My Top 1000 Songs #827: Back Where I Belong

[I've been writing up my Top 1000 songs on a daily basis--you can see them all in descending order by hitting the All My Favorite Songs tag.]

It wasn't planned this way, I swear, but having just touted an obscure Boston band from my mid-80s college radio days, we're back with another (slightly less obscure?) Boston band from my mid-80s college radio days. Dumptruck were a little more in line with the jangly indie pop that devoured my attention back then (and, ok, still does). Their second album, 1986's Positively Dumptruck, was one of the better records to come out during that initial post-R.E.M. wave, and the album's opening cut, "Back Where I Belong," was an absolute banger. A lot more buzz than jangle, some electric riffage giving it powerful oomph, but still wrapped around a melodic earworm hook.

It's one of those tracks that was so central to my life during a highly specific point in time that it's hard for me to listen objectively. Is it a legit great track, or just something that will forever nudge me into blissful collegiate nostalgia? Dunno. But I think it's pretty great.

Live 1986: