"Sodajerk" by Buffalo Tom

The Boston alternative rock trio Buffalo Tom formed in 1986 and would go on to make one of my favorite albums of the 90s. "Big Red Letter Day" emerged in 1993 with "Sodajerk" as the lead single. Like all the band's other work, it would not see success on the charts, but got plenty of airplay back in the day.

Amongst the more overtly aggressive bands in the grunge movement, Buffalo Tom disguised their cynicism and clever lyrics in well-crafted melodies. You found yourself singing along to lines like "people nauseate me" with a smile on your face. The song was used in several commercials and in the poplar TV show My So-Called Life, which seems appropriate since it appears to be a "coming" of age song.

The band could do no wrong on "Big Red Letter Day" - every song is great and it deserves to be remembered as one of the best records from the decade. Buffalo Tom set the stage for similar bands that infused more pop and melody into their gritty instrumentation.