Dig Me Out: 90s & 00s Rock

Band reunions aren't new, as some of the best-selling and most well-known bands have gone on hiatus or broken up for extended periods of time. Back in 2015, we discussed 1990s rock bands that had broken up and gotten back together. Six years have passed, and more bands have reunited, released material, or at least toured. We decided to revisit the topic and discuss bands like Swervedriver, Hum, The Psychedelic Furs, The Vapors, Guns 'n Roses, and many more who have been back in the studio (either to record or rerecord) and hit the road together.

Songs In This Episode:

Intro - Step Into You by Hum

11:50 - Thread by Shades Apart

18:09 - Don't Believe by The Psychedelic Furs

34:50 - Amputation by The Jesus And Mary Chain

47:00 - The Colour of Love by The Smashing Pumpkins

Outro - Mary Winter by Swervedriver

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Before Creeper Lagoon scored a minor hit with "Wrecking Ball" on their 2001 major label, radio-friendly alternative rock album Take Back The Universe and Give Me Yesterday, the band released a much more intimate debut. 1998's I Become Small and Go, co-produced in part by John King of The Dust Brothers, finds an even balance between catchy indie-pop, and more produced and layered tracks. Using a host of loops, oddball sounds, and other studio tricks gives tracks like "Wonderful Love" just enough earworm material to balance with the more subdued songs like "Sylvia." Unfortunately, the band can't hold up the momentum, and the album takes a noticeable dive in quality towards the end, but that doesn't erase what is a re-listenable record.

Songs In This Episode:

Intro - Dear Deadly

17:16 - Wonderful Love

20:23 - Sylvia

24:04 - Drink and Drive

Outro - Empty Ships

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He'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 another planet entirely. Using a collection of non-traditional percussion instruments (some homemade) combined with buzzing guitars and ramshackle pianos, to create a junkyard orchestra. It often sounds like it's falling apart before it even starts, but Waits can bring it together with his vocals, even if they are the most divisive aspect of a Tom Waits album.

Songs In This Episode:

Intro - I Don't Wanna Grow Up

17:26 - Black Wings

24:49 - That Feel

29:54 - Whistle Down The Wind

34:26 - Goin' Out West

Outro - The Earth Died Screaming

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In 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. 

Songs In This Episode:

Intro - Barbie Girl by Aqua

Outro - I'm Too Sexy by Right Said Fred

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Members 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 Josh Homme, not long after the end of Kyuss and just as Queens of the Stone Age is starting up, who hops on board for vocals on three tracks. Cameron tackles most of the rest and does a nice job with some 60s-influenced garage rock tunes that wouldn't sound out of place on a Hives record. Unfortunately, the side-project nature of the band leaves room for lots of noodling and experimentation. Some good, most not, which turns what would have been a tight, rockin' record into a much more bloated affair in need of a editor.

Songs in this Episode:

Intro - Good Pushin'

13:09 - Compellor

20:55 - Right Of Left Field

23:38 - B.O.U.

28:07 - Van Vanishing

Outro - Red Light Green Light

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Toward 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, utilize a wide variety of instruments and approaches on their self-titled debut from 1999. A simple drum preset can carry an entire song, mixing a variety of analog keyboard and guitar sounds, while occasionally introducing samples, guitar-mimicking vinyl scratching, or vocal loops. It's a melancholy but charming debut that presents many interesting ideas that sometimes lack a second or third gear to make them truly inspired.

Songs in this Episode:

Intro - Hurley

17:34 - Tripoli

20:20 - Rousseau

25:33 - Crutch

Outro - Lyon

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While 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, and a host of other instruments to fill out the nooks and crannies of their deliberate sound. When at their best, the foursome use the three vocals to perfection, crafting haunting and beautiful sound scapes. But on the flip-side, some of the less fussed-over tracks sound bare in comparison, or tracks meander when they should be more concise.

Songs in this Episode:

Intro - Shrug

21:24 - Down on Your Back

26:19 - Turn Me On

32:29 - Encantada

40:18 - Shotgun

48:09 - Man in Mind

Outro - The Radiator

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By 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 wide variety of sounds, as well as new wave and post-punk, to craft a uniquely 90s take on metal. Thought dubbed nu-metal at the time on their 1995 debut album Adrenaline and 1997 follow-up Around The Fur, both with producer Terry Date, their sound continued to expand in the 2000s, incorporating shoegaze, space rock, and more. We revisit their 1990s output to trace the beginnings of one of the most interesting and influential alternative metal bands of the past twenty years.

Songs In This Episode:

Intro - My Own Summer (Shove It) from Around The Fur

20:11 - 7 Words from Adrenaline

35:23 - Be Quiet And Drive (Far Away) from Around The fur

42:28 - The Chauffeur (Duran Duran cover)

Outro - Bored from Adrenalin

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Few 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 the guitar room to roam, from metalish funk riffs to blissed out delays. On the stronger material, it gels nicely, but the album takes time to find its footing, with a back-half that shows more range and depth that keeps us from loving the whole.

Songs In This Episode:

Intro - Suave And Suffocated

29:42 - Walking Through Syrup

40:30 - Not Sleeping Around

57:03 - Intact

Outro - Swallowing Air

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Chicago 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 band is all but forgotten. The quality and craftsmanship is clear, heavy riffs that touch on power metal, stoner rock, post-hardcore, and more that could satisfy a wide variety of metal fans. But looking back on 1995, it's also easy to see how the band was out of step with the emerging nu metal and industrial scenes, which makes rediscovering the band all the sweeter.

Songs In This Episode:

Intro - You Annoy Me

19:26 - Party Grrrl

26:56 - Don't Believe A Word

29:58 - Hey Hey Hey

39:47 - Brainfreeze

Outro - Sugarfoot

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