Dinosaur Jr.

It's only two songs long, a basic-enough single -- but the A-side is perhaps the band's finest moment, not to mention one of American rock's best. "Freak Scene" was one of many putative forebears for "Smells Like Teen Spirit" three years later, but the link here is closer than most. With a loud, jangly, fuzzy feeling, it's sweetly kicky in its own way, while J Mascis' vocal is amiable slacker "what the hey, why not" personified. When he sings "so f*cked I can't believe it," that about says it all. Shifting between acoustic strum-alongs, massive solos, and whatever else could be fit into the brew, it's killer no matter how you slice it, all with a fun, relaxed feeling as it goes. The B-side, "Keep the Glove," is even more of an amiable amble, Mascis' drawl and the music's semi-country-ish lope and groove skipping along with a smile, even when the guitars completely hit overdrive toward the end. ~ Ned Raggett, Rovi