As I was looking through some old photos on my computer last night, I came across the one above, a shot of the 101 playing a bar outside Allentown, PA, taken 11 November, 2005, so I decided that they would make an excellent choice for today's mixtape track. Fronted by Eric Richter (a veteran of the fondly-remembered Christie Front Drive and Antarctica), the 101 have since broken up, but they left behind an EP and two full-length albums of slightly dark, hypnotic guitar pop. Combining the repeated, sometimes-difficult to understand lyrics of Christie Front Drive with the driving rhythms of Antarctica, the 101's music is often reminiscent of early R.E.M. or the moody, melodic post-punk of For Against.

Today's selection is the sublime "Beth" (taken from the Green Street album), a song which the band played at the show pictured above. Lyrics like "you have to want to get out" and the mantra of "Beth's gone alone" glide amid the spare arrangement, which bursts into full volume at the 1:41 mark. We might not be sure exactly what Richter's singing about, but the mood of longing and regret is impossible not to get. "Beth" and three other songs are available as free downloads on the 101's MySpace, which fortunately still exists. For further listening, check out Golden City (which includes both Richter and 101 alum Jeremy Jones); they have three quite-nice songs available as free MP3's and are currently working on recording some new ones, so be on the lookout for those.