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Episodes
J and Tim dig into the grunge, alt-rock, and indie albums that changed everything—the forgotten classics, the underappreciated masterpieces, and the legends worth hearing again. One album at a time. Let’s dig it out.
Episodes
Tuesday Apr 12, 2022
Tuesday Apr 12, 2022
Terms like post-punk, post-rock, emo, indie, etc. get tossed around when talking about 90s rock bands that strayed from the mainstream to embrace a different take on the soft/loud dynamic. Boston four-piece Karate takes the angular twin-guitar and vocal attack of Fugazi and shave off some of the rougher edges while incorporating Slint-like slowcore, dialing down the tempos and volumes ready to burst. Karate adds a twist with jazzy phrasings and even a dirgy blues riff, giving the band an opportunity to work with a wider sonic pallet while leaving plenty of open space that occasionally feels underdeveloped.
Songs In This Episode:
Intro - It's 98 Stop
17:30 - New Martini
27:22 - New Hangout Condition
35:46 - Wake Up, Decide
Outro - Die Die
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Friday Apr 08, 2022
Friday Apr 08, 2022
Though Chad Fischer’s musical resume begins with School of Fish, the drummer didn’t play on either of the band’s two full-length albums. Just before the recording of 1993’s Human Cannonball, Fischer was fired by producer Matt Wallace who brought in session drummer Josh Freese to play on the album. When Freese was unable to tour with School of Fish due to other commitments, Fischer rejoined as the live drummer until the band broke up shortly thereafter. Knowing that he wanted to make a living in music, Fischer acquired gear and built a recording studio where he recorded not only his post-School of Fish band, Lazlo Bane, where he sang and played guitars, but worked on a number of releases by artists like Star 69 and Jeremy Toback. A chance meeting with Colin Hay (Men at Work) resulted in a personal - and working - relationship that continues to this day. Perhaps Fischer’s biggest musical accomplishment, however, was writing the song “Superman” which became the theme song for the long-running NBC comedy, Scrubs. These days, Fischer is writing, recording and producing for TV and movies, staying busy by releasing cover songs (and videos) and starting to work on new Lazlo Bane material.
Songs In This Episode:
Intro - Superman by Lazlo Bane (from All The Time In The World)
7:47 - Alone Again by Chad Fischer (from Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs soundtrack)
Outro - 3 Strange Days by Lazlo Bane and School of Fish (from Someday We'll Be Together)
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Tuesday Apr 05, 2022
Tuesday Apr 05, 2022
New Radicals, the band that wrote the ubiquitous single "You Get What You Give" which will never the airwaves, was the brainchild of Gregg Alexander and former child actor Danielle Brisebois, the former who had previously failed to breakthrough in the late 80s/early 90s solo artist. Donning the iconic bucket hat and calling-out (then) current celebrities like Courtney Love and Beck gave critics something to spill ink about, but the overall 1998 release Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too never got the attention the single managed. Drawing on pop from several decades and angles, the band moves effortlessly between 90s alt-rock less expected sounds like the soulful bounce of Hall and Oates or twists and turns of Todd Rundgren. While the album hones in on specific moods, like longing blue-eyed soul on one track and Badfinger-esque 70s pop on the next, the variety of players gives the overall record an inconsistent vibe with tracks often exceeding their welcome by a minute or two.
Songs In This Episode:
Intro - You Get What You Give
22:16 - Mother We Just Can't Get Enough
30:06 - In Need of a Miracle
37:47 - I Don't Wanna Die Anymore
Outro - Flowers
Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon.
Tuesday Mar 29, 2022
Tuesday Mar 29, 2022
Alternative in the late 80s included several artists who successfully mixed funk and hip-hop with hard rock and metal, such as Faith No More, Living Colour, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. In Melbourne, Australia, Defryme would form in 1989 with a similar sound, but it would take them five years to release their debut Purekiller. By that time, the fusion of hip-hop, funk, and metal was a far less original concept, and while Defryme craft a handful of tight tracks, the band struggles with consistency. The catchy hook of "Therapy" is absent on at least half of the record, which dips into yarling grunge territory on "Sanity" and attempts an ill-advised cover of LL Cool J's "Mama Said Knock You Out."
Songs In This Episode:
Intro - Pure Killer
12:03 - Gunn
22:57 - Therapy
33:12 - Sanity
Outro - Rivers
Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon.
Tuesday Mar 22, 2022
Tuesday Mar 22, 2022
Before the alternative explosion led by Nirvana in 1991, bands like Jane's Addiction, R.E.M., Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Faith No More were already paving the way on MTV and modern rock playlists. Coming off the success of iconic rap-rock tune "Epic" from their sophomore album The Real Thing, Faith No More followed up with 1992's Angel Dust, further exploring the edges of thrash metal, funk, new wave, and more. While the record stretches the boundaries of what could still be called a mainstream, major label release, the end result is full of relentlessly catchy earworms that often defy categorization.
Songs In This Episode:
Intro - Smaller And Smaller
16:30 - A Small Victory
21:43 - RV
29:07 - Be Aggressive
40:30 - Midlife Crisis
Outro - Everything's Ruined
Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon.
Tuesday Mar 15, 2022
Tuesday Mar 15, 2022
After their 1994 debut album not only failed to make a commercial dent for Polydor Records, but was also panned by critics and even the band themselves, Powderfinger returned to the studio with veteran Australian producer Tim Whitten (Hoodoo Gurus, The Go-Betweens, Clouds, etc.) for the sophomore album Double Allergic. The pairing paid off as the group put the studio to good use while maintaining a tight band feel that shifts between American alternative and more adventures diversions. The twin guitar work of Ian Haug and Darren Middleton carves out a wide range of sounds and textures that remain tasteful while dropping enough ear candy to make repeated listens pay off, while vocalist Bernard Fanning finds simple yet effective melodies to craft several radio-friendly tunes, all with the backing of a tight and versatile rhythm section.
Songs In This Episode:
Intro - Pick You Up
16:25 - Boing Boing
23:08 - Oipic
32:05 - Skinny Jean
40:09 - Come Away (Hidden Track)
Outro - Living Type
Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon.
Tuesday Mar 08, 2022
Tuesday Mar 08, 2022
Though most people’s introduction to Stabbing Westward was via their major label debut, Ungod, in 1994, Christopher Hall (vocals) and Walter Flakus (keyboards) had been making music together since their college days nearly a decade earlier. Blending the industrial influences of Nine Inch Nails, Ministry and Skinny Puppy with the goth rock of early Smashing Pumpkins and Depeche Mode, Stabbing Westward found themselves smack dab in the middle of the mid-90s alternative wave and toured with a wide range of acts ranging from KISS to the Sex Pistols to Killing Joke to Placebo. While fans may have appreciated the consistent releases (Ungod in ‘94, Wither Blister Burn & Peel in ‘96, Darkest Days in ‘98), it put a strain on relationships within the band and, after being dropped by Columbia and releasing a self-titled album on Koch Records in ‘01, Stabbing Westward came to end. Hall started The Dreaming, a band very much in the vein of Stabbing Westward’s sound, while Flakus got into the radio business as a program director and DJ. A reunion in 2015 to celebrate the band’s formation 30 years prior led to occasional live shows and eventually Hall retired The Dreaming name to reform Stabbing Westward with Flakus and some of his Dreaming band members. In 2020, Stabbing Westward released three new songs which led to a full album of new material, Chasing Ghosts, out on March 18, the first Stabbing Westward in 21 years.
Songs In This Episode:
Intro - Save Yourself (from Darkest Days)
6:52 - Ghost (from Ghost EP)
Outro - What Do I Have To Do (from Wither Blister Burn & Peel)
Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon.
Tuesday Mar 01, 2022
Tuesday Mar 01, 2022
A disaffected and laid-back vocal combined with loose playing will always draw a comparison to Pavement when talking 90s rock. And Pure definitely dabble in the slacker rock vibe, albeit with more chill than snark, and on Generation Six-Pack the chill is via a nice layer of fuzzy guitar that is somewhere between early Weezer and space rock Hum. The band uses some standard 90s tropes to good effect, like the quiet/loud dynamic of "Anna," while also integrating slide guitar to add a layer of distortion and countermelody while also integrating some bluesy licks, like on "The Tip" and "Denial." Where the record falters for us it may not for others - the relaxed approach occasionally smoothers what could have been some delicious power-pop-esque gems like on "Lemonade," where a slightly tighter approach would have resulted in a resilient earworm.
Songs In This Episode:
Intro - What It Is
12:52 - Nobody Knows I'm New Wave
18:37 - Monster
24:00 -The Tip
31:05 - Lemonade
Outro - Anna
Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon.
Thursday Feb 24, 2022
Thursday Feb 24, 2022
After her band Clementine, with Reggie Watts (Comedy Bang! Bang!, The Late Late Show with James Corden) and Ryan Link, broke up, Heather Duby joined forces with noted Seattle producer Steve Fisk (Pigeonhed) to write and record what would become her 1999 Sub Pop debut, Post to Wire. A far cry from the punk and grunge acts the label was known for, Duby was released from her contract when Post to Wire failed to make waves. While she continued to make albums for Sonic Boom Records (2003’s Come Across the River, 2006’s Heather Duby), Duby was going through some deeply personal things which put her music career in the back seat. She moved to New York in 2007, was involved in a terrible bike accident in 2011, earned a Law degree in 2017 and recorded a new EP in 2018 with John Agnello (Dinosaur Jr., Sonic Youth, Son Volt) that hit streaming services until 2020.
Songs In This Episode:
Intro - Judith
6:16 - Falter
Outro - September
Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon.
Tuesday Feb 22, 2022
Tuesday Feb 22, 2022
After the platinum, multi-hit single success of Cake's sophomore album Fashion Nugget, members Greg Brown (guitar and keyboard) and Victor Damiani (bass) left to form Deathray. It would take three years for their self-titled debut to be released, and while catchy pop-power and new-wave revivalists had brief moments in the spotlight during the 90s (Weezer, Matthew Sweet, The Posies, The Rentals, Imperial Teen), by 2000 their brand of dry, quick, and quirky pop had been kicked off the radio and MTV. As a result, Deathray probably isn't as well known to power-pop and general 90s rock audiences as it should be, with a quick thirty-five minutes and thirteen songs of catchy earworms that deserve a discovery.
Songs In This Episode:
Intro - My Lunatic Friend
13:07 - Scott
16:26 - Baby Polygon
22:41 - Zero
34:08 - This Time
Outro - Only Lies
Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon.