Bands You Should Have On Your iPod 1 - The Refreshments.

My taste in music can best be described as diverse.

Some people like to claim this, but my iPod says it all.

I got songs and albums from everyone from Pantera to Paramore, Less Than Jake to Lady Gaga, Metallica to Mudhoney and the Wipers to Wu-Tang Clan.

In fact, I can honestly say there's only a few genres I will never listen to, primarily that new crunk shit (like Soulja Boy, and the even more wanky screamo-crunk spinoffs like 3oh3 or whatever the fuck they're called) and modern indie wanker shit. (I have a near-pathological hatred for both Radiohead and Muse. But you'll learn about that as time passes by).

With that said, though, I have an undying fondness above all for two particular eras; 80s hardcore (particularly LA Hardcore) and 90s alternative rock.

And I don't just mean the Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins' of the world (although they're pretty fucking good as well) but all the bands of the time who slipped through the cracks of popular consciousness.

One of those bands was the Refreshments.

While you probably don't realise it, there's a good chance you've heard a Refreshments song before as they contributed the theme music for King of The Hill.

However, outside that they never had much mainstream success outside their home state of Arizona.

Which is a crying shame cause they were really fucking good.

Unlike a lot of the post-grunge alternative rock bands, the Refreshments never wallowed in mindless teenage angst - while their song subject matter was often a tad repetitive (girls, partying, trips to Mexico, often all together) - the feel-good vibe was a nice change from the my-mummy-didn't-love-me-and-I-just-broke-up-with-my-girlfriend trap so many bands of the time fell into.

Their run as a band was short - just six years (1992-1998) before frontman Roger Clyne went on to form the equally good Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers, who play a similar style to the Refreshments but with more of a country/Americana roots rock feel.

During their time, however, they recorded Fizzy Fuzzy Big And Buzzy, which has to be one of the great forgotten albums of the mid-90s.

Don't believe me? Check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxniF0sF8c8&feature=fvsr for proof. If you can't fit the entire album on your iPod, that and minor radio hit Banditos (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfZbFh7qlCQ&feature=related) are musts.

Keep rockin'.