Dig Me Out: 90s Rock

Ben Osmundson and Ali Tabatabaee of Zebrahead | Interview

With the success of acts like Rage Against the Machine, Limp Bizkit, 311, and Korn in the mid-90s, by the end of the decade, labels were jumping on the bandwagon and signing bands that incorporated rap and hip-hop into rock, metal, and punk. Zebrahead, from the pop-punk hotbed Orange County, were one of the bands to benefit from this trend and released their debut, Waste of Mind, on Columbia Records in 1998 featuring the singles “Get Back” and “The Real Me.” Though the music industry would shift to boy bands and teen starlets by the early 2000s, Zebrahead soldiered on, finding success in Europe and Japan. As two of the founding, and original members, of Zebrahead, Ben Osmundson and Ali Tabatabaee join us to discuss the band’s longevity, why their sound clicked with listeners, and how they’ve managed to stay together for 25 years while continuously releasing new music.

 

Songs In This Episode:

Intro - Check from Waste Of Mind

6:30 - Playmate of the Year from Playmate of the Year

Outro - Falling Apart from MFZB

 

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Suicidal Tendencies - The Art of Rebellion | Album Review

California thrashers Suicidal Tendencies had already been called "sell outs" when they released the video for the iconic single "Institutionalized." Mike Muir, never one to buck to expectations, took ST in the directions he wanted through the 80s and early 90s, and their 1992 album The Art of Rebellion might be the creative apex for the band. Yes, they thrash. Yes, the rock. But the band was already evolving, and TAOR shows a level of arrangement and playing craftsmanship that doesn't come easy. From the charted MTV single "Nobody Hears" to the shape-shifting opener "Can't Stop," Muir is the most surprising discovery in our revisit, taking his voice and lyrics into a variety of sounds and ideas that still resonate. Of course, having an already established line-up of killer musicians backed by the lone appearance of drumming monster Josh Freese helps to further flesh out all the ideas and sounds into a truly unique record for the time period.

 

Songs In This Episode:

Intro - Accept My Sacrifice

19:06 - Can't Stop

23:56 - It's Going Down

27:09 - Gotta Kill Captain Stupid

31:34 - Nobody Hears

Outro - Tap Into The Power

 

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Albums of 1992 | Roundtable

While 1991 is regarded as the true launch of the 1990s alternative explosion into the mainstream, the sheer volume and diversity of music that followed in 1992 might lay claim to the crown as the most interesting year of the decade. The mainstays of 80s college rock were alive and well, with albums by R.E.M., Bob Mould's new band Sugar, Faith No More, The Cure, The Lemonheads, Sonic Youth, Soul Asylum, and many more. The ubiquitous "grunge" sound was fully ensconced in radio and MTV with Stone Temple Pilots, Alice In Chains, and Screaming Trees added to playlists, while more aggressive sounds emerged from the likes of Rage Against the Machine, Helmet, Pantera, and White Zombie. Underground scenes cracked the mainstream as well, as industrial and electronic acts such as Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, The Orb, Curve, Aphex Twin, and others made significant noise, and the growing UK shoegaze scene produced records from Lush, Catherine Wheel, Ride, Moose, etc. And this barely scratches the surface, as hip-hop saw the release of the decade-defining albums The Chronic by Dr. Dre and Check Your Head by the Beastie Boys, as well as albums by Arrested Development, Ice Cube, Das EFX, Redman, The Pharcyde, and more. And that barely scratches the surface.

 

Songs In This Episode:

Intro - 1992 Medley (Them Bones by Alice In Chains, Wish by Nine Inch Nails, Unsung by Helmet, Somebody To Shove by Soul Asylum)

Outro - Miles Iz Dead by The Afghan Whigs

 

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Terry Ilous of XYZ, Great White, and Land of Gypsies | Interview

Of late, Terry Ilous is probably best known as Jack Russell’s replacement in Great White (“Once Bitten, Twice Shy”), a position he held from 2010 until his surprising dismissal in 2018, but from the mid-80s until the mid-90s, Ilous fronted the Sunset Strip band XYZ (“Inside Out”, “What Keeps Me Loving You”, “Face Down in the Gutter”). In this revealing conversation, Ilous shares how XYZ bassist Pat Fontaine tricked him into moving to the U.S. from France with promises of sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll, the unlikely way XYZ landed a record deal with Enigma Records, working with Don Dokken on the band’s 1989 debut, touring with the likes of Foreigner, Ozzy Osbourne, and Ted Nugent, the arrival of grunge and the devastating effects it had on Ilous’s career for the rest of the ‘90s and how he left the music business for a number of years before being lured back in through the unlikeliest of ways (voiceover work for cartoons). Ilous has reformed XYZ and still plays shows under that band name while also releasing solo material and fronting Land of Gypsies, whose self-titled debut was released by Frontiers Music in December.

 

Songs In This Episode:

Intro - Inside Out by XYZ (from self-titled)

12:56 - Face Down In The Gutter by XYZ (from Hungry)

Outro - Don't Say No by XYZ (from Hungry)

 

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Meat Puppets - Too High To Die | Album Review

In the fall of 1993, if you heard the name Meat Puppets attached to the newest single Backwater blasting from your local alternative radio station or on MTV, you would be forgiven for thinking this was a new band from Seattle riding the grunge wave. In truth, this was the band's eighth release, and they hailed from the much sunnier climate of Phoenix, Arizona. As veterans of the indie rock scene who had spent the 80s on famed SST Records, Too High To Die was their second major-label release, and the band was as much an influence on the current wave of alternative acts breaking through as a contemporary, as evidenced by Nirvana's choice to cover three of the band's songs on their MTV Unplugged performance and have the Kirkwood brothers join them onstage. With Too High To Die, the band shows off all of their skills, crafting finger-picked bluegrass tracks alongside ripping Soundgarden-esque tunes.

 

Songs In This Episode:

Intro - Backwater

20:27 - Shine

24:19 - Things

29:17 - Severed Goddess Hand

37:48 - Evil Love

Outro - We Don't Exist

 

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Listen to the episode archive at DigMeOutPodcast.com.

Season Eleven In Review

While 2020 seemed like it lasted several terrifying years, 2021 flew by with somehow the same number of days, and for us, episodes. As with our previous year-in-review episodes, we take a look back at our favorite new album discoveries, most brought to us by our Patreon community, as well as our most enjoyable round table experiences, and our favorite 80s album discoveries, episodes which are exclusive to our patrons. And we've got news to share about 2022!

 

Songs In This Episode:

Intro - Dig Me Out by Sleater-Kinney

Outro - Dig Me Out by Sleater-Kinney

 

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Listen to the episode archive at DigMeOutPodcast.com.

Clouds - Penny Century | Album Review

While Nirvana famously helped give the college and underground rock scene one final push into the mainstream, the late 80s and early 90s were full of US and UK bands already making noise that connected with more than just the hip in-crowd. In Australia, the quick bursts of the Pixies and twin vocals of Throwing Muses and The Breeders are paralleled by the dual-songwriters fronting Clouds, whose 1991 debut Penny Century is full of two and three minute catchy harmonized indie pop.

 

Songs In This Episode:

Intro - Immorta

11:29 - Hieronymus

18:33 - Pocket

23:43 - Visionary

27:30 - Souleater

Outro - Foxes Wedding

 

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Listen to the episode archive at DigMeOutPodcast.com.

Coverdale Page - Coverdale Page | Album Review

Throughout his career, David Coverdale has been dogged with comparisons to Robert Plant's Led Zeppelin years thanks to a similar style and range, even if the performances rendered different musical outcomes. By the time the early 90s rolled around, Coverdale put Whitesnake on hiatus and Page was working on Led Zeppelin compact disc remasters when the two met up and began a casual songwriting relationship that eventually led to their (so far) lone record together - the eponymous 1993 release Coverdale * Page. Fans of both bands, of which there was probably plenty of crossover, had much to rejoice about. Page riffing sounds invigorated and Coverdale is his equal, coming up with memorable hooks on several tracks. But while these artists made their names during the vinyl era, the bloat of the compact disc is length is in full display, as tracks better suited for three or four minutes get stretched to six and seven. 

 

Songs In This Episode:

Intro - Shake My Tree

25:03 - Pride And Joy

29:28 - Over Now

33:38 - Feeling Hot

Outro - Waiting On You

 

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The Black Crowes - Amorica | Album Review

Trends came and went in the 90s, some propelling underground subgenres into the mainstream, while others revitalized previously dormant sounds. A few bands, mostly under the radar like Cry Of Love, The Four Horsemen, The Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies, Raging Slab, and Brother Cane, were ignoring the sounds of Seattle for rock rooted in 60s and 70s blues, r&b, southern, country, and hard rock. Leading the pack was Marietta, Georgia's The Black Crowes, who had been kicking around since the 1980s under various names, led by the mercurial Robinson brothers, Chris and Rich. Their debut is full of well-known radio singles, while their follow-up expanded their sound and garnered further accolades. But sessions for their third album, originally titled Tall, became mired in endless and expensive experimentation. After refocusing, the band wrote and rewrote to land on Amorica, displaying a matured and relaxed vibe with the guitar fire that made the band favorites, but without devolving into navel-gazing jams that others in the compact disc era regularly abused.

 

Songs In This Episode:

Intro - Gone

24:59 - Wiser Time

30:17 - P.25 London

37:28 - A Conspiracy

Outro - High Head Blues

 

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Music We‘re Thankful For In 2021 | Roundtable

Last year we spent Thanksgiving Eve with our patrons and friends sharing new music we were thankful for during a difficult year. 2021 has presented its own challenges, but we're lucky to have so many musical artists and creatives to turn to for escape. From the metal and hard rock of Iron Maiden, Danko Jones, and Mammoth WVH to the trip-hop of Morcheeba, Sneaker Pimps, and Hooverphonic, to the electronic and industrial of Front Line Assembly, Martin Gore, and Gary Numan, to a host of other artists like Brandi Carlisle, Dave Gutter, Palm Ghosts, The Hold Steady, Spectres, King Buffalo, Ben Kweller, and many more, there was plenty to celebrate.

 

Songs In This Episode:

Intro - Don't Back Down by Mammoth WVH (from Mammoth WVH)

7:27 - All My Heroes Are Dead by Dave Gutter (from I've Been Here Awhile EP)

15:12 - John Carpenter by Palm Ghosts (from The Lost Frequency)

18:24 - The Creeps by Garbage (from No Gods No Masters)

24:29 - Family Farm by The Hold Steady (from Open Door Policy)

30:13 - Blink Twice by Jim Ward (from Daggers)

36:42 - Swan Song by Lindsey Buckingham (from Lindsey Buckingham)

46:12 - Submarines by Failure (from Wild Type Droid)

57:38 - Ouch by The Tragically Hip (from Saskadelphia EP)

Outro - This Love Ain't Dead by Aaron and the Lord (from Aaron and the Lord)

 

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Listen to the episode archive at DigMeOutPodcast.com.