"Santa Monica"

Everclear
(Capitol, 1995)

The ghosts Art Alexakis is still living with are a product of struggling to find a place in the pre-alterna-rock '80s, and the disease he's shaking away is the same one that killed Kurt. But Alexakis had been through all that by the time Capitol picked up on Everclear's indie debut, World of Noise, and set the stage for Sparkle and Fade and its most convincing hit, "Santa Monica," a song that bridged the gap between the unsatisfied longing of '80s Paul Westerberg and the degraded teen spirit of '90s Nirvana with romantic visions of oceanside retreats, a sing-along chorus, and a nice big pile of guitars.

-- Matt Ashare