[A] First, while it's fair to say I like Wussy, I wouldn't say I'm a particularly devoted fan — certainly much less than Robert Christgau is, or dozens of other followers of the Expert Witness group on Facebook. Just looking at the grade curve, I have graded 6 albums A− or higher, vs. 13 for Christgau. One of my A records is his A+. The other is Buckeye, a UK compilation he didn't review. Otherwise, he's reviewed 17 albums and EPs, vs. 15 for me. I take his word seriously when he likes something. Sometimes we disagree substantially. Sometimes it's just slight shadings of what we find important. One possible reason here is that I'm not very good at catching lyrics, something he is especially attuned to. Another possible reason is that I've never seen them live, whereas he certainly has. I know it's possible to pick up on things live that you miss on record. Then there's that he's still very committed to alt/indie rock, whereas I for the most part am not. (Of course, I make exceptions, as I have on occasion for Wussy.)

As for Chuck Cleaver's pre-Wussy Ass Ponys, Christgau reviewed five of their 1990-2001 albums, rating two of them A−. I took his recommendation and bought those two, and filed them away as B+. Same sort of drop off as with Wussy, which never once made me wonder if their other three, lesser-rated albums might be better. Before I started streaming, I only heard what I bought (or occasionally borrowed, but I never figured out downloading). I could probably find those old albums now, and for a moment I considered doing so, but I figured I had more promising things to check out, or at least more immediately relevant ones.