Sex Pistols — When I was in high school, I sang "Anarchy in the UK" at the church my family went to. It was a friend's band and the singer didn't know the lyrics, so I hopped up on stage to help. Which is a strange as I can't carry a tune to save my life. Not that it matters, given the material, I suppose. I remember freaking when I realized I was about to sing "I am the Anti Christ" at a place of worship, so I quickly substituted "Bad Boy" instead. I was involved with Youth Group (at my Mom's insistence), but I didn't really get it. Anyway, I think it scared them…

Lush — I've always been a sucker for girl vocals and the combination of Miki and Emma's angelic voices coupled with layers of shimmery guitar was aural perfection for me. I think I felt even more of an affinity due to their Abba cover of "Hey Hey Helen" (Abba was my favorite band when I was little).

Ride — Zig to Lush's zag. I went to see Lush and Ride play together the day after my mother died. For a few hours, everything was ok–I was able to bliss out in the beautiful deafening roar of textures at the 9:30 club. I remember Andy Bell played the hell out of his guitar — beating a 12 string down to two or three strings.

Pavement — Slanted and Enchanted is still one of my favorite albums. Lazy erudite summer guitar rock perfection.

Radiohead — I admittedly came somewhat late to this party. I didn't discover how brilliant Ok Computer was until well after it was released. I did make up for lost time though. They are probably the most important band still making music. I still sometimes just lay in the dark and listen to them on the headphones. And it's still amazing.