Those Bastard Souls

If the Grifters are one of those long forgotten '90s indie bands than Those Bastard Souls would barely register as a blip on most people's musical radars. They were originally a side-project for Grifter Dave Shouse, which became a full-blown band when they were asked to tour with Sebadoh. While they shared much of the same bluesy rock of Shouse's main band, they tended to travel through more spacey areas as well. Twentieth Century Chemical, the band's first album from 1996, has aged rather well and doesn't sound dated. If anything, it shows that they might have been more influential than their name implies. The Queens of the Stone Age must have listened to "The Train From Terminal Boredom" more than a few times, and "Subterranean Death Ride Blues Pt. 2," with its piano-driven stomp, is still a great song. This reissue adds one rare compilation track, plus six unreleased songs that come from a few years later and sound a little out of place. Despite that, they aren't just throwaways and suggest that the band could have quite happily stuck around for a third album if it wasn't for Shouse's poor health.