Salem 66 – SALT 
There’s a nice brush with Salem 66 in the overview I did on Homestead a while back, but Don Giovanni have gone much further and helped the world get introduced to the Boston band all over again. The bigger news here is that the band’s full catalog is now available digitally, a long lingering oversight that just goes on to highlight the shortcomings of streaming. Accompanying the full release of the catalog, the band has also gotten together a compilation, less a best of and more of a self-curated collection of favorites. The band picked songs that they found personally the most enduring and SALT works as an entry point to the band that definitely leaves you wanting more. Lucky for you, there’s much more, and if SALT whet’s the appetite, there are four albums, an EP and some singles to send you deeper.
Salem 66 were a fixture of the ‘80s Boston underground, a leading light in college rock, and until recently one of the more sorely overlooked corners of both of those enclaves. Often called out for breaking up the boys club atmosphere at Homestead, the band is far more than a token feminine voice in early indie. The surprising thing about SALT is its focus on some of the band’s later works. A counterpoint perhaps to the Homestead compilation Your Soul Is Mine, Fork It Over, that only focuses on releases only released up to 1987, the new comp rounds out with several selections from their 1990 album Down The Primrose Path. It also swipes a couple of tracks from ’88’s Natural Disasters, National Treasures, another gem that’s often left out of the conversations that have centered on the band’s early impact. SALT’s success in introducing the band derives from the band’s selection of not hits, but those that they feel most closely identify the band’s sound. It’s a vital link to the band’s catalog, and hopefully just the beginning for many listeners.