AMG Review of Sub Pop Years

Tim Sendra
All Music Guide

The breakup of Galaxie 500 left Damon Krukowski and Naomi Yang disillusioned and ready to give up music. After being drawn back by Kramer, the duo recorded More Sad Hits for Shimmy Disc under the name Damon & Naomi. They decided to stick with music after this, and signed to Sup Pop where they stayed for seven years and released four albums. This collection gathers up a collection of songs from that era hand-selected by the duo. It serves as both a wonderful introduction to their quiet, acid folk-informed style and as a greatest hits of sorts, as it picks a lot of the band's most memorable songs. While the first two albums (The Wondrous World of Damon & Naomi and Playback Singers) are represented by three songs each, the band's brilliant collaborations with Ghost (Damon & Naomi with Ghost) and Ghost guitarist Michio Kurihara (Song to the Siren: Live in San Sebastian) are given more entries; four and five respectively. This weighted distribution makes for a stronger collection, one that will please longtime fans who want an overview of one of the better under-the-radar bands of their era.