A friend of mine reminded me today that our 10-year high school reunion is this weekend. I decided ages ago that I would not attend on account of the fact that most of my friends were on the missing list and I still talk to the few who weren't listed therein. When she mentioned this, though, I started thinking about Soup Dragons, the early-1990s Scottish dance-rock group best known for its cover of "I'm Free." I thought of this mostly because a mutual friend of ours was so enamoured by this band in high school that she swore she would name her first-born Soup Dragon. She's one of the few people that I haven't heard from since we all went off to college and that I actually miss.
Anyhow, I thought back to that 1994-95 school year, where we were so bored with school and even more bored by the fact that we lived in an earthquake-ravaged ghost town. We tried to pass the time by watching Dead Alive repeatedly, reenacting scenes from Heathers, making fanzines and listening to a lot of music. Here is a list of some of the favorites. A lot of these songs were pretty popular, so I imagine a good chunk of readers already know them. However, I really suggest seeking out some of the tracks that might be unfamiliar.

1. Pulp-- "Common People"
After my years of DJing at Britpop clubs, I grew tired of this track, but I can still remember hearing it right before we graduated. Jarvis Cocker's critique on "slumming" remains the lyrical highlight of his career, imho.

2. Blur-- "Parklife"
Yeah, yeah, yeah, "Boys and Girls" was the big hit, but "Parklife" was the true jam with it's skipping-down-a-street beat and cockney vocals.

3. Nine Inch Nails-- "Closer"
Angel, my completely platonic other half during high school, and I would scream along to this song in the car, if only so we could shout out "I want to fuck you like an animal" at the top of our lungs without meaning it. Along with a bunch of other friends, we caught NIN at Universal that year and it was mindblowing, partially because Trent performed like he knew that was going to be his last moment of relevance but also because unknown opening band Marilyn Manson was, quite possibly, the worst band I had ever seen.

4. Mazzy Star-- "Fade Into You"
Close your eyes, sit back and let the song run through your head. It stands the test of time.

5. Velocity Girl-- "Sorry Again"
Every now and again, the chorus of this song will run through my head and I will wonder, how was it ever forgotten?

6. James-- "Laid"
I was borderline obsessed with James in high school-- Tim Booth pictures cut out of Select Magazine on my wall, nights where I would do nothing but listen to one album after the next, afternoons going from record store to record store pestering people to help me find some out-of-print release from 1984. When this song hit big, I was excited thinking that maybe someone would reissue the back catalogue. I don't think that happened.

7. Elastica-- "Connection"
Oh, it's a rock song. But you can dance to it. What is it, like, dance punk? It kind of sounds like Wire or Gang of Four. Yup, Elastica beat all of those cool new-old bands to the punch by a freakin' decade.

8. Suede-- "We are the Pigs"
The last Anderson/Butler collaborations until recently, Dog Man Star was a dreary, wonderful album that I proudly listened to almost daily.

9. Supergrass-- "Alright"
I Should Coco was the sound of bored teenagers and perhaps nothing speaks more for 1995 than "Alright."

10. Edwyn Collins-- "Girl Like You"
Orange Juice didn't make the tiniest ripple in the States, but former frontman Collins was a hit for one summer with this dance track that sounds as if it were pulled straight from some 1960s British film.