweet, and catchy. I heard it on local radio stations growing up, the band came to town (Erie, PA) a few times and I regret never making the time to see them now that I look back. But when I got a little older and found the album, I was thrilled to own it. I bought the CD on eBay when when I was older and still have it to this day. There are several more songs that will cut right to your core and it is clear that whichever band member wrote the lyrics was recalling specific moments and images from his life. The lyrics contain detailed images, and even references to those images… “in dreams I see his face / I recognize the place right next to / Dashboard Jesus” says the refrain in the song Rico.

Saturday Girl is another melancholy song which clearly deals with the pain and suffering of depression, from the point of someone who has either been hospitalized or institutionalized fighting the disease. Expecting her parents to come free her, but instead it seems they only visit on Saturdays. One verse has been so beautifully described it his played over and over in my mind for over a decade, now: “the ceiling reflects / headlights coming over the hill / she’s lying on her back / and she’s perfectly still / she knew they’d come back for her / but they fade out of sight.”

You’re not going to find this one easily, and it’s not being produced any more, so I would have to advise picking up a used copy and introducing yourself to Angry Salad.

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