Dig Me Out: 90s Rock
805 episodes - English - Latest episode: 27 days ago - ★★★★ - 115 ratingsStep back in time to the heart of the 1990s, the last great decade of rock music. We’re your weekly time machine to the era of grunge, alternative, indie rock, emo, Brit-pop, shoegaze, power pop, and post-punk.
Our journey includes in-depth album reviews, insider interviews with key figures, and comprehensive cultural discussions. ’Dig Me Out: 90s Rock’ offers a deep dive into the music that defined a generation, providing a diverse range of sounds and stories that continue to influence artists today.
What sets our podcast apart is our community of passionate listeners. You choose the artists, albums, and topics we explore, making ’Dig Me Out: 90s Rock’ a truly collaborative experience. Join us as we celebrate the unparalleled creativity and cultural significance of 90s music.
If you’re a Nirvana, Built to Spill, Elastica, or Radiohead fan or fascinated with how the 90s impacted the sound of your favorite 80s artists, ’Dig Me Out: 90s Rock’ is your go-to podcast. Subscribe now and become part of a community that adores the last great decade of rock music. Let’s relive the 90s together!
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
Tom Waits - Bone Machine
October 05, 2021 06:00 - 1 hour - 131 MBHe's an outlier, an enigma, an iconoclast, an original. We're talking about Tom Waits, whose career is more closely tied to the 70s and 80s, but who released his Grammy Award-winning album Bone Machine in 1992 just as the first wave of grunge was talking off in 90s rock. Trying to compare Waits, and this album in particular, to any of his contemporaries, is a fool's errand. Sure, there's a bit of Nick Cave here, some Mark Lanegan there, even some Morphine and Beck, but Waits is often on anot...
Tom Waits - Bone Machine | Album Review
October 05, 2021 06:00 - 1 hour - 131 MBHe's an outlier, an enigma, an iconoclast, an original. We're talking about Tom Waits, whose career is more closely tied to the 70s and 80s, but who released his Grammy Award-winning album Bone Machine in 1992 just as the first wave of grunge was talking off in 90s rock. Trying to compare Waits, and this album in particular, to any of his contemporaries, is a fool's errand. Sure, there's a bit of Nick Cave here, some Mark Lanegan there, even some Morphine and Beck, but Waits is often on anot...
#560: Bone Machine by Tom Waits
October 05, 2021 06:00 - 1 hour - 131 MBHe's an outlier, an enigma, an iconoclast, an original. We're talking about Tom Waits, whose career is more closely tied to the 70s and 80s, but who released his Grammy Award-winning album Bone Machine in 1992 just as the first wave of grunge was talking off in 90s rock. Trying to compare Waits, and this album in particular, to any of his contemporaries, is a fool's errand. Sure, there's a bit of Nick Cave here, some Mark Lanegan there, even some Morphine and Beck, but Waits is often on anot...
#559: Guilty Pleasures Roundtable
September 28, 2021 06:00 - 1 hour - 125 MBIn popular culture, whether it's music, films, books, or television, the idea of a Guilty Pleasure has existed as long as people have formed opinions on entertainment. High versus low art, serious versus inconsequential, intimate versus manufactured - everyone has their own criteria. We discuss the power of shame, such as when a once-popular genre falls out of favor, or when the personal behavior of an artist can affect an audience, the phrase can take on an even more serious interpretation....
90s Guilty Pleasures | Roundtable
September 28, 2021 06:00 - 1 hour - 125 MBIn popular culture, whether it's music, films, books, or television, the idea of a Guilty Pleasure has existed as long as people have formed opinions on entertainment. High versus low art, serious versus inconsequential, intimate versus manufactured - everyone has their own criteria. We discuss the power of shame, such as when a once-popular genre falls out of favor, or when the personal behavior of an artist can affect an audience, the phrase can take on an even more serious interpretation....
90s Guilty Pleasures
September 28, 2021 06:00 - 1 hour - 125 MBIn popular culture, whether it's music, films, books, or television, the idea of a Guilty Pleasure has existed as long as people have formed opinions on entertainment. High versus low art, serious versus inconsequential, intimate versus manufactured - everyone has their own criteria. We discuss the power of shame, such as when a once-popular genre falls out of favor, or when the personal behavior of an artist can affect an audience, the phrase can take on an even more serious interpretation....
#558: Brotherhood of Electric: Operational Directives by Wellwater Conspiracy
September 21, 2021 06:00 - 42 minutes - 77.3 MBMembers of Seattle's biggest bands of the 90s rock scene were often dabbling in side projects, like Temple of the Dog, Mad Season, and Brad. Matt Cameron and John McBain had previously played together in Hater, and along with Soundgarden bassist Ben Sheppard started Wellwater Conspiracy By the time they got around to album number two, Sheppard left, leaving Cameron and McBain to make the 1999's Brotherhood of Electric: Operational Directives, along with some friends. One of those friends is ...
Wellwater Conspiracy - Brotherhood of Electric: Operational Directives | Album Review
September 21, 2021 06:00 - 42 minutes - 77.3 MBMembers of Seattle's biggest bands of the 90s rock scene were often dabbling in side projects, like Temple of the Dog, Mad Season, and Brad. Matt Cameron and John McBain had previously played together in Hater, and along with Soundgarden bassist Ben Sheppard started Wellwater Conspiracy By the time they got around to album number two, Sheppard left, leaving Cameron and McBain to make the 1999's Brotherhood of Electric: Operational Directives, along with some friends. One of those friends is ...
Wellwater Conspiracy - Brotherhood of Electric: Operational Directives
September 21, 2021 06:00 - 42 minutes - 77.3 MBMembers of Seattle's biggest bands of the 90s rock scene were often dabbling in side projects, like Temple of the Dog, Mad Season, and Brad. Matt Cameron and John McBain had previously played together in Hater, and along with Soundgarden bassist Ben Sheppard started Wellwater Conspiracy By the time they got around to album number two, Sheppard left, leaving Cameron and McBain to make the 1999's Brotherhood of Electric: Operational Directives, along with some friends. One of those friends is ...
#557: Pinback by Pinback
September 14, 2021 06:00 - 44 minutes - 81.4 MBToward the middle of the 1990s, the shift away from loud grunge, post-hardcore, and punk resulted in a wide variety of more introspective sounds. Some bands were tagged with emo, some with slowcore, others with simply indie rock. From Death Cab for Cutie and John Vanderslice to Elliott Smith and Iron & Wine, the late 90s and early aughts were full bands turning down both the volume and tempo. San Diego's Pinback, comprised of veteran scene musicians Rob Crow and Armistead Burwell Smith IV, u...
Pinback - Pinback | Album Review
September 14, 2021 06:00 - 44 minutes - 81.4 MBToward the middle of the 1990s, the shift away from loud grunge, post-hardcore, and punk resulted in a wide variety of more introspective sounds. Some bands were tagged with emo, some with slowcore, others with simply indie rock. From Death Cab for Cutie and John Vanderslice to Elliott Smith and Iron & Wine, the late 90s and early aughts were full bands turning down both the volume and tempo. San Diego's Pinback, comprised of veteran scene musicians Rob Crow and Armistead Burwell Smith IV, u...
Pinback - Pinback
September 14, 2021 06:00 - 44 minutes - 81.4 MBToward the middle of the 1990s, the shift away from loud grunge, post-hardcore, and punk resulted in a wide variety of more introspective sounds. Some bands were tagged with emo, some with slowcore, others with simply indie rock. From Death Cab for Cutie and John Vanderslice to Elliott Smith and Iron & Wine, the late 90s and early aughts were full bands turning down both the volume and tempo. San Diego's Pinback, comprised of veteran scene musicians Rob Crow and Armistead Burwell Smith IV, u...
#556: Will You Find Me by Ida
September 07, 2021 06:00 - 1 hour - 166 MBWhile 90s rock is known for the volume-pushing bands from Seattle, Boston, Chicago, and other parts around the world, a loose movement of quiet and introspective artists rallied (quietly) around sparse arrangements, hushed vocals, and an appreciation for traditional to 60s folk. Ida covers most of that ground and more on their fourth album, 2000's Will You Find Me. Thanks to a wide range of guest musicians and a major label budget, the band incorporates electric piano, moog, wurlitzer, viola...
Ida - Will You Find Me | Album Review
September 07, 2021 06:00 - 1 hour - 166 MBWhile 90s rock is known for the volume-pushing bands from Seattle, Boston, Chicago, and other parts around the world, a loose movement of quiet and introspective artists rallied (quietly) around sparse arrangements, hushed vocals, and an appreciation for traditional to 60s folk. Ida covers most of that ground and more on their fourth album, 2000's Will You Find Me. Thanks to a wide range of guest musicians and a major label budget, the band incorporates electric piano, moog, wurlitzer, viola...
Ida - Will You Find Me
September 07, 2021 06:00 - 1 hour - 166 MBWhile 90s rock is known for the volume-pushing bands from Seattle, Boston, Chicago, and other parts around the world, a loose movement of quiet and introspective artists rallied (quietly) around sparse arrangements, hushed vocals, and an appreciation for traditional to 60s folk. Ida covers most of that ground and more on their fourth album, 2000's Will You Find Me. Thanks to a wide range of guest musicians and a major label budget, the band incorporates electric piano, moog, wurlitzer, viola...
#555: Origins - Deftones in the 90s
August 31, 2021 06:00 - 58 minutes - 107 MBBy the early 90s metal music faced a crossroads - fixtures of the 70s and 80s influenced by Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin were less connecting less with a younger generation of fans whose exposure to the thrash of Metallica, the hardcore of Bad Brains, and a new wave of guitar gods like Vernon Reid of Living Colour and Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine. From their early years in high school through years of demoing and playing gigs in Southern California, the Deftones tapped into this...
Deftones in the 90s
August 31, 2021 06:00 - 58 minutes - 107 MBBy the early 90s metal music faced a crossroads - fixtures of the 70s and 80s influenced by Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin were less connecting less with a younger generation of fans whose exposure to the thrash of Metallica, the hardcore of Bad Brains, and a new wave of guitar gods like Vernon Reid of Living Colour and Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine. From their early years in high school through years of demoing and playing gigs in Southern California, the Deftones tapped into this...
Deftones in the 90s | Roundtable
August 31, 2021 06:00 - 58 minutes - 107 MBBy the early 90s metal music faced a crossroads - fixtures of the 70s and 80s influenced by Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin were less connecting less with a younger generation of fans whose exposure to the thrash of Metallica, the hardcore of Bad Brains, and a new wave of guitar gods like Vernon Reid of Living Colour and Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine. From their early years in high school through years of demoing and playing gigs in Southern California, the Deftones tapped into this...
#554: Are You Normal? by Ned's Atomic Dustbin
August 24, 2021 06:00 - 1 hour - 134 MBFew names evoke the 90s like Ned's Atomic Dustbin. It doesn't hurt that the band also sported an unusual line-up of two bass players that made full use of the sonic range - one carrying the low end and the other mid-range riffs ala Peter Hook of New Order. It gave The Neds something extra to play with, and on 1992's Are You Normal? the band shed their punkier, less polished debut sound for a rhythmic, bouncy follow-up effort. While the rhythm section carries a large amount of songs, if gives...
Ned’s Atomic Dustbin - Are You Normal? | Album Review
August 24, 2021 06:00 - 1 hour - 134 MBFew names evoke the 90s like Ned's Atomic Dustbin. It doesn't hurt that the band also sported an unusual line-up of two bass players that made full use of the sonic range - one carrying the low end and the other mid-range riffs ala Peter Hook of New Order. It gave The Neds something extra to play with, and on 1992's Are You Normal? the band shed their punkier, less polished debut sound for a rhythmic, bouncy follow-up effort. While the rhythm section carries a large amount of songs, if gives...
Ned’s Atomic Dustbin - Are You Normal?
August 24, 2021 06:00 - 1 hour - 134 MBFew names evoke the 90s like Ned's Atomic Dustbin. It doesn't hurt that the band also sported an unusual line-up of two bass players that made full use of the sonic range - one carrying the low end and the other mid-range riffs ala Peter Hook of New Order. It gave The Neds something extra to play with, and on 1992's Are You Normal? the band shed their punkier, less polished debut sound for a rhythmic, bouncy follow-up effort. While the rhythm section carries a large amount of songs, if gives...
#553: Wicker Man by Wicker Man
August 17, 2021 06:00 - 46 minutes - 85 MBChicago had a reputation for producing some of the notable heavier bands of the 1990s, including Ministry, Smashing Pumpkins, The Jesus Lizard, Shellac, and My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult. You can now add Wicker Man to that list. Not familiar with the band Wicker Man, you say? We're here to help, thanks to one of our knowledgeable Patreon patrons. The band managed just one full-length, their 1995 self-titled debut for Hollywood Records, and it's both hard and easy to understand why the ba...
Wicker Man - Wicker Man | Album Review
August 17, 2021 06:00 - 46 minutes - 85 MBChicago had a reputation for producing some of the notable heavier bands of the 1990s, including Ministry, Smashing Pumpkins, The Jesus Lizard, Shellac, and My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult. You can now add Wicker Man to that list. Not familiar with the band Wicker Man, you say? We're here to help, thanks to one of our knowledgeable Patreon patrons. The band managed just one full-length, their 1995 self-titled debut for Hollywood Records, and it's both hard and easy to understand why the ba...
Wicker Man - Wicker Man
August 17, 2021 06:00 - 46 minutes - 85 MBChicago had a reputation for producing some of the notable heavier bands of the 1990s, including Ministry, Smashing Pumpkins, The Jesus Lizard, Shellac, and My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult. You can now add Wicker Man to that list. Not familiar with the band Wicker Man, you say? We're here to help, thanks to one of our knowledgeable Patreon patrons. The band managed just one full-length, their 1995 self-titled debut for Hollywood Records, and it's both hard and easy to understand why the ba...
#552: Fluke by Rusty
August 10, 2021 06:00 - 38 minutes - 70.8 MBRusty's 1995 debut album Fluke pulls off a neat trick, sound both of the times and yet somehow ticking the boxes of previous generations. There is the swampy garage blues of "Warning" that Royal Trux or Beck would appreciate as much as ZZ Top of Rory Gallagher. There is a blast of hardcore-ish punk on the aptly titled "Punk" and nods from everyone to the Stooges, Nirvana, Dinosaur Jr. and The Replacements across the record. Separated, the guitars might sound too gnarly or the drums to lo-fi,...
Rusty - Fluke
August 10, 2021 06:00 - 38 minutes - 70.8 MBRusty's 1995 debut album Fluke pulls off a neat trick, sound both of the times and yet somehow ticking the boxes of previous generations. There is the swampy garage blues of "Warning" that Royal Trux or Beck would appreciate as much as ZZ Top of Rory Gallagher. There is a blast of hardcore-ish punk on the aptly titled "Punk" and nods from everyone to the Stooges, Nirvana, Dinosaur Jr. and The Replacements across the record. Separated, the guitars might sound too gnarly or the drums to lo-fi,...
Rusty - Fluke | Album Review
August 10, 2021 06:00 - 38 minutes - 70.8 MBRusty's 1995 debut album Fluke pulls off a neat trick, sound both of the times and yet somehow ticking the boxes of previous generations. There is the swampy garage blues of "Warning" that Royal Trux or Beck would appreciate as much as ZZ Top of Rory Gallagher. There is a blast of hardcore-ish punk on the aptly titled "Punk" and nods from everyone to the Stooges, Nirvana, Dinosaur Jr. and The Replacements across the record. Separated, the guitars might sound too gnarly or the drums to lo-fi,...
#551: Disciplined Breakdown dy Collective Soul
August 03, 2021 06:00 - 1 hour - 126 MBBest known for their string of mid-90s hit singles that smoothed off the harder edges of what we once called alternative rock, Collective Soul returned in 1997 under difficult circumstances with Disciplined Breakdown. A legal battle with their ex-manager lead to a canceled tour and recording the record on their own. Thanks to Ed Roland's tenured history as a musician and songwriter, the band barely misses a step combining pop-friendly melodies with rock arrangements and sounds, even taking s...
Collective Soul - Disciplined Breakdown | Album Review
August 03, 2021 06:00 - 1 hour - 126 MBBest known for their string of mid-90s hit singles that smoothed off the harder edges of what we once called alternative rock, Collective Soul returned in 1997 under difficult circumstances with Disciplined Breakdown. A legal battle with their ex-manager lead to a canceled tour and recording the record on their own. Thanks to Ed Roland's tenured history as a musician and songwriter, the band barely misses a step combining pop-friendly melodies with rock arrangements and sounds, even taking s...
Collective Soul - Disciplined Breakdown
August 03, 2021 06:00 - 1 hour - 126 MBBest known for their string of mid-90s hit singles that smoothed off the harder edges of what we once called alternative rock, Collective Soul returned in 1997 under difficult circumstances with Disciplined Breakdown. A legal battle with their ex-manager lead to a canceled tour and recording the record on their own. Thanks to Ed Roland's tenured history as a musician and songwriter, the band barely misses a step combining pop-friendly melodies with rock arrangements and sounds, even taking s...
#550: Double Albums of the 1990s
July 27, 2021 06:00 - 1 hour - 134 MBWhile the double album (two vinyl LPs) has long been the medium for big-thinking artists from Bob Dylan to Pink Floyd, introducing cassettes and compact discs in the 1980s changed the format length and what actually qualified as a double album. In the 1990s, artists again began pushing the limits of the dominant medium, as evidenced by double album releases over two compact discs not only by 90s rock bands like The Smashing Pumpkins or Wilco, but with hip-hop, electronic and others expanding...
Double Albums of the 90s
July 27, 2021 06:00 - 1 hour - 134 MBWhile the double album (two vinyl LPs) has long been the medium for big-thinking artists from Bob Dylan to Pink Floyd, introducing cassettes and compact discs in the 1980s changed the format length and what actually qualified as a double album. In the 1990s, artists again began pushing the limits of the dominant medium, as evidenced by double album releases over two compact discs not only by 90s rock bands like The Smashing Pumpkins or Wilco, but with hip-hop, electronic and others expanding...
Double Albums of the 90s | Roundtable
July 27, 2021 06:00 - 1 hour - 134 MBWhile the double album (two vinyl LPs) has long been the medium for big-thinking artists from Bob Dylan to Pink Floyd, introducing cassettes and compact discs in the 1980s changed the format length and what actually qualified as a double album. In the 1990s, artists again began pushing the limits of the dominant medium, as evidenced by double album releases over two compact discs not only by 90s rock bands like The Smashing Pumpkins or Wilco, but with hip-hop, electronic and others expanding...
#549: Bombs and Butterflies by Widespread Panic
July 20, 2021 06:00 - 1 hour - 136 MBThe moniker "jam bands" had been around for decades before their 90s counterparts in Phish, Rusted Root, and String Cheese Incident brought their own takes out on the road. Athens, Georgia based Widespread Panic draw on the southern sounds of The Allman Brothers Band as well as other guitar heroes like Eric Clapton and J. J. Cale to craft their guitar and keyboard driven sounds. The trick with jam bands, regardless of decade, has always been converting the energy and improvisation of the liv...
Widespread Panic - Bombs and Butterflies
July 20, 2021 06:00 - 1 hour - 136 MBThe moniker "jam bands" had been around for decades before their 90s counterparts in Phish, Rusted Root, and String Cheese Incident brought their own takes out on the road. Athens, Georgia based Widespread Panic draw on the southern sounds of The Allman Brothers Band as well as other guitar heroes like Eric Clapton and J. J. Cale to craft their guitar and keyboard driven sounds. The trick with jam bands, regardless of decade, has always been converting the energy and improvisation of the liv...
Widespread Panic - Bombs and Butterflies | Album Review
July 20, 2021 06:00 - 1 hour - 136 MBThe moniker "jam bands" had been around for decades before their 90s counterparts in Phish, Rusted Root, and String Cheese Incident brought their own takes out on the road. Athens, Georgia based Widespread Panic draw on the southern sounds of The Allman Brothers Band as well as other guitar heroes like Eric Clapton and J. J. Cale to craft their guitar and keyboard driven sounds. The trick with jam bands, regardless of decade, has always been converting the energy and improvisation of the liv...
#548: Too Many Days Without Thinking by Swell
July 13, 2021 06:00 - 43 minutes - 80 MBPlenty of bands messed around with a lo-fi sound in the 90s, sometimes to euphoric effects, sometimes not so much. Swell dabbles: a white noise fractured guitar lead here, a flat acoustic guitar riff there. But on Too Many Days Without Thinking, they are merely small pieces of a more layered puzzle. Had it been played on Les Paul's through big amps, the album would have sounded very familiar, so dialing back the noise and putting it to sparing use helps elevate the band above their 90s rock ...
Swell - Too Many Days Without Thinking | Album Review
July 13, 2021 06:00 - 43 minutes - 80 MBPlenty of bands messed around with a lo-fi sound in the 90s, sometimes to euphoric effects, sometimes not so much. Swell dabbles: a white noise fractured guitar lead here, a flat acoustic guitar riff there. But on Too Many Days Without Thinking, they are merely small pieces of a more layered puzzle. Had it been played on Les Paul's through big amps, the album would have sounded very familiar, so dialing back the noise and putting it to sparing use helps elevate the band above their 90s rock ...
Swell - Too Many Days Without Thinking
July 13, 2021 06:00 - 43 minutes - 80 MBPlenty of bands messed around with a lo-fi sound in the 90s, sometimes to euphoric effects, sometimes not so much. Swell dabbles: a white noise fractured guitar lead here, a flat acoustic guitar riff there. But on Too Many Days Without Thinking, they are merely small pieces of a more layered puzzle. Had it been played on Les Paul's through big amps, the album would have sounded very familiar, so dialing back the noise and putting it to sparing use helps elevate the band above their 90s rock ...
#547: Hash by Hash
July 06, 2021 06:00 - 50 minutes - 92.6 MBWell-regarded music historians often explain the 90s explosion of alternative music into the mainstream boiled down as the rise of Seattle grunge, the So-Cal pop-punk sound going national, and the movements that followed like the swing revival, electronica, nu-metal, and more. But lost in that simplicity is the more difficult and (quite frankly) weirder starting point of the decade, where bands were mixing and moshing across a spectrum of hard rock, funk, and more. A prime example is the one...
#546: Make A Pest A Pet by The Age of Electric
June 29, 2021 06:00 - 46 minutes - 85.4 MBLots of bands have brothers, but how about two pairs of brothers? Perhaps growing up with a musical sibling is the reason the Kerns and Dahle brothers are able to crafty such a hooky and satisfying album of power-pop tinged rock on their third and final released as The Age of Electric - 1996's Make A Pest A Pet. Along with fellow Canadian 90s rock bands like Sloan, Odds, and Zumpano, TAOE bring their own take to the nebulous power-pop genre, bashing through three-minute guitar lead bursts wi...
#545: Lollapalooza in the 90s
June 22, 2021 06:00 - 1 hour - 153 MBLaunched in 1991 by Perry Farrell as a farewell tour for Jane's Addiction, Lollapalooza immediately became the defining musical tour of the decade. Inspired by the UK festivals like Reading, Farrell concocted an underground music celebration based on the bands he wanted to see and tour with - Siouxsie and the Banshees, Living Colour, Nine Inch Nails, Ice-T & Body Count, Butthole Surfers, Rollins Band, Violent Femmes, and Fishbone. After it proved a success, the tour exploded in size until, b...
#544: Throwing Copper by Live
June 15, 2021 06:00 - 58 minutes - 107 MBOf all the bands to release big albums in 1994, there may be none bigger than Live's sophomore album Throwing Copper. In the studio heavyweights like Jerry Harrison (production), Lou Giordano (engineering), and Tom Lord-Alge (mixing) helmed the album that prepared the band for multiple radio singles, MTV hits, album sales around the globe. It also helped that they leaned into their successful influences, channeling U2, R.E.M., and Pearl Jam without coming across as imitators. Revisiting an a...
#543:Golden Duck by Moler
June 08, 2021 06:00 - 48 minutes - 88.2 MBWith vocals equal part sneer and sweet, supported by a thick and fuzzy bass, Moler is a little pop, a little punk, slightly grunge, and very interesting on their lone album from 1997, Golden Duck. The three-piece is at no loss for volume, cranking out over a dozen two and a half to four-minute gems that have plenty of attitude and energy. Lead singer and bassist Helen Cattanach, along with Julien Poulson on guitar and Steven Boyle on the drums, are a tight unit that only falters when the mel...
#542: Maximum Sincere by Big Heavy Stuff
June 01, 2021 06:00 - 48 minutes - 88.7 MBWe've revisited many 90s rock bands from Australia of various types, but Big Heavy Stuff is the first to nail the post-hardcore sound made (underground) famous by bands in D.C., Kansas City, and Chicago. On 1997's Maximum Sincere, the band takes full advantage of the spacious room recording to showcase the drumming via slowed tempos and minimal arrangements that spark and blaze sonically at just the right times. There is enough melody and interesting guitar work to keep the album interesting...
#541: Soundgarden in the 80s
May 25, 2021 06:00 - 1 hour - 145 MBFew bands are more rightly associated with the rise of alternative music from the underground to the mainstream than Soundgarden. Starting out in the mid 80s as a prototypical Seattle band backed by Sub Pop, produced by Jack Endino, and indebted to the heavy thud of 70s Black Sabbath combined with punk aggression, the original line-up quickly coalesced, releasing a slew of material in just three years. With Sub Pop in financial dire straits, the band recorded the debut album for SST, and sho...
#540: Spilt Milk by Jellyfish
May 18, 2021 06:00 - 50 minutes - 93.2 MBFor such a short career, Jellyfish managed to pack decades worth of musical ambition and melodic knowhow into just two studio albums. The comparisons are nothing new - The Beatles, Queen, The Beach Boys, Badfinger, Wings - but while plenty of bands have been tagged with the "power-pop" label over the years, Jellyfish occupy a unique space of both defining and transcending the label. On 1993's Spilt Milk, for as much Raspberries and Cheap Trick influence a listener can spot, the band is clear...
#539: Killjoy by Shihad
May 11, 2021 06:00 - 59 minutes - 109 MBOn their 1995 sophomore album Killjoy, New Zealand's Shihad might fool you with their opening Helmet-like salvo of "You Again" and "Gimme Gimme," two tracks of chugging down-tuned riffage with bass and kick locked-in. But this is not a Helmet clone, or a clone of any American post-punk band you might conjure, as the band shows off a variety of stylistic and rhythmic approaches that recall late 80s albums by The Cure. Somehow this band managed to slip under our radar in the mid-nineties, whic...
#538: Abort by Tribe
May 04, 2021 06:00 - 52 minutes - 95.8 MBEclectic bands can be a tricky proposition. Too much genre-switching and musical diversity can strip a band of an identity, with the disparate parts not adding up too much. But done right, and finding a unified sound in the song-to-song evolution, can make for an exciting listen. Luckily, with Boston's Tribe and their 1991 album Abort, it's the latter. While chronologically they're at the start of the emerging 90s rock scene, their sound harkens back to the 80s in a variety of ways, weaving ...
#537: Are You With Me? by Cowboy Mouth
April 27, 2021 06:00 - 1 hour - 118 MBRegionality isn't talked about much outside Seattle with regard to 90s rock, but just like how the Pacific Northwest was experimenting with punk and metal in unique ways, other parts of the United States had an impact on the bands from their locales. Like our recent Better Than Ezra episode, Cowboy Mouth is from Louisiana, a state which boasts a deep and rich musical history that can't help but imprint on the latest generation. In the case of Cowboy Mouth and their 1996 album Are You With Me...