She's out back counting stars
January 17, 2015 10:07 AM Subscribe
38 Great Alt-Rock Songs You Haven't Thought About in 20 Years. (SLbuzzfeed)
And if spending at least an hour today going "ooooh, THAT song!" isn't enough, there's a companion article: 38 MORE Great Alt-Rock Songs You Haven't Thought About in 20 Years.
And if spending at least an hour today going "ooooh, THAT song!" isn't enough, there's a companion article: 38 MORE Great Alt-Rock Songs You Haven't Thought About in 20 Years.
By the way, I had the entire album by Whale, on cassette no less. It was great. It had a Eurotrashy feel just the way I like it, light on the "Euro," heavy on the "trash."
posted by jonp72 at 10:15 AM on January 17, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by jonp72 at 10:15 AM on January 17, 2015 [4 favorites]
Without actually clicking on the videos, the vast majority of these fall into the "I don't remember ever having thought about these in the first place" category.
But K's Choice Paradise in Me and Poe Hello are still in pretty regular rotation on my ipod.
posted by obfuscation at 10:16 AM on January 17, 2015 [2 favorites]
But K's Choice Paradise in Me and Poe Hello are still in pretty regular rotation on my ipod.
posted by obfuscation at 10:16 AM on January 17, 2015 [2 favorites]
I didn't think I knew many of them but playing the videos I actually recognized quite a few. I was in high school in the early 90s and spent countless hours watching MTV so I guess those brain cells are still hanging around rememberin' stuff.
posted by misskaz at 10:19 AM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by misskaz at 10:19 AM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
Oh, that's Letters to Cleo, the abbadebbadebba song.
posted by dirigibleman at 10:24 AM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by dirigibleman at 10:24 AM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
It says Grant Lee Buffalo's one big hit was "Truly, Truly", but "Fuzzy" was big in the UK. One of my favourite 90s songs. Thanks for the trip down memory lane :)
posted by billiebee at 10:26 AM on January 17, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by billiebee at 10:26 AM on January 17, 2015 [5 favorites]
Grant Lee Buffalo's one big song was "Truly, Truly" .. ? In which world does people not remember 'Fuzzy'?
posted by kariebookish at 10:26 AM on January 17, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by kariebookish at 10:26 AM on January 17, 2015 [4 favorites]
I know it's Buzzfeed, "The Website of Conflicted Expectations," but I was hoping this was something more filled out than 38 iterations of, "Do you remember that thing?" Followed by, "OMG LOL I remember that thing!"
posted by ardgedee at 10:26 AM on January 17, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by ardgedee at 10:26 AM on January 17, 2015 [5 favorites]
It's funny, I've been on a HUGE Geraldine Fibbers kick recently and BAM!! Here they are bringing up the back.
posted by Asbestos McPinto at 10:29 AM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Asbestos McPinto at 10:29 AM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
That is an impressive list of second- and third-tier songs.
posted by Dip Flash at 10:30 AM on January 17, 2015
posted by Dip Flash at 10:30 AM on January 17, 2015
K's Choice (local band) and Stereophonics are the only ones I recognise there.
posted by MartinWisse at 10:38 AM on January 17, 2015
posted by MartinWisse at 10:38 AM on January 17, 2015
OMG
one of my old best friend's band is on that list. Thought I was the only one who heard of them.
posted by stagewhisper at 10:41 AM on January 17, 2015
one of my old best friend's band is on that list. Thought I was the only one who heard of them.
posted by stagewhisper at 10:41 AM on January 17, 2015
Wait I've either heard or thought about at least 5 songs on this list in the past few days. Buzzfeed, this is why we hate you.
And the early 90s were a great time for music. In Phoenix we had the Monday Morning Music Meeting on KUKQ AM with Johnathan L (before he moved on to LA,) where they'd play songs that had come in throughout the week and let all the unemloyed listeners pick the playlist. It was an amazing show to listen to, and participate in.
(Side note: I actually was working tech support at a webhost a dozen years ago and got a call from Johnathan L who was struggling with the web builder on his personal site. It was great to tell him I had been an avid listener and occasionally called in to vote on songs.)
posted by Catblack at 10:43 AM on January 17, 2015 [2 favorites]
And the early 90s were a great time for music. In Phoenix we had the Monday Morning Music Meeting on KUKQ AM with Johnathan L (before he moved on to LA,) where they'd play songs that had come in throughout the week and let all the unemloyed listeners pick the playlist. It was an amazing show to listen to, and participate in.
(Side note: I actually was working tech support at a webhost a dozen years ago and got a call from Johnathan L who was struggling with the web builder on his personal site. It was great to tell him I had been an avid listener and occasionally called in to vote on songs.)
posted by Catblack at 10:43 AM on January 17, 2015 [2 favorites]
This list is remiss without The Verve Pipe's "the Freshmen"
posted by sacrifix at 10:45 AM on January 17, 2015 [8 favorites]
posted by sacrifix at 10:45 AM on January 17, 2015 [8 favorites]
What world was everyone living in where "Mockingbirds" wasn't Grant Lee Buffalo's big hit?
posted by a box and a stick and a string and a bear at 10:50 AM on January 17, 2015 [10 favorites]
posted by a box and a stick and a string and a bear at 10:50 AM on January 17, 2015 [10 favorites]
Those are actually pretty legit lists, as far as these things go.
But, dear lord, scrolling those pages full of embedded videos makes Firefox cry.
posted by Thorzdad at 10:51 AM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
But, dear lord, scrolling those pages full of embedded videos makes Firefox cry.
posted by Thorzdad at 10:51 AM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
Adding: I don't remember ever hearing a good 1/3 of these songs. Also: missing some Ruby on that list.
whoops: nvrmd she's on the second list
posted by stagewhisper at 10:52 AM on January 17, 2015
whoops: nvrmd she's on the second list
posted by stagewhisper at 10:52 AM on January 17, 2015
And now I'm off to Amazon to replace my missing Bran Van 3000 album.
Thanks for this.
posted by Uncle Ira at 10:53 AM on January 17, 2015 [5 favorites]
Thanks for this.
posted by Uncle Ira at 10:53 AM on January 17, 2015 [5 favorites]
one thing's clear. Take away everything directly influenced by Nirvana and these are thin lists. Which doesn't really reflect that well on my experience of the 90s at all ... but then I guess I wasn't investing too much of my time in MTV or rock radio. Actually, I need to rephrase that, because I actually worked in so-called rock radio for a while. What I wasn't doing was paying too much attention to all the fill-in-the-blanks Alt-Rock that was getting foisted on us by the music biz.
That said, having only perused the first list so far, I do have fond memories of the Whale song, also the Posies and Girls Against Boys. And that Geraldine Fibbers cut is/was/shall always be a MONSTER. Ditto Stereo MCs Connected, which said more about my 1992 than any single record has a right to. Everybody looking to connect, which is good, everybody looking for a connection -- not so good. And seriously, it made every party it got close to MOVE.
Finally, Bran Van 3000. Drinking in LA's okay, but if you haven't spent time with that whole album, you are lacking cultural completeness.
posted by philip-random at 10:55 AM on January 17, 2015 [5 favorites]
That said, having only perused the first list so far, I do have fond memories of the Whale song, also the Posies and Girls Against Boys. And that Geraldine Fibbers cut is/was/shall always be a MONSTER. Ditto Stereo MCs Connected, which said more about my 1992 than any single record has a right to. Everybody looking to connect, which is good, everybody looking for a connection -- not so good. And seriously, it made every party it got close to MOVE.
Finally, Bran Van 3000. Drinking in LA's okay, but if you haven't spent time with that whole album, you are lacking cultural completeness.
posted by philip-random at 10:55 AM on January 17, 2015 [5 favorites]
Grant Lee Buffalo, that guy is transcendent. Bethlehem Steel.
I thought for sure Happy Mondays would be on this list.
posted by superelastic at 10:57 AM on January 17, 2015 [3 favorites]
I thought for sure Happy Mondays would be on this list.
posted by superelastic at 10:57 AM on January 17, 2015 [3 favorites]
Coincidentally, "Stars" is being used in commercials for the NHL All-Star Game at the moment.
(Everyone should probably go get the post-"fame" albums by Hum - Downward Is Heavenward - Letters to Cleo - Go! - and Poe - Haunted.)
posted by aaronetc at 10:59 AM on January 17, 2015 [4 favorites]
(Everyone should probably go get the post-"fame" albums by Hum - Downward Is Heavenward - Letters to Cleo - Go! - and Poe - Haunted.)
posted by aaronetc at 10:59 AM on January 17, 2015 [4 favorites]
It's a bittersweet symphony this post
posted by Renoroc at 11:02 AM on January 17, 2015 [6 favorites]
posted by Renoroc at 11:02 AM on January 17, 2015 [6 favorites]
This list is far better than I expected. Downloadapalooza starting now.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 11:05 AM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 11:05 AM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
Nineties Song “Closing Time” Isn’t About the End of a Night Out
posted by Uncle Ira at 11:19 AM on January 17, 2015 [11 favorites]
posted by Uncle Ira at 11:19 AM on January 17, 2015 [11 favorites]
Grant Lee Buffalo's "Lone Star Song" is still one of my favorites from that mid-90s category when record companies were throwing anything and everything against the wall to see if it stuck.
Most of these we haven't thought about in 20 years because they wound up in second-hand bins in used record stores almost as soon as they were released.
Still hear "Here's Where the Story Ends" all the time in supermarkets and hospital waiting rooms, though.
posted by blucevalo at 11:21 AM on January 17, 2015 [2 favorites]
Most of these we haven't thought about in 20 years because they wound up in second-hand bins in used record stores almost as soon as they were released.
Still hear "Here's Where the Story Ends" all the time in supermarkets and hospital waiting rooms, though.
posted by blucevalo at 11:21 AM on January 17, 2015 [2 favorites]
And now upon having browsed the second list, a few more thoughts.
That Super Deluxe song is the definition of a one-hit wonder, though listening to it now, it doesn't seem to pack as much wonder as I recall.
That is the wrong Tripping Daisy song. What you want to hear is Sonic Bloom which simply, brilliantly goes places that most so-called power pop wouldn't dare even think to ...
Nada Surf are a far better 00s band than 90s.
Who the hell has neglected to think about Pavement's Cut Your Hair for twenty years?
Forest For The Trees are indeed a treasure, Carl Stephenson being the co-writer/producer of Beck's Loser. Unfortunately, he had mental health issues and thus we never got to hear much from him.
Finally, because I was just discussing it with a few friends recently, if you really want to get to the heart of what was great about 90s music, you need to think DRUGS. There was a bloody ocean of amazing drug infused music that decade. Either stuff to listen to/dance to while high, or clearly created by people who'd been imbibing a wild variety of substances.
posted by philip-random at 11:23 AM on January 17, 2015 [3 favorites]
That Super Deluxe song is the definition of a one-hit wonder, though listening to it now, it doesn't seem to pack as much wonder as I recall.
That is the wrong Tripping Daisy song. What you want to hear is Sonic Bloom which simply, brilliantly goes places that most so-called power pop wouldn't dare even think to ...
Nada Surf are a far better 00s band than 90s.
Who the hell has neglected to think about Pavement's Cut Your Hair for twenty years?
Forest For The Trees are indeed a treasure, Carl Stephenson being the co-writer/producer of Beck's Loser. Unfortunately, he had mental health issues and thus we never got to hear much from him.
Finally, because I was just discussing it with a few friends recently, if you really want to get to the heart of what was great about 90s music, you need to think DRUGS. There was a bloody ocean of amazing drug infused music that decade. Either stuff to listen to/dance to while high, or clearly created by people who'd been imbibing a wild variety of substances.
posted by philip-random at 11:23 AM on January 17, 2015 [3 favorites]
My additions:
Kim the waitress
Valerie loves me
Both by material issue
posted by otto42 at 11:27 AM on January 17, 2015 [7 favorites]
Kim the waitress
Valerie loves me
Both by material issue
posted by otto42 at 11:27 AM on January 17, 2015 [7 favorites]
This is great! I was going to say what about "I Got a Girl" when I was reading the first list, happy to see it on the second list, it's way worse than I remember. I still have Not an Addict on my iPhone for some reason.
posted by ill3 at 11:30 AM on January 17, 2015
posted by ill3 at 11:30 AM on January 17, 2015
I bought the Hum album when it came out and MTV was playing the video frequently. My local generic alt rock station plays it occasionally.
posted by ericales at 11:32 AM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by ericales at 11:32 AM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
(Everyone should probably go get the post-"fame" albums by Hum - Downward Is Heavenward - Letters to Cleo - Go! - and Poe - Haunted.)
Haunted is just so so good and the legal issues that kept her from recording more after that make for one of the more depressing recording industry stories I've heard.
posted by jason_steakums at 11:33 AM on January 17, 2015 [8 favorites]
Haunted is just so so good and the legal issues that kept her from recording more after that make for one of the more depressing recording industry stories I've heard.
posted by jason_steakums at 11:33 AM on January 17, 2015 [8 favorites]
I'm not sure how alt it is, but I always had a soft spot for Pursuit of Happiness', I'm An Adult Now.
posted by fairmettle at 11:33 AM on January 17, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by fairmettle at 11:33 AM on January 17, 2015 [3 favorites]
For me, it's not the 90s without Soul Coughing.
posted by droplet at 11:35 AM on January 17, 2015 [12 favorites]
posted by droplet at 11:35 AM on January 17, 2015 [12 favorites]
Joydrop! I had no idea anyone outside of Canada had ever heard of them.
posted by sea change at 11:38 AM on January 17, 2015
posted by sea change at 11:38 AM on January 17, 2015
Soul Coughing gets bonus 90s points for me because El Oso was a CD that I got from some long-forgotten internet startup whose business model was
posted by Nerd of the North at 11:42 AM on January 17, 2015
- We'll send everyone 3 free CDs with no strings attached to promote our brand.
- ???
- Profit!
posted by Nerd of the North at 11:42 AM on January 17, 2015
A good 25% of these songs are in my regular music rotation, but I've known I've been stuck in the mid-90's since.... well, the mid-90's.
posted by Lucinda at 11:46 AM on January 17, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by Lucinda at 11:46 AM on January 17, 2015 [5 favorites]
Ben Folds Five's Underground seems to have been neglected. But I admit to re-thinking about them last year.
Mostly because I was hanging out at a friend's place and discovering that all the music he had on streaming sounded the same low intensity alt-rock band, and recalling back the mid-90's, they came to mind as a compromise listening pick.
posted by pwnguin at 11:47 AM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
Mostly because I was hanging out at a friend's place and discovering that all the music he had on streaming sounded the same low intensity alt-rock band, and recalling back the mid-90's, they came to mind as a compromise listening pick.
posted by pwnguin at 11:47 AM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
I know someone is a kindred musical spirit if I can bring up the band Self and they remember either of their two "hits" in '94: So Low, and Cannon.
Still one of my favorite bands.
posted by onehalfjunco at 11:48 AM on January 17, 2015 [4 favorites]
Still one of my favorite bands.
posted by onehalfjunco at 11:48 AM on January 17, 2015 [4 favorites]
This reminds me of the "Dave Holmes Revisits..." series on vulture.com that I've been enjoying over the past several months.
posted by HillbillyInBC at 11:49 AM on January 17, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by HillbillyInBC at 11:49 AM on January 17, 2015 [2 favorites]
Lot of Canadian bands on that first list...
Fun fact #1: during the great Our Lady Peace/I Mother Earth feud, one band famously called the other "Frozen Ghost II."
Fun fact #2: every used record store in Canada has at least one copy of a Bootsauce LP.
Anyway, the real music of the '90s was Riot Grrrl.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 11:50 AM on January 17, 2015 [3 favorites]
Fun fact #1: during the great Our Lady Peace/I Mother Earth feud, one band famously called the other "Frozen Ghost II."
Fun fact #2: every used record store in Canada has at least one copy of a Bootsauce LP.
Anyway, the real music of the '90s was Riot Grrrl.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 11:50 AM on January 17, 2015 [3 favorites]
Oh shit that Joydrop album is giving me a very specific flashback to a long and awkward winter morning car ride with an ex while we were trying too hard and too soon to continue our relationship as friends.
posted by jason_steakums at 11:52 AM on January 17, 2015
posted by jason_steakums at 11:52 AM on January 17, 2015
This list is useless... without some For Squirrels...
.
For what might have been...
posted by PROD_TPSL at 11:53 AM on January 17, 2015 [3 favorites]
.
For what might have been...
posted by PROD_TPSL at 11:53 AM on January 17, 2015 [3 favorites]
"Now They'll Sleep." Always loved that song, even have the album on vinyl somewhere,
posted by jonmc at 11:53 AM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by jonmc at 11:53 AM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
Don't forget Headache !
Or Connection
posted by cottoncandybeard at 11:54 AM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
Or Connection
posted by cottoncandybeard at 11:54 AM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
Fun fact #1: during the great Our Lady Peace/I Mother Earth feud, one band famously called the other "Frozen Ghost II."
with the gutbuster of a punchline of course being that they both were.
posted by philip-random at 11:54 AM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
with the gutbuster of a punchline of course being that they both were.
posted by philip-random at 11:54 AM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
The 90s were an exciting time in music - electronica had exploded, hip-hop was still exciting, we were seeing thousands of independently produced CDs and mp3s coming out of all sorts of experimental genres, and "out there" rock bands like the Boredoms, the Butthole Surfers and Mr. Bungle had really hit their stride.
I listened to almost no alt-rock in the 90s, and well, this is why.
posted by lupus_yonderboy at 11:57 AM on January 17, 2015 [3 favorites]
I listened to almost no alt-rock in the 90s, and well, this is why.
posted by lupus_yonderboy at 11:57 AM on January 17, 2015 [3 favorites]
Oh, and the greatest 90's video of all time: Sugarcube. Yo La Tengo meets Mr. Show!
posted by cottoncandybeard at 11:58 AM on January 17, 2015 [7 favorites]
posted by cottoncandybeard at 11:58 AM on January 17, 2015 [7 favorites]
A good 25% of these songs are in my regular music rotation, but I've known I've been stuck in the mid-90's since.... well, the mid-90's.
I have been accused of that... occasionally. I am resigned to turning into my father.
I still listen to Whale's All Disco Dance Must End In Broken Bones regularly. Much better than the first album, but I have more love for We Care.
Tracy Bonham has an album coming out this year. That feels... huh.
posted by Leon at 12:00 PM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
I have been accused of that... occasionally. I am resigned to turning into my father.
I still listen to Whale's All Disco Dance Must End In Broken Bones regularly. Much better than the first album, but I have more love for We Care.
Tracy Bonham has an album coming out this year. That feels... huh.
posted by Leon at 12:00 PM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
I feel like late 80s-90s music was like the 80s movie industry--producers just threw everything at the wall without even bothering to see what stuck, and the people who tried consciously to make "the next big thing" tended to fail.
posted by infinitewindow at 12:06 PM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by infinitewindow at 12:06 PM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
Also, we can't forget The Grunge Song.
Mandatory shot of old man with his shirt off.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 12:07 PM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
Mandatory shot of old man with his shirt off.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 12:07 PM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
The reference to "Lamp" by Suddenly, Tammy! takes me back. It was on the early-90s-est pop song compilation One Last Kiss ..., which I loved back then and still like. But the YT playlist for it is missing songs by Magnetic Fields, Courtney Love, Small Factory, Honeybunch, Tree Fort Angst, Lorelei, Helicopter, and Wimp Factor 14.
Album review: "Jangly, Fuzzy, Cute, and Twee."
posted by Monsieur Caution at 12:07 PM on January 17, 2015
Album review: "Jangly, Fuzzy, Cute, and Twee."
posted by Monsieur Caution at 12:07 PM on January 17, 2015
As someone who worked in a record store in the last half of the 90s, I'm having cutout bin flashbacks all over these.
posted by entropicamericana at 12:12 PM on January 17, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by entropicamericana at 12:12 PM on January 17, 2015 [3 favorites]
Huh. I didn't listen to every one to make sure, but I didn't recognize 2/3 of the songs on that list. I did post that Hum song to a "1990s alternagrunge" nostalgia playlist discussion on Facebook just the other day, though.
I'll add these:
Spacehog: In the Meantime
Curve: Horrorhead
Sponge: Plowed
Green Jellö: Three Little Pigs
posted by usonian at 12:15 PM on January 17, 2015 [5 favorites]
I'll add these:
Spacehog: In the Meantime
Curve: Horrorhead
Sponge: Plowed
Green Jellö: Three Little Pigs
posted by usonian at 12:15 PM on January 17, 2015 [5 favorites]
You know what? "Laid" by James is still a solid song, despite having been used in the trailer for every romcom between 1998 and 2009. Also, "She Don't Use Jelly" is a legitimately good early Flaming Lips track.
Fun fact #3: half of these bands did guest performances at The Bronze.
Fun fact #4: "What's Going On" by the 4 Non Blondes is now playing in your head.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 12:24 PM on January 17, 2015 [14 favorites]
Fun fact #3: half of these bands did guest performances at The Bronze.
Fun fact #4: "What's Going On" by the 4 Non Blondes is now playing in your head.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 12:24 PM on January 17, 2015 [14 favorites]
Man, what didn't Matthew Perpetua do? He invented blogging, MP3s, and now, apparently, the 90s.
posted by 99_ at 12:41 PM on January 17, 2015
posted by 99_ at 12:41 PM on January 17, 2015
And let's never forget:
- Ash - Goldfinger
- Space - Avenging Angels
I just wanted to say that Hum is one of my favorite bands of all time. "Stars" is a great song, but "The Very Old Man" leading into "Why I Like the Robins" is a masterpiece. I think their last album, Downward is Heavenward, is one of the best albums of all-time, and I'm constantly shocked that people don't put it up there as one of the best sounding albums. The mix on it is flawless (IMO), with "Isle of the Cheetah" and "If You Are to Bloom" being the most standout tracks on it. Some of the riffs on that album, such as the bizarre sliding scalar riff in "If You Are to Bloom", are so complex. It just astounds me that they didn't, and still don't, have acclaim for that album.
If you guys like Hum you should check out Cloakroom, who have an album streaming on Pitchfork Advance that they recorded at Matt Talbott's studio. His vocals are featured on a song on a 7" they also recorded with him, called Dream Warden.
"The clock ran out on us while recording our full length before the vocals were wrapped up for it. Matt joked about putting the vocals on it himself when we finished recording because of how much he liked the hook in the chorus. When the LP got delayed and we were looking for ways to get music out we asked Matt if he was still interested in putting the vocals down, and he said he was. We let him do whatever he felt needed to be done to the song with vocals as well as the mix."
posted by gucci mane at 12:49 PM on January 17, 2015 [6 favorites]
If you guys like Hum you should check out Cloakroom, who have an album streaming on Pitchfork Advance that they recorded at Matt Talbott's studio. His vocals are featured on a song on a 7" they also recorded with him, called Dream Warden.
"The clock ran out on us while recording our full length before the vocals were wrapped up for it. Matt joked about putting the vocals on it himself when we finished recording because of how much he liked the hook in the chorus. When the LP got delayed and we were looking for ways to get music out we asked Matt if he was still interested in putting the vocals down, and he said he was. We let him do whatever he felt needed to be done to the song with vocals as well as the mix."
posted by gucci mane at 12:49 PM on January 17, 2015 [6 favorites]
PenDevil, I love that Ash song just because it fucks so hard with listener expectations based on chord progressions and music theory. I feel like everything else about it is average 90s, but those chord changes always throw me off and make me pay attention.
posted by infinitewindow at 12:57 PM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by infinitewindow at 12:57 PM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
12. Primitive Radio Gods - Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth With Money in My Hand. I was in my "serendipity needs a helping hand" phase of buying CDs on the basis of one song I liked when I got this. Yep, that phase ended pretty rapidly after this one.
posted by patricio at 12:58 PM on January 17, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by patricio at 12:58 PM on January 17, 2015 [4 favorites]
I caught "Backwater" on the radio recently. It hurts me to think how old that song is, and by extension how old that makes me. There's no way 1994 could have been 20 years ago, is there?
posted by ElDiabloConQueso at 1:07 PM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by ElDiabloConQueso at 1:07 PM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
On top of that, if you guys enjoy Hum you should check out releases from Nothing ("Guilty of Everything") and Whirr ("Sway") that have a bit of an indebtment to Hum, especially the Nothing album.
posted by gucci mane at 1:12 PM on January 17, 2015
posted by gucci mane at 1:12 PM on January 17, 2015
So far in this thread, I've learned that Grant Lee Buffalo apparently had two or three popular singles that were only popular in specific regions and never worldwide, and that Poe's lack of output for a decade was due to bizarre contractual nightmares. WHO KNEW.
"Goldfinger" was so great that it single-handedly powered me through two Ash albums that never really caught on with me. Then "Burn Baby Burn" hit and it was like Ash could do no wrong for an album or two. Now I just listen to old Charlotte Hatherley albums and wonder what would've happened if she hadn't veered sharply into Blade Runner synthpop territory. (I'd replace "Avenging Angels" by Space with "Female of the Species" because it was so distinctive on the radio compared to everything else, but also because we never got anything past the first album in North America and so were never blessed with Space and Cerys Matthews singing about Tom Jones.)
I'll throw in a few more:
posted by chrominance at 1:13 PM on January 17, 2015 [11 favorites]
"Goldfinger" was so great that it single-handedly powered me through two Ash albums that never really caught on with me. Then "Burn Baby Burn" hit and it was like Ash could do no wrong for an album or two. Now I just listen to old Charlotte Hatherley albums and wonder what would've happened if she hadn't veered sharply into Blade Runner synthpop territory. (I'd replace "Avenging Angels" by Space with "Female of the Species" because it was so distinctive on the radio compared to everything else, but also because we never got anything past the first album in North America and so were never blessed with Space and Cerys Matthews singing about Tom Jones.)
I'll throw in a few more:
- Mansun, "Wide Open Space"
- Edwyn Collins, "Girl Like You"
- Sixpence None the Richer, "Kiss Me"
- Kula Shaker, "Tattva"
- Dodgy, "Good Enough"
- Lush, "Ladykillers"
- Republica, "Ready to Go" (of which there are no fewer than three single versions, including a 2010 remake)
- Wild Strawberries, "I Don't Want to Think About It" (for the Canadians)
posted by chrominance at 1:13 PM on January 17, 2015 [11 favorites]
And one more before I put myself into a nostalgia induced funk: Sophie B. Hawkins - Right Beside You.
posted by PenDevil at 1:17 PM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by PenDevil at 1:17 PM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
jonmc: ""Now They'll Sleep." Always loved that song, even have the album on vinyl somewhere,"
I've got the CD still. That album really stands the test of time, about once a year I'll put it in my car cd player and it'll stick for a few weeks before I get tired of it.
posted by mannequito at 1:22 PM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
I've got the CD still. That album really stands the test of time, about once a year I'll put it in my car cd player and it'll stick for a few weeks before I get tired of it.
posted by mannequito at 1:22 PM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
None of these were obscure, unless you lived in like someplace with no radio or TV. we had at least 7 stations playing all of these songs on endless repeat where I lived anyway. Come to think of it, we still do "todays music!" is just as likely to be followed by a mid 90s song as something recorded in the last year.
posted by fshgrl at 1:25 PM on January 17, 2015
posted by fshgrl at 1:25 PM on January 17, 2015
I got into the twenties before I recognized a single song. I felt lucky to have recognized some of the ARTISTS.
I am the Anti-Hipster.
(either that or I just never bothered watching 120 Minutes because I'd given up on MTV by that point)
posted by delfin at 1:27 PM on January 17, 2015
I am the Anti-Hipster.
(either that or I just never bothered watching 120 Minutes because I'd given up on MTV by that point)
posted by delfin at 1:27 PM on January 17, 2015
It's drift, but it seems germane enough: my understanding is that Poe's followup Haunted can be seen as something as a companion piece to her brother Mark Danielewski's well-guarded but challenging novel House of Leaves.
((Gosh I wish Mefi supported Markdown -- or, alternately that I could remember to compose in an external buffer and convert before pasting in...))
posted by uberchet at 1:31 PM on January 17, 2015
((Gosh I wish Mefi supported Markdown -- or, alternately that I could remember to compose in an external buffer and convert before pasting in...))
posted by uberchet at 1:31 PM on January 17, 2015
I'm not sure how alt it is, but I always had a soft spot for Pursuit of Happiness', I'm An Adult Now.
How could Buzzfeed forget the band of the 90s?
posted by hilker at 1:36 PM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
How could Buzzfeed forget the band of the 90s?
posted by hilker at 1:36 PM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
Haunted and Hello are still in very regular rotation for me.
A friend of mine (actually, the same one who introduced me to Poe) is still very much a fan of Marcy Playground of Sex and Candy fame. We had a long conversation over the holidays about her strong feelings that you can't just stay with the music of your youth, so she tries to balance stuff out with more current stuff. I do the same...although I think she feels like my current detour into gothic-y Americana stuff is a sign of stodgification anyway!
posted by PussKillian at 1:41 PM on January 17, 2015
A friend of mine (actually, the same one who introduced me to Poe) is still very much a fan of Marcy Playground of Sex and Candy fame. We had a long conversation over the holidays about her strong feelings that you can't just stay with the music of your youth, so she tries to balance stuff out with more current stuff. I do the same...although I think she feels like my current detour into gothic-y Americana stuff is a sign of stodgification anyway!
posted by PussKillian at 1:41 PM on January 17, 2015
I'm sure it's been replayed too much to meet the exact criteria, but Possum Kingdom is the canonical "that song" for me. If it had come out five years later, I would've grabbed it off of Napster or at least looked it up to find out more about the band. But it didn't, so I heard it twice on alt radio and forgot about it until 2014. Oops.
posted by knuckle tattoos at 1:42 PM on January 17, 2015 [6 favorites]
posted by knuckle tattoos at 1:42 PM on January 17, 2015 [6 favorites]
You can tell a band is from the 90s because they all have names that make them nigh impossible to google in 2015, like Live or Copyright or The Tea Party.
posted by oulipian at 1:44 PM on January 17, 2015 [7 favorites]
posted by oulipian at 1:44 PM on January 17, 2015 [7 favorites]
(Also, totally bananas that it turns out the asshole who tied Poe up in court for a decade is also the author of the book that is the basis for the recent Monuments Men film.)
posted by uberchet at 1:46 PM on January 17, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by uberchet at 1:46 PM on January 17, 2015 [4 favorites]
There is no reason that you should google The Tea Party.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 1:47 PM on January 17, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 1:47 PM on January 17, 2015 [2 favorites]
This would be very early 90s but one song that was on constant play on WDRE in the NYC area of my youth that I never heard again was Hey Venus by That Petrol Emotion. Also, embarrassingly, I bought the Whale EP.
posted by ill3 at 2:07 PM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by ill3 at 2:07 PM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
Wasted my misguided youth not listening to pop or rock, so this is a delete. Anybody remember Brisk & Trixxy's "Eye Opener"? Just me? ok.
posted by Going To Maine at 2:13 PM on January 17, 2015
posted by Going To Maine at 2:13 PM on January 17, 2015
It's funny, I've been on a HUGE Geraldine Fibbers kick recently and BAM!! Here they are bringing up the back.
Yeah, me too starting about six months ago. That guy is right about the cover of You Doo Right being perfect. If I'm at fantasy drum camp where I get to choose what to play, that song will be it. It will be tough to explain why I'm not looking to Jaki Liebezeit for the song, but I'll manage somehow.
posted by Quonab at 2:29 PM on January 17, 2015 [3 favorites]
Yeah, me too starting about six months ago. That guy is right about the cover of You Doo Right being perfect. If I'm at fantasy drum camp where I get to choose what to play, that song will be it. It will be tough to explain why I'm not looking to Jaki Liebezeit for the song, but I'll manage somehow.
posted by Quonab at 2:29 PM on January 17, 2015 [3 favorites]
My reactions while reading through the first seven song titles on this list:
... er ... I don't ... is that a real group name? ... huh ... hmm ... I can't remember ...
Oh, K's Choice! Wow, yeah, they did Virgin State of Mind during that one Buffy the Vampire Slayer Episode where evil vampire Willow from the evil universe winds up in our world! That was a great song ... Which episode was that? Was that Dopplegangland, or was that the first one with evil vampire Willow? Anyway, guess they had other songs, too. Huh, who knew.
... This may say far too much about what I was doing during the 90's.
posted by kyrademon at 2:33 PM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
... er ... I don't ... is that a real group name? ... huh ... hmm ... I can't remember ...
Oh, K's Choice! Wow, yeah, they did Virgin State of Mind during that one Buffy the Vampire Slayer Episode where evil vampire Willow from the evil universe winds up in our world! That was a great song ... Which episode was that? Was that Dopplegangland, or was that the first one with evil vampire Willow? Anyway, guess they had other songs, too. Huh, who knew.
... This may say far too much about what I was doing during the 90's.
posted by kyrademon at 2:33 PM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
Thumbs up for Sloan, but Coax me is definitely their best tune.
posted by peppermind at 2:35 PM on January 17, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by peppermind at 2:35 PM on January 17, 2015 [2 favorites]
Everyone may know this already but Poe is the sister of "House of Leaves" author Mark Danielewski. Also the first Sundays album is a masterpiece. Especially if you're a Smiths fan.
posted by Clustercuss at 2:48 PM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Clustercuss at 2:48 PM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
Oh wow. I remember all of these and some I haven't heard in yoinks. But if we're gonna add stuff from that era that is nearly forgotten and is incredibly good, I would love to add Superdrag. Especially this song which is still so so fucking good. (They used to have the fantastic original video up for the longest time and then one day, it disappeared.)
posted by Kitteh at 2:51 PM on January 17, 2015
posted by Kitteh at 2:51 PM on January 17, 2015
Came for “Hobo Humpin’ Slobo Babe.”
Did not go away disappointed.
posted by the sobsister at 3:15 PM on January 17, 2015 [2 favorites]
Did not go away disappointed.
posted by the sobsister at 3:15 PM on January 17, 2015 [2 favorites]
Oh those take me back. Back to when I actually did watch a lot of TV and MTV still played music videos. If you didn't watch a lot of MTV in the early- and mid-90s, there's no way you'd know these bands and songs. Even as much as I watched, half of these I don't recall at all.
It's funny how some songs still stand up, and some I'm acutely embarrassed to have liked. Hobo Humpin Slobo Babe? I actually thought that song was good at the time. Why did I think that, WHY???
posted by zardoz at 3:19 PM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
It's funny how some songs still stand up, and some I'm acutely embarrassed to have liked. Hobo Humpin Slobo Babe? I actually thought that song was good at the time. Why did I think that, WHY???
posted by zardoz at 3:19 PM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
I made a spotify playlist for this and a little surprised only 30 of 38 were available on spotify (in the USA).
There were a few artists (I didn't specifically take note of this until ben lee) who had their later catalog on spotify but don't have their songs that were mentioned in this buzzfeed article.
posted by fizzix at 3:31 PM on January 17, 2015 [6 favorites]
I miss the riotous profusion of genres and movements in alt pop and rock in the mid-90s, everything sounded so different from moment to moment on the radio. Hard to achieve with modern music without putting in a crapton of work on custom playlists for various online streaming services.
posted by Slap*Happy at 4:00 PM on January 17, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Slap*Happy at 4:00 PM on January 17, 2015 [2 favorites]
Hobo Humpin Slobo Babe? I actually thought that song was good at the time. Why did I think that, WHY???
You know, Whale opened for Tricky at a student council show at the University of Chicago in...I want to say '98? 2000? They were a lot of fun!
They did a really energetic set and got a lot of crowd response, and then Tricky came on and did three songs and left in a huff.
This was the third of three times in which I attended a Tricky show where he was unable to complete his set.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 4:08 PM on January 17, 2015
You know, Whale opened for Tricky at a student council show at the University of Chicago in...I want to say '98? 2000? They were a lot of fun!
They did a really energetic set and got a lot of crowd response, and then Tricky came on and did three songs and left in a huff.
This was the third of three times in which I attended a Tricky show where he was unable to complete his set.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 4:08 PM on January 17, 2015
well, i've been working my way up from the bottom - i had thought the only one i'd heard was the letters to cleo one, but actually, i'd heard quite a few more of them
i don't remember hobo humpin slobo babe and sure as hell hope i forget it
and what about that dog?
posted by pyramid termite at 4:11 PM on January 17, 2015 [2 favorites]
i don't remember hobo humpin slobo babe and sure as hell hope i forget it
and what about that dog?
posted by pyramid termite at 4:11 PM on January 17, 2015 [2 favorites]
Jack: No British band is obscure. They never forget about any of their bands over there. Like, everyone in England still listens to Ned's. That's how it works in the UK.
This is truer than you'd think. See also The Wonder Stuff.
posted by arcticseal at 4:14 PM on January 17, 2015 [4 favorites]
This is truer than you'd think. See also The Wonder Stuff.
posted by arcticseal at 4:14 PM on January 17, 2015 [4 favorites]
A few of the songs on the first list were things I listened to a lot in college years (and occasionally today), and the second list is actually probably 2/3s stuff I listen to on a regular basis today, but it wasn't until I got to number 37 on the second list that I had a "Holy shit, I'd totally forgotten about that song!" moment.
Somewhere in the basement I have a burned CD with 600MB of MP3s labeled "Soundtrack to MCS213" that contains probably 95% of these songs (among others) - it was the finely-curated collection of MP3s that we used to put on random pretty much every night after about 10pm in the Unix lab.
posted by jferg at 5:11 PM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
Somewhere in the basement I have a burned CD with 600MB of MP3s labeled "Soundtrack to MCS213" that contains probably 95% of these songs (among others) - it was the finely-curated collection of MP3s that we used to put on random pretty much every night after about 10pm in the Unix lab.
posted by jferg at 5:11 PM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
Also, I think I saw probably at least 15 of these bands in concert at least once (including Hum at Worlds of Fun of all places in about 1994). I'm sure that says something, but I'm not sure it's a good thing.
posted by jferg at 5:13 PM on January 17, 2015
posted by jferg at 5:13 PM on January 17, 2015
fuck yes this was made for me and none of the rest of you you are all just visitors here and you can all go home now thank you
posted by Navelgazer at 5:28 PM on January 17, 2015
posted by Navelgazer at 5:28 PM on January 17, 2015
That Poe contract story makes me so righteously angry that I personally missed out on years worth of new Poe songs.
Some other things to check out from bands in this thread:
Self - Gizmodgery (recorded on toy instruments, features a great cover of "What a Fool Believes")
Toadies - Hell Below/Stars Above
that dog. - retreat from the sun (began as Anna Waronker's first solo album)
Anna Waronker - Anna (her actual first solo album)
Superdrag - everything, with the possible exception of Last Call For Vitriol
posted by aaronetc at 5:34 PM on January 17, 2015 [3 favorites]
Some other things to check out from bands in this thread:
Self - Gizmodgery (recorded on toy instruments, features a great cover of "What a Fool Believes")
Toadies - Hell Below/Stars Above
that dog. - retreat from the sun (began as Anna Waronker's first solo album)
Anna Waronker - Anna (her actual first solo album)
Superdrag - everything, with the possible exception of Last Call For Vitriol
posted by aaronetc at 5:34 PM on January 17, 2015 [3 favorites]
Like it had to be the mid-nineties for a band called Green Apple Quick Step to put a song called Los Vargos on radio rotation without multiple people slapping the shit out of them and explaining just all the things that were going to be changed there.
posted by Navelgazer at 5:35 PM on January 17, 2015
posted by Navelgazer at 5:35 PM on January 17, 2015
It's a lot less grunge-heavy than I was expecting, which is good. Nice to see Frente (though I think that Even As We Speak's acoustic cover of Bizarre Love Triangle knocks theirs into a cocked hat) and Bis (who have just played a gig here in London, and released remastered/expanded versions of their 90s albums) in the list.
posted by acb at 5:53 PM on January 17, 2015
posted by acb at 5:53 PM on January 17, 2015
Some off-menu choices:
Dog's Eye View: The Prince's Favorite Son
Cowboy Mouth: Jenny Says
Southern Culture on the Skids: Camel Walk
The Breeders: Saints
And, because this whole list could be Tanya Donnelly songs and make me happy,
Belly: Thief
posted by Navelgazer at 5:57 PM on January 17, 2015 [8 favorites]
Dog's Eye View: The Prince's Favorite Son
Cowboy Mouth: Jenny Says
Southern Culture on the Skids: Camel Walk
The Breeders: Saints
And, because this whole list could be Tanya Donnelly songs and make me happy,
Belly: Thief
posted by Navelgazer at 5:57 PM on January 17, 2015 [8 favorites]
Sometimes I think everyone on earth really likes Self and also thinks nobody else has ever heard of Self. That's my situation, at any rate.
posted by escabeche at 5:57 PM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by escabeche at 5:57 PM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
Baby ... will you eat that there snack cracker in your ... special outfit for me?
posted by jferg at 5:59 PM on January 17, 2015 [6 favorites]
posted by jferg at 5:59 PM on January 17, 2015 [6 favorites]
There's a version of Poe's "Hey Pretty" which has her brother reading off a section of House of Leaves on it if you want to choke yourself on the year 2001 or anything.
posted by Navelgazer at 6:07 PM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Navelgazer at 6:07 PM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
Oh yah, the 90s the decade where I food the "which Alternative music star will OD in heroin next" betting pool.
But seriously, it occurs to me that my "grrl rock" Pandora feed is about 50% 90s bands. Garbage, Republica, Breeders, Lush, Echobelly, Curve, PJ Harvey...and then the 2000s hit, and it's like the industry said, "OK, enough of that. Rock's for men again."
posted by happyroach at 6:07 PM on January 17, 2015 [3 favorites]
But seriously, it occurs to me that my "grrl rock" Pandora feed is about 50% 90s bands. Garbage, Republica, Breeders, Lush, Echobelly, Curve, PJ Harvey...and then the 2000s hit, and it's like the industry said, "OK, enough of that. Rock's for men again."
posted by happyroach at 6:07 PM on January 17, 2015 [3 favorites]
Love these kinds of lists (minus the Buzzfeed). So many of these songs still have heavy play on the rotation for me. Also love that there are more Whale fans out there. Very good cover of Prince's "Darling Nikki" on their EP.
posted by snwod at 6:17 PM on January 17, 2015
posted by snwod at 6:17 PM on January 17, 2015
If you didn't watch a lot of MTV in the early- and mid-90s, there's no way you'd know these bands and songs. Even as much as I watched, half of these I don't recall at all.
I think zardoz has a point, here - I'm vague on or unaware of about half of these, too. But at the time I didn't really do MTV, for a variety of reasons; most of the popular stuff I picked up via sporadic commercial radio listening and word-of-mouth and articles in Spin. And quite a few of the ones I do recognize I recognize because they intersected with or originated in the more underground parts of the "scene" (Hum and GVSB, for example.) So yeah, I think radio was still local enough that not all of these tunes were played everywhere, MTV was the real nationwide promotion machine.
I feel like late 80s-90s music was like the 80s movie industry--producers just threw everything at the wall without even bothering to see what stuck, and the people who tried consciously to make "the next big thing" tended to fail.
I bet a hell of a lot of these bands felt the sting of Steve Albini's (in)famous "Some of your friends are probably already this fucked" essay in a very visceral way. Plus, the documentary about Sonic Youth was titled 1991: The Year Punk Broke (emphasis mine) for a reason.
posted by soundguy99 at 6:34 PM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
I think zardoz has a point, here - I'm vague on or unaware of about half of these, too. But at the time I didn't really do MTV, for a variety of reasons; most of the popular stuff I picked up via sporadic commercial radio listening and word-of-mouth and articles in Spin. And quite a few of the ones I do recognize I recognize because they intersected with or originated in the more underground parts of the "scene" (Hum and GVSB, for example.) So yeah, I think radio was still local enough that not all of these tunes were played everywhere, MTV was the real nationwide promotion machine.
I feel like late 80s-90s music was like the 80s movie industry--producers just threw everything at the wall without even bothering to see what stuck, and the people who tried consciously to make "the next big thing" tended to fail.
I bet a hell of a lot of these bands felt the sting of Steve Albini's (in)famous "Some of your friends are probably already this fucked" essay in a very visceral way. Plus, the documentary about Sonic Youth was titled 1991: The Year Punk Broke (emphasis mine) for a reason.
posted by soundguy99 at 6:34 PM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
I bet a hell of a lot of these bands felt the sting of Steve Albini's (in)famous "Some of your friends are probably already this fucked" essay in a very visceral way.
Exactly what I thought of once I got to "Scarce: All Sideways."
posted by Navelgazer at 6:39 PM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
Exactly what I thought of once I got to "Scarce: All Sideways."
posted by Navelgazer at 6:39 PM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
Also, the second most worn-out-through-simply-so-goddamn-much-playing CD from my youth (after Siamese Dream, because come on I was a teenager) has to have been Belly's King.
posted by Navelgazer at 6:47 PM on January 17, 2015 [6 favorites]
posted by Navelgazer at 6:47 PM on January 17, 2015 [6 favorites]
So much I could add, but I'll just start with some Imperial Teen.
posted by thecjm at 7:04 PM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by thecjm at 7:04 PM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
Imperial Drag. Spider.
Tea Leone. Down to the Grass. This song does not exist, now. She was never a musician, and her album was never made. Wow. Kind of distressing. The internet does not live up to its "censorship is damage and will be routed around" rep. It's an important song to me, just... not there.
posted by Slap*Happy at 7:41 PM on January 17, 2015
Tea Leone. Down to the Grass. This song does not exist, now. She was never a musician, and her album was never made. Wow. Kind of distressing. The internet does not live up to its "censorship is damage and will be routed around" rep. It's an important song to me, just... not there.
posted by Slap*Happy at 7:41 PM on January 17, 2015
If you don't already own a copy of Big Shiny Tunes 2, just go buy it. If you've read this far in this thread, you won't regret the purchase.
posted by Imperfect at 7:45 PM on January 17, 2015
posted by Imperfect at 7:45 PM on January 17, 2015
i'm really happy and grateful for this post - it let me catch up on some things from the 90s - and i've discovered that it was poe who did that song that said "you can't talk to a psycho like a normal human being"
i was working night shift at a convenience store and her wisdom really, really helped - we had an alternative station back then that played it and all the interesting stuff of that time - then they went back to hair metal
phooey
and you guys have forgotten one classic group of that period - mercury rev
posted by pyramid termite at 8:00 PM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
i was working night shift at a convenience store and her wisdom really, really helped - we had an alternative station back then that played it and all the interesting stuff of that time - then they went back to hair metal
phooey
and you guys have forgotten one classic group of that period - mercury rev
posted by pyramid termite at 8:00 PM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
Verve Pipe shows up on the second list, with Photograph, which was actually a pretty decent song. Verve Pipe was the first "local" band I've ever seen make it big. They weren't technicall from Kalamazoo, but they had a ton of shows there (including my first ever concert, Kalapalooza, and their album release party for Pop Smear). I remember listening to WIDR, and hearing them when they were called Johnni With An I or something, and that was when I first heard Freshmen. It was a pretty awesome song, just the lead singer and an acoustic guitar. Pretty powerful, in an early nineties kind of way. Probably helped that I was a high school freshman at the time.
Moving forward, and I'm in college, and heard that they were going national. I was pretty excited (though there were definitely a good number of other Kalamazoo bands I liked more, like Screwtape, Rollinghead, The Erj, and Twitch* among others). I told friends about it. I heard that Freshman was going to be on the album, and I the first chance I had, I listened to it, unaware it had been redone as a whiny slackadaisical piece of maudlin, complete with utterly unnecessary, uninteresting drums and total lack of any of the earnest intensity of the original.
In light of their national exposure, their old albums got rereleased, but at least at first, I've Suffered A Head Injury wasn't available, or it was, but without the original version of the song, I can't remember which. I was mortally offended in that way you can only be when you've been listening to a band no one else had heard of, and we're excited to share them, only to have it turn out to be utterly different. And, uh, that's all I have to say about that.
Twitch did actually get a record deal, and released one full length album that I found, shockingly, at Best Buy in the late nineties. It was thoroughly not bad, and convinced me to get my old EP out of the closet and listen to it again.
Thought Industry was, until Verve Pipe, the "big" Kalamazoo band, but, seriously, meh. Art metal.
posted by Ghidorah at 8:13 PM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
Moving forward, and I'm in college, and heard that they were going national. I was pretty excited (though there were definitely a good number of other Kalamazoo bands I liked more, like Screwtape, Rollinghead, The Erj, and Twitch* among others). I told friends about it. I heard that Freshman was going to be on the album, and I the first chance I had, I listened to it, unaware it had been redone as a whiny slackadaisical piece of maudlin, complete with utterly unnecessary, uninteresting drums and total lack of any of the earnest intensity of the original.
In light of their national exposure, their old albums got rereleased, but at least at first, I've Suffered A Head Injury wasn't available, or it was, but without the original version of the song, I can't remember which. I was mortally offended in that way you can only be when you've been listening to a band no one else had heard of, and we're excited to share them, only to have it turn out to be utterly different. And, uh, that's all I have to say about that.
Twitch did actually get a record deal, and released one full length album that I found, shockingly, at Best Buy in the late nineties. It was thoroughly not bad, and convinced me to get my old EP out of the closet and listen to it again.
Thought Industry was, until Verve Pipe, the "big" Kalamazoo band, but, seriously, meh. Art metal.
posted by Ghidorah at 8:13 PM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
Agreed that Photograph = Good Song. If anything, and I know it's a cliche, but "The Freshmen" was the weakest song on an otherwise really interesting and distinct album.
posted by Navelgazer at 8:16 PM on January 17, 2015
posted by Navelgazer at 8:16 PM on January 17, 2015
Oh, and for a REAL quick flashback collection, check this out:
Polka Power
posted by Imperfect at 8:18 PM on January 17, 2015
Polka Power
posted by Imperfect at 8:18 PM on January 17, 2015
Haven't thought about in 20 years? Hell “Banditos” is in my shower playlist. Thanks for the reminders about Republica and Spacehog though. Those should be in there too.
They totally missed “Supercollider” by Tribe though.
posted by ob1quixote at 8:22 PM on January 17, 2015 [3 favorites]
They totally missed “Supercollider” by Tribe though.
posted by ob1quixote at 8:22 PM on January 17, 2015 [3 favorites]
Behold the contents of most of my iTunes library!
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 8:29 PM on January 17, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 8:29 PM on January 17, 2015 [2 favorites]
bobcaygeon
grace, too
nautical disaster
gift shop
huge in canada, and hardly known in the us, the tragically hip belong in this thread
posted by pyramid termite at 8:33 PM on January 17, 2015 [2 favorites]
grace, too
nautical disaster
gift shop
huge in canada, and hardly known in the us, the tragically hip belong in this thread
posted by pyramid termite at 8:33 PM on January 17, 2015 [2 favorites]
If you don't already own a copy of Big Shiny Tunes 2, just go buy it. If you've read this far in this thread, you won't regret the purchase.
Considering that about 90% of those tunes are permanently engraved in my brain because they have been constantly, thoroughly, inescapable (here in the midwestern U.S., anyway) since they were released, I have to say I absolutely would regret the purchase as Totally Unnecessary.
Seriously, I'm gonna be 90 years old, tottering down the side of the road after having escaped from the dementia ward of the assisted living facility, and the cops are gonna pull up and ask, "Hey, sir, can you tell me your name? Where you live?" and I'm gonna stare at them for a minute, and then open my mouth and sing
"I WANT SOMETHING ELSE
TO GET ME THOUGH THIS
SEMI-CHARMED KIND OF LIFE BABY, BABY"
because that'll be the only neural connections my poor worn-out brain will still be able to spark.
And I don't even like that fucking song, is the worst part.
posted by soundguy99 at 8:41 PM on January 17, 2015 [5 favorites]
Considering that about 90% of those tunes are permanently engraved in my brain because they have been constantly, thoroughly, inescapable (here in the midwestern U.S., anyway) since they were released, I have to say I absolutely would regret the purchase as Totally Unnecessary.
Seriously, I'm gonna be 90 years old, tottering down the side of the road after having escaped from the dementia ward of the assisted living facility, and the cops are gonna pull up and ask, "Hey, sir, can you tell me your name? Where you live?" and I'm gonna stare at them for a minute, and then open my mouth and sing
"I WANT SOMETHING ELSE
TO GET ME THOUGH THIS
SEMI-CHARMED KIND OF LIFE BABY, BABY"
because that'll be the only neural connections my poor worn-out brain will still be able to spark.
And I don't even like that fucking song, is the worst part.
posted by soundguy99 at 8:41 PM on January 17, 2015 [5 favorites]
There were 36 songs for which I went "meh, I think maybe I remember this but did not find it formative or seminal" and two which I not only haven't forgotten, but are on my workout playlist - 23 and 24.
posted by Miko at 8:42 PM on January 17, 2015
posted by Miko at 8:42 PM on January 17, 2015
Well now this is super on my mind, so here are a bunch of other tracks from potentially forgotten or near-miss 90s bands that are great.
Blinker the Star - "Below the Sliding Doors"
Failure (new record supposedly in progress!) - "Stuck on You"
Firewater (ex-Cop Shoot Cop) - "I Still Love You Judas"
Harvey Danger - "Old Hat"
Jawbox - "Livid"
Jill Sobule - "When My Ship Comes In"
Juliana Hatfield (new Juliana Hatfield Three album next month!) - "Dumb Fun"
Marcy Playground - "Poppies"
Matthew Sweet - "Sick of Myself"
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones - "Another Drinkin' Song
Poster Children - "0 For 1"
The Presidents of the United States of America - "Body"
Reel Big Fish - "Brand New Song"
Soul Asylum - "Bittersweetheart"
posted by aaronetc at 8:42 PM on January 17, 2015 [5 favorites]
Blinker the Star - "Below the Sliding Doors"
Failure (new record supposedly in progress!) - "Stuck on You"
Firewater (ex-Cop Shoot Cop) - "I Still Love You Judas"
Harvey Danger - "Old Hat"
Jawbox - "Livid"
Jill Sobule - "When My Ship Comes In"
Juliana Hatfield (new Juliana Hatfield Three album next month!) - "Dumb Fun"
Marcy Playground - "Poppies"
Matthew Sweet - "Sick of Myself"
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones - "Another Drinkin' Song
Poster Children - "0 For 1"
The Presidents of the United States of America - "Body"
Reel Big Fish - "Brand New Song"
Soul Asylum - "Bittersweetheart"
posted by aaronetc at 8:42 PM on January 17, 2015 [5 favorites]
I spent a summer in Michigan and "Freshmen" was a big part of it, but mainly because there was a lot of local boosterism about the song and how the guys were from Michigan. It used to bug me that they said "merely" freshmen, instead of "only" freshmen, which I think would have been better because it came out sounding faux-literary in a strained way.
The Michigan band I was the biggest fan of at the time was the bunch of guys that lived semi-illegally in our rental house in East Lansing which was supposed to hold, like, four people and held more like sixteen throughout that summer. I wish I had their recordings. I still remember how great their songs were.
posted by Miko at 8:47 PM on January 17, 2015
The Michigan band I was the biggest fan of at the time was the bunch of guys that lived semi-illegally in our rental house in East Lansing which was supposed to hold, like, four people and held more like sixteen throughout that summer. I wish I had their recordings. I still remember how great their songs were.
posted by Miko at 8:47 PM on January 17, 2015
So to set the scene: It's spring of 1996, almost at the end of my Freshman year of high school. There's a girl, Rachel Olsen, who I've known for a few years, but only really from afar until this year.
I'd first heard of her when my best friend had a crush on her in 6th grade that he was never going to act on. For all I know, he only said her name because I pushed him to name someone he was into. Anyway...
It's a few years later, and we have a few classes together. First period Health class, where at one point we were supposed to be paired up to pretend to be parents for something, and she immediately chose me. We'd also walk from fifth period History to our separate 6th period classes every day, until I would inevitably run into my fried Joel, who'd inevitably tell me to keep walking with the cute girl who was obviously into me.
Of course, I was too well taught by years of school to believe that Rachel could possibly actually "like" like me, despite basically everybody telling me so, and my wishing it was true so badly that actually testing those waters became terrifying, and so this happened.
Towards the end of the year, on one of our walks, she asked if I wanted to buy a CD from this band called Timmy. She was into the singer, she told me, and wanted a chance to talk to him.
That seemed more like what I could expect from girls, so I said sure, and gave her the ten bucks for the CD. The next day or so, she gve me the CD, and for all I remember that might have been the last I saw of her.
The thing is, that album was fucking amazing, and I don't have it anymore, and have no way of ever, ever getting it back. Long-shot of all Long-shots: If anybody has a copy of Melodic Mirrors by Timmy, put it up online and get it to me. I regret losing that CD even more than I regret missing the signals from Rachel.
THank you.
posted by Navelgazer at 9:07 PM on January 17, 2015 [3 favorites]
I'd first heard of her when my best friend had a crush on her in 6th grade that he was never going to act on. For all I know, he only said her name because I pushed him to name someone he was into. Anyway...
It's a few years later, and we have a few classes together. First period Health class, where at one point we were supposed to be paired up to pretend to be parents for something, and she immediately chose me. We'd also walk from fifth period History to our separate 6th period classes every day, until I would inevitably run into my fried Joel, who'd inevitably tell me to keep walking with the cute girl who was obviously into me.
Of course, I was too well taught by years of school to believe that Rachel could possibly actually "like" like me, despite basically everybody telling me so, and my wishing it was true so badly that actually testing those waters became terrifying, and so this happened.
Towards the end of the year, on one of our walks, she asked if I wanted to buy a CD from this band called Timmy. She was into the singer, she told me, and wanted a chance to talk to him.
That seemed more like what I could expect from girls, so I said sure, and gave her the ten bucks for the CD. The next day or so, she gve me the CD, and for all I remember that might have been the last I saw of her.
The thing is, that album was fucking amazing, and I don't have it anymore, and have no way of ever, ever getting it back. Long-shot of all Long-shots: If anybody has a copy of Melodic Mirrors by Timmy, put it up online and get it to me. I regret losing that CD even more than I regret missing the signals from Rachel.
THank you.
posted by Navelgazer at 9:07 PM on January 17, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by namewithoutwords at 9:22 PM on January 17, 2015 [2 favorites]
The Toadies were listed, but not Possum Kingdom
Sponge too, but not Rotting Pinata, though they did reference Plowed. The whole damn album is surprisingly good, and might have to find its way back into my phone sometime soon.
From the two lists, though, I feel like I was listening to stations that were playing songs from the second list, not the first.
Neither list has the hands down best song to come out of grunge. Screaming Trees, Nearly Lost You. The song still rocks, the video makes me cringe. So 90s. Much hair.
posted by Ghidorah at 10:27 PM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
Sponge too, but not Rotting Pinata, though they did reference Plowed. The whole damn album is surprisingly good, and might have to find its way back into my phone sometime soon.
From the two lists, though, I feel like I was listening to stations that were playing songs from the second list, not the first.
Neither list has the hands down best song to come out of grunge. Screaming Trees, Nearly Lost You. The song still rocks, the video makes me cringe. So 90s. Much hair.
posted by Ghidorah at 10:27 PM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
Wow. So, in the spirit of Kalamazoo rock nostalgia, I threw Rollinghead into Youtube, and their version of Strangle You is one of two videos. It's from 2009, and the thing is, that's the summer I spent back in town after my father died. I spent the whole summer cleaning out his semi-abandoned house, mostly on my own, sometimes with help from cousins who lived across town, but who I really didn't have much in common with. One weekend night, to blow off steam, my cousins and I went out to drink in downtown. I'd left Kalamazoo before drinking age, and the place is utterly different now. I was in a pretty odd place, still dealing with my dad being gone, missing my wife who was back in Japan, and, honestly, feeling kind of weird about being back in Kalamazoo, a place I'd never thought I'd see much of again, for a month, after ten years living outside of the States.
We got out of the car, downtown Kalamazoo, and I heard Strangle You playing from across a couple parking lots, and even though I hadn't heard the song in about fifteen years, I immediately started singing along with it, and now I found it, that night, on Youtube. You probably can't hear the guy a couple parking lots away screaming "Holy shit! Rollinghead!" but he's there, somewhere.
posted by Ghidorah at 10:42 PM on January 17, 2015 [2 favorites]
We got out of the car, downtown Kalamazoo, and I heard Strangle You playing from across a couple parking lots, and even though I hadn't heard the song in about fifteen years, I immediately started singing along with it, and now I found it, that night, on Youtube. You probably can't hear the guy a couple parking lots away screaming "Holy shit! Rollinghead!" but he's there, somewhere.
posted by Ghidorah at 10:42 PM on January 17, 2015 [2 favorites]
I don't know what makes me feel older. Kids today getting all wound up about Taylor Swift (or whoever), or adults waxing nostalgia on their 1990s teendom (by which point I was fully committed to my thirties).
either way, your favorite band sucks, or as we used to say back in the 90s, because everybody was in at least one, "I hate your band."
posted by philip-random at 11:13 PM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
either way, your favorite band sucks, or as we used to say back in the 90s, because everybody was in at least one, "I hate your band."
posted by philip-random at 11:13 PM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
This is how Third Eye Blind should be remembered.
posted by ostranenie at 11:28 PM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by ostranenie at 11:28 PM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
If you like Hum check out Poster Children. They're another Champaign band that worked together and shared a guitarist, iirc.
posted by persona au gratin at 11:50 PM on January 17, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by persona au gratin at 11:50 PM on January 17, 2015 [3 favorites]
I mean, I should expect this based on a "you remember" Buzzfeed list, but . . . there were actually some really interesting bands in the nineties. Except for Geraldine Fibbers and Meat Puppets, I feel like none of these are among them . . .
posted by aspersioncast at 11:52 PM on January 17, 2015
posted by aspersioncast at 11:52 PM on January 17, 2015
yeah, you're right. I just took a quick look at one of my iTunes playlists and ...
Alabama 3 (aka A3)
Afghan Whigs
Amon Tobin
Autechre
Aphex Twin
Basehead
Beta Band
Biosphere
Boo Radleys
Bowery Electric
Cake
Codeine
Cornershop
Cul de Sac
and that's just the ABCs.
posted by philip-random at 12:05 AM on January 18, 2015
Alabama 3 (aka A3)
Afghan Whigs
Amon Tobin
Autechre
Aphex Twin
Basehead
Beta Band
Biosphere
Boo Radleys
Bowery Electric
Cake
Codeine
Cornershop
Cul de Sac
and that's just the ABCs.
posted by philip-random at 12:05 AM on January 18, 2015
MC 900' Jesus, If I only had a brain.
posted by persona au gratin at 12:19 AM on January 18, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by persona au gratin at 12:19 AM on January 18, 2015 [2 favorites]
I'm just here to agree with the chorus of voices in my browser singing the praises of Poe's "Haunted", and to shake my fists at the contractual unfairness of her musical career.
That album is amazing.
posted by offalark at 1:06 AM on January 18, 2015 [3 favorites]
That album is amazing.
posted by offalark at 1:06 AM on January 18, 2015 [3 favorites]
The Verve Pipe can be claimed as East Lansing or Grand Rapids but not kzoo!
And I worked with two of them at a coffee shop.!!!
I have a bunch of CDs of East Lansing bands that feel much more important to my 90s life than these other national bands. I wonder if kids today are still into local music?
posted by k8t at 3:46 AM on January 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
And I worked with two of them at a coffee shop.!!!
I have a bunch of CDs of East Lansing bands that feel much more important to my 90s life than these other national bands. I wonder if kids today are still into local music?
posted by k8t at 3:46 AM on January 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
Wikipedia led me to discover the pathetic life the Verve Pipe guys now lead. Includes motivational speaking.
posted by k8t at 3:53 AM on January 18, 2015
posted by k8t at 3:53 AM on January 18, 2015
k8t, while technically true, it seems like they were always in Kalamazoo, and, as I mentioned, they had an album release party in Kalamazoo at the State Theater (the fantastic venue where I saw almost all of the concerts of my teen years and to which all venues since have been measured and found wanting). Let's just call them a southwest Michigan band.
posted by Ghidorah at 4:41 AM on January 18, 2015
posted by Ghidorah at 4:41 AM on January 18, 2015
Just putting in another huge shout-out for Failure, who are indeed back in the studio. It seems like they were a little too heavy (or something) to get caught in the "alternative" dragnet in my neck of the woods, and I never once heard of them or heard anything by them when all this other stuff was hot. (they did open for Tool on one tour, which explains how A Perfect Circle wound up covering The Nurse who Loved Me .) Steve Albini produced Failure's first album and I think it was a terrible stylistic mismatch. Listen to Fantastic Planet, it's absolutely epic from start to end. Ken Andrews is an excellent producer on top of his songwriting and playing talents, and I can't wait for the new album. Bonus one-off 1990s side project: Replicants.
posted by usonian at 5:26 AM on January 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by usonian at 5:26 AM on January 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
1. Dig, “Believe”
Heh. One time in high school my friends and I were going to the local laser tag arena (yeah, you heard that right) and we rolled up in my friend's Oldsmobile Cutlass, stoned out of our minds. When we walked in, the laser tag guys were like, are you the band? And we were like, huh? Turns out Dig was supposed to play a show there and they thought we were Dig. Yep, haven't thought about that in about 20 years.
posted by ultraviolet catastrophe at 5:46 AM on January 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
Heh. One time in high school my friends and I were going to the local laser tag arena (yeah, you heard that right) and we rolled up in my friend's Oldsmobile Cutlass, stoned out of our minds. When we walked in, the laser tag guys were like, are you the band? And we were like, huh? Turns out Dig was supposed to play a show there and they thought we were Dig. Yep, haven't thought about that in about 20 years.
posted by ultraviolet catastrophe at 5:46 AM on January 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
I wonder if kids today are still into local music?
I think so. There are a bunch of great Madison and Milwaukee acts playing right now and whenever I see them there are clearly a lot of college-age local superfans in the audience. At some point I'm going to make a rock of southern Wisconsin roundup FPP.
posted by escabeche at 7:12 AM on January 18, 2015
I think so. There are a bunch of great Madison and Milwaukee acts playing right now and whenever I see them there are clearly a lot of college-age local superfans in the audience. At some point I'm going to make a rock of southern Wisconsin roundup FPP.
posted by escabeche at 7:12 AM on January 18, 2015
For unknown reasons, the Afghan Whigs' "Somethin' Hot' has been in my head a lot lately. If we're talking about 90s bands we haven't thought about in a long time. Ditto Morphine ("Honey White").
I still get sad when I think about Mark Sandman. :(
posted by Spathe Cadet at 7:52 AM on January 18, 2015 [4 favorites]
I still get sad when I think about Mark Sandman. :(
posted by Spathe Cadet at 7:52 AM on January 18, 2015 [4 favorites]
People have covered the '90s angle here, so here's a list of songs released in the last year or so that sound like they're being beamed in from some strange alternate universe 1993 of the mind: a past that is also future:
The History of Apple Pie, Jamais Vu.
Stargazer Lilies, Del Rey Mar.
Wolf Alice, Moaning Lisa Smile.
Honeyblood, Choker.
Menace Beach, Fortune Teller.
Cheatahs, Kenworth.
posted by Sonny Jim at 7:57 AM on January 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
The History of Apple Pie, Jamais Vu.
Stargazer Lilies, Del Rey Mar.
Wolf Alice, Moaning Lisa Smile.
Honeyblood, Choker.
Menace Beach, Fortune Teller.
Cheatahs, Kenworth.
posted by Sonny Jim at 7:57 AM on January 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
This thread just jogged loose another one that's almost as annoying as What's Up? - Mazzy Star, Fade Into You. 4 minutes, 28 seconds long but it feels like about 20! And some asshole dorm neighbor played it constantly!
posted by usonian at 8:34 AM on January 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by usonian at 8:34 AM on January 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
I lived in Champaign-Urbana at the time, which had a "modern rock" station. 107.1, The Planet, played Pearl Jam so often that one wondered if Eddie Vedder had pulled the station manager out of a burning building at one point. Hum was also local to C-U, so "Stars" got a lot of play. I only remember it as
She says she missed the train to Mars
She's out back counting stars
CHUNGA CHUNGA CHUNGA CHUNGA CHUNGA CHUNGA CHUNGA
repeat x 17
posted by Legomancer at 8:40 AM on January 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
She says she missed the train to Mars
She's out back counting stars
CHUNGA CHUNGA CHUNGA CHUNGA CHUNGA CHUNGA CHUNGA
repeat x 17
posted by Legomancer at 8:40 AM on January 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
Wikipedia led me to discover the pathetic life the Verve Pipe guys now lead. Includes motivational speaking.
They put out a decent kids album. My brother takes my under-10-years-old nephews to see their family friendly shows. It's great because the kids don't feel like they were being forced to listen to baby music and it's something my brother can enjoy. My nephew caught a drum stick and showed it to everybody who came to the house for months. I'm glad they were able to give my nephews such happy memories of time spent with their dad.
posted by MaritaCov at 8:53 AM on January 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
They put out a decent kids album. My brother takes my under-10-years-old nephews to see their family friendly shows. It's great because the kids don't feel like they were being forced to listen to baby music and it's something my brother can enjoy. My nephew caught a drum stick and showed it to everybody who came to the house for months. I'm glad they were able to give my nephews such happy memories of time spent with their dad.
posted by MaritaCov at 8:53 AM on January 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
This thread just jogged loose another one that's almost as annoying as What's Up? - Mazzy Star, Fade Into You . 4 minutes, 28 seconds long but it feels like about 20! And some asshole dorm neighbor played it constantly!
Aka, The Song that Was In Any Show by The WB.
posted by Kitteh at 9:00 AM on January 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
Aka, The Song that Was In Any Show by The WB.
posted by Kitteh at 9:00 AM on January 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
My dad is from Grand Rapids, and every time we went to visit around Xmas in the early-mid 90s, the radio would be packed with ads for NYE shows inevitably featuring the Verve Pipe and Fat Amy. AFAIK, Fat Amy never went anywhere, but I was in college in Michigan when "The Freshmen" came out, I think my show on the campus station may have been the only one that ever played rock that never played that song. Just atrocious. Flash forward about 15 years and I met a guy who started in my grad program the year after I finished who turned out to have been their publicist or something, and was a huge Verve Pipe/Brian Vander Ark fan, and for whom I immediately lost all respect.
On another note, Failure fans should check out Ken Andrews' albums with On and Year of the Rabbit if they haven't already.
posted by aaronetc at 9:28 AM on January 18, 2015 [2 favorites]
On another note, Failure fans should check out Ken Andrews' albums with On and Year of the Rabbit if they haven't already.
posted by aaronetc at 9:28 AM on January 18, 2015 [2 favorites]
I have a bunch of CDs of East Lansing bands that feel much more important to my 90s life than these other national bands. I wonder if kids today are still into local music?
I feel the same why about the local music of my youth, and it's why I think streaming services like Spotify and its ilk are the devil. Now if you'll excuse me, I just spilled my pills and I need to take my Metamucil AND THOSE DAMN KIDS ARE ON MY LAWN AGAIN—
posted by entropicamericana at 9:30 AM on January 18, 2015
I feel the same why about the local music of my youth, and it's why I think streaming services like Spotify and its ilk are the devil. Now if you'll excuse me, I just spilled my pills and I need to take my Metamucil AND THOSE DAMN KIDS ARE ON MY LAWN AGAIN—
posted by entropicamericana at 9:30 AM on January 18, 2015
escabeche, I would be very interested in that. When I was a teen in the 80s, it felt like for a hot minute that Milwaukee/Madison would become some sort of proto-Seattle.
I went to Riverside High School in Milwaukee for a couple years in the mid-80s, and some days after school, I'd go to a pal's house where, on the way, we could see the Violent Femmes rehearsing at Brian Ritchie's house. He had a plate glass front room window, and that was awesome, especially since I wasn't allowed to go to any secular music shows. Then a couple years later, Gordon Gano dated one of my friends for a short while. He had joined the choir at her church (!) and they met and hit it off. It ended pretty quickly when her preacher dad found out he was a rock musician, and he didn't know right away because I could probably count on one hand how many black people we knew liked/listened to rock music, much less knew the local scene. She didn't even know at first until she told me she had a new boyfriend, told me his name, and I fucking freaked out. She was 18 at the time, and he was 23, so at least it was legal!
posted by droplet at 9:31 AM on January 18, 2015
I went to Riverside High School in Milwaukee for a couple years in the mid-80s, and some days after school, I'd go to a pal's house where, on the way, we could see the Violent Femmes rehearsing at Brian Ritchie's house. He had a plate glass front room window, and that was awesome, especially since I wasn't allowed to go to any secular music shows. Then a couple years later, Gordon Gano dated one of my friends for a short while. He had joined the choir at her church (!) and they met and hit it off. It ended pretty quickly when her preacher dad found out he was a rock musician, and he didn't know right away because I could probably count on one hand how many black people we knew liked/listened to rock music, much less knew the local scene. She didn't even know at first until she told me she had a new boyfriend, told me his name, and I fucking freaked out. She was 18 at the time, and he was 23, so at least it was legal!
posted by droplet at 9:31 AM on January 18, 2015
I'm with you, Ob1quixote, Banditos is on regular rotation in my life, holding some special significance!
And I have been on the hunt for a karaoke version of Possum Kingdom forever, to no avail. The best part about combing through this list for me has been remember in how much I wanted to make music when I was younger and listening to some of these bands and realizing that my teenaged self is no longer standing in my own way. Off to learn to play some new-old songs!
posted by Hopeful and Cynical at 9:56 AM on January 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
And I have been on the hunt for a karaoke version of Possum Kingdom forever, to no avail. The best part about combing through this list for me has been remember in how much I wanted to make music when I was younger and listening to some of these bands and realizing that my teenaged self is no longer standing in my own way. Off to learn to play some new-old songs!
posted by Hopeful and Cynical at 9:56 AM on January 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
That's all kind of interesting, droplet, especially because I've read that Gano migrated back into Christian music and religiously driven lifestyle that spelled the end of VF ("artistic differences"). Also, as I am sitting here typing this with iTunes on random shuffle, "Add it Up" just came up and started playing all by itself NO JOKE.
I associate VF much more with the late 80s - they were the soundtrack to one summer, at arts camp? in 1986, and the following year or so it was their second album.
posted by Miko at 10:19 AM on January 18, 2015 [2 favorites]
I associate VF much more with the late 80s - they were the soundtrack to one summer, at arts camp? in 1986, and the following year or so it was their second album.
posted by Miko at 10:19 AM on January 18, 2015 [2 favorites]
I was going to ignore this list, but it has the Lightning Seeds' "Pure" on it. So now I am forced to take it seriously. This song makes me happy too.
posted by tallmiddleagedgeek at 2:32 PM on January 18, 2015
posted by tallmiddleagedgeek at 2:32 PM on January 18, 2015
I still love 90s music so much. The sound of distorted guitars was so formative. I'm so psyched to see mention of That Dog, I played Long Island so much on my college radio show. Also, that Tripping Daisy album that came out after their big hit was so surprisingly good. I remember playing it for the first time and being blown away by how perfectly indie pop it was.
A few more contributions:
Medicine- Time Baby II
Better Than Ezra- In the Blood
Hooverphonic- 2Wicky
The Martinis- Free (from Empire Records!)
Ashtray Babyhead- Mir- I don't think this ever got any radio play but I loved how sugary and power-poppy it is. And that is possibly the worst band name I have ever heard.
posted by banjo_and_the_pork at 3:18 PM on January 18, 2015
A few more contributions:
Medicine- Time Baby II
Better Than Ezra- In the Blood
Hooverphonic- 2Wicky
The Martinis- Free (from Empire Records!)
Ashtray Babyhead- Mir- I don't think this ever got any radio play but I loved how sugary and power-poppy it is. And that is possibly the worst band name I have ever heard.
posted by banjo_and_the_pork at 3:18 PM on January 18, 2015
that dog. - retreat from the sun (began as Anna Waronker's first solo album)
OH GOD YES. I actually do think about them from time to time, mainly because one person or another from that band occasionally pops up in things (usually it's Petra Haden, who put together some neat acapella albums that barely fit the definition of acapella because they're so wonderfully odd). Not a radio single, but Long Island is my pick.
Also, I'm going to toss in a defense of Whale. This is the defense. (I don't understand the hyperactive video directing but whatever.)
posted by chrominance at 3:32 PM on January 18, 2015 [2 favorites]
OH GOD YES. I actually do think about them from time to time, mainly because one person or another from that band occasionally pops up in things (usually it's Petra Haden, who put together some neat acapella albums that barely fit the definition of acapella because they're so wonderfully odd). Not a radio single, but Long Island is my pick.
Also, I'm going to toss in a defense of Whale. This is the defense. (I don't understand the hyperactive video directing but whatever.)
posted by chrominance at 3:32 PM on January 18, 2015 [2 favorites]
Exactly what I thought of once I got to "Scarce: All Sideways."
Absolutely, Navelgazer and you probably have no idea exactly how fucked up things got for them. :(
I lived through the rise and fall vicariously because one of my favorite people in the world was in that band, so from the moment he joined to when it all fell apart I witnessed the disaster from the sidelines. There's some background articles on nme and on matador if you are interested
posted by stagewhisper at 5:14 PM on January 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
Absolutely, Navelgazer and you probably have no idea exactly how fucked up things got for them. :(
I lived through the rise and fall vicariously because one of my favorite people in the world was in that band, so from the moment he joined to when it all fell apart I witnessed the disaster from the sidelines. There's some background articles on nme and on matador if you are interested
posted by stagewhisper at 5:14 PM on January 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
Hooverphonic's "2wicky" lead me to both Isaac Hayes's original "Walk On By" and that late 90s Depeche Mode tribute album "For The Masses." Come to think of it, there's probably some prime examples of 90s alt-rock on that, too. Veruca Salt, Meat Beat Manifesto, Gus Gus, GLU, Self, Monster Magnet, Dishwalla...
posted by infinitewindow at 5:56 PM on January 18, 2015
posted by infinitewindow at 5:56 PM on January 18, 2015
I have heard that new that dog. material is in the works, but their FB page hasn't been updated since last summer. The late 90s were a very Haden-y time for me, because of that dog. and the Rentals, but also because of the incredible Weezer b-side featuring Rachel Haden on lead vocals, "I Just Threw Out the Love of My Dreams".
posted by aaronetc at 8:22 PM on January 18, 2015
posted by aaronetc at 8:22 PM on January 18, 2015
I worked with a guy in Fat Amy too. Bought CDs to be nice and SW Michigan? East Lansing? Huh?
posted by k8t at 8:58 PM on January 18, 2015
posted by k8t at 8:58 PM on January 18, 2015
Banditos may be the best song of all time, really.
posted by Chrysostom at 10:53 AM on January 19, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Chrysostom at 10:53 AM on January 19, 2015 [2 favorites]
I think radio was still local enough that not all of these tunes were played everywhere, MTV was the real nationwide promotion machine.
I was struck while going through both lists how many of these songs I hadn't heard, which was weird because I was a teenager in the 90s and a total music geek. But then I remembered that there were so many bands I heard of but never got to hear. Because I would hear about bands through reading about them (in Spin, The Boston Phoenix, random zines, or - yes! - Sassy) or hearing people talk about them. But if they didn't play them on the local alt rock or college stations, or on MTV, or if I didn't have friends into them, there was no way to hear them! I would occasionally buy a CD on blind faith because enough people had said it was brilliant, but this was a pretty risky strategy for a kid making minimum wage at an after-school job. Of course, now if you hear about a band that sounds interesting, you can just listen to their stuff on spotify or youtube.
The flip side of this is that I definitely did not forget any of the local (Boston) bands because they were all such a big deal to me and my friends! Letters to Cleo, Tracy Bonham, Belly ... they were all supposed to get bigger than they did and it was kind of a surprise to my teenage self that they all sort of faded away (with the maybe exception of Tanya Donnelly). Of course, Ben Wyatt never forgot Letters to Cleo either.
posted by lunasol at 12:22 PM on January 19, 2015
I was struck while going through both lists how many of these songs I hadn't heard, which was weird because I was a teenager in the 90s and a total music geek. But then I remembered that there were so many bands I heard of but never got to hear. Because I would hear about bands through reading about them (in Spin, The Boston Phoenix, random zines, or - yes! - Sassy) or hearing people talk about them. But if they didn't play them on the local alt rock or college stations, or on MTV, or if I didn't have friends into them, there was no way to hear them! I would occasionally buy a CD on blind faith because enough people had said it was brilliant, but this was a pretty risky strategy for a kid making minimum wage at an after-school job. Of course, now if you hear about a band that sounds interesting, you can just listen to their stuff on spotify or youtube.
The flip side of this is that I definitely did not forget any of the local (Boston) bands because they were all such a big deal to me and my friends! Letters to Cleo, Tracy Bonham, Belly ... they were all supposed to get bigger than they did and it was kind of a surprise to my teenage self that they all sort of faded away (with the maybe exception of Tanya Donnelly). Of course, Ben Wyatt never forgot Letters to Cleo either.
posted by lunasol at 12:22 PM on January 19, 2015
By the way, if you are reading this thread and getting your nostalgia on, SiriusXM's Lithium (channel 34) was pretty much made for you. Although it does sometimes seem like they play an inordinate amount of tracks by The Offspring.
posted by usonian at 1:31 PM on January 19, 2015
posted by usonian at 1:31 PM on January 19, 2015
That is weird, you'd think they'd keep them separated.
posted by arcticseal at 8:25 PM on January 19, 2015 [9 favorites]
posted by arcticseal at 8:25 PM on January 19, 2015 [9 favorites]
Wow. This is basically the soundtrack to my college years. I never knew the lead singer of Tripping Daisy was the same guy from the Polyphonic Spree.
A couple weeks ago, WONC (the excellent North Central College radio station) played Possum Dixon's "Watch The Girl Destroy Me," which I hadn't thought about in years, and it made me really happy.
posted by SisterHavana at 8:49 PM on January 19, 2015 [1 favorite]
A couple weeks ago, WONC (the excellent North Central College radio station) played Possum Dixon's "Watch The Girl Destroy Me," which I hadn't thought about in years, and it made me really happy.
posted by SisterHavana at 8:49 PM on January 19, 2015 [1 favorite]
At least 5 or 6 of these songs were sent to me by someone, maybe 11 years ago, from a chatroom when I asked for recommendations of new artists to listen to. It's weird to see them here because I've listened to them so much since that they are common in my head.
posted by sarae at 3:18 AM on January 20, 2015
posted by sarae at 3:18 AM on January 20, 2015
SiriusXM's playlists are teeny. It's all well-worn warhorses, and few of the deep tracks on display here. Their "First Wave" channel was pretty awesome for a while, but has since devolved into same. Satellite is great for "Kids Place Live" indie kid's music and the comedy channels and weird NPR and PRI shows and terrible for music. I don't much miss it... but Slacker or Spotify is only marginally better without serious and continual tweaking.
posted by Slap*Happy at 6:46 AM on January 20, 2015
posted by Slap*Happy at 6:46 AM on January 20, 2015
« Older Blooming Zoetrope Sculptures | The festival of Sant’Antonio Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
"Johnny, angry Johnny. I wanna kill you. I wanna blow you [pause pause pause pause pause] ... away."
posted by jonp72 at 10:14 AM on January 17, 2015 [2 favorites]