Back in the 80s and 90s there was this rambling collective called the Golden Palominos. Anton Fier led it, John Zorn and Bill Laswell were frequent contributors, and Fier also took in members of different "hot" scenes (Minneapolis, Athens, etc.) and created some of the greatest "indie rock" of all time. Not many people noticed.

The Salt Collective A Brief History of Blindness (Propeller Sound Recordings)

SALT began as a French-American band featuring Stephane Shuck, Ken Stringfellow and Anton Barbeau. After one album and some ferment, the renamed Salt Collective recorded an album in 2023. Some former Golden Palominos collaborators stopped by (Matthew Sweet among them), and the sound was, um, sweet.

Other mainstays of the new collective include Mitch Easter, Chris Stamey, Lynn Blakey, Peter Holsapple, Aimee Mann and Matthew Caws. The resulting songs sound kinda like you might expect (Mitch Easter giving that tight dBs sound a serious kick in the ass). Another way to put it would be "utterly fabulous".

If your wheelhouse is the off-kilter power pop of the 80s and 90s, this is a time machine--both back and forward. Turns out that timeless music is really timeless. In fact, it exists within its own sphere altogether. A true wonder.

Jon Worley