Creeper Lagoon

Creeper Lagoon have been called a great many things over the course of their existence -- "Pavement with samples," "Husker Du on morphine," "the year's prettiest puzzle," and "an affront to the very culture of rock" among them. Certain tags are more accurate than others, but with Creeper, almost anything's possible. Begun in 1991 as a solo project by guitarist Sharky Laguana, this is a band whose staggeringly diverse catalog partially consists of Laguana-penned dirges on par with Seventeen Seconds-era Cure ("Second Chance," "God Will Understand"). Laguana's songs are beautifully complemented by shimmering pop jewels ("Dreaming Again," "My Friends Adore You") written by the group's other chief songwriter, Ian Sefchick. The juxtaposition of Laguana's and Sefchick's writing styles has been driven into the ground by Indie Rock's fourth estate, but it's one of the main elements that continues to make the San Francisco band's releases so intriguing. They're not just intriguing, they're relentlessly listenable -- "Wonderful Love," "Empty Ships," and "Roman Hearts" are the kind of elusive songs you keep coming back to time after time, year after year. And isn't that what the best music is all about?