Galaxie 500

Though the partnership between Harvard students Dean Wareham, Damon Krukowski and Naomi Yang was a brief one, Galaxie 500's sonic handprints can be found on almost every post-punk/space rock/shoegaze act that followed them. Listeners who found 1996's four-disc eponymous box set a little too daunting have another option in Rykodisc's Portable Galaxie 500, a 13-track dream pop novel that dutifully displays the group's minimalist, lo-fi grandeur through standout cuts like "Fourth of July," "Tugboat," and "Blue Thunder." It's no On Fire or Today, but if sifting through these pre-slowcore nuggets sends people in the direction of those two landmark records, then it can only be a good thing. ~ James Christopher Monger, All Music Guide