1.3M
Downloads
811
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 May 11, 2021
Tuesday May 11, 2021
On 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, which is surprising considering the comparisons to bands such as Barkmarket and Jawbox.
Songs In This Episode:
Intro - You Again
19:22 - Deb's Night Out
26:55 - The Call
34:34 - Bitter
41:49 - Silvercup
Outro - Gimme Gimme
Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon.
Tuesday May 04, 2021
Tuesday May 04, 2021
Eclectic 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 in new wave, jangle pop, and underground college rock with layered harmonies, nods to shoegaze and dream pop, while keeping the arrangements tight.
Songs In This Episode:
Intro - Joyride (I Saw The Film)
19:19 - Abort
21:03 - Here At Home
29:42 - Jackpot
32:25 - Daddy's Home
Outro - Tied
Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon.
Tuesday Apr 27, 2021
Tuesday Apr 27, 2021
Regionality 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?, and the members' previous 80s bands Dash Rip Rock and Red Rockers, the influence of roots rock, blues, Americana, and more can be heard throughout in subtle nods and swinging rhythms. Unfortunately, some of the personality gets sanded off for a sound that is ready for mainstream radio, but also lacking some needed edge.
Song In This Episode
Intro - Jenny Says
20:39 - Man On The Run
30:27 - God Makes The Rain
34:28 - Love Of My Life
38:02 - How Do You Tell Someone
Outro - New Orleans
Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon.
Tuesday Apr 20, 2021
Tuesday Apr 20, 2021
Lo-fi isn't unique to the 1990s, but it is the first decade that the recording technique (meaning literally "lo-fidelity") merged with indie rock and take on a genre identity. Artists like Pavement, Sebadoh, Guided By Voices, Liz Phair, and more found their bedroom and basement recordings appealing to more than just a tape-trading crowd with the advent of cheap CD reproduction and small labels with better distribution. But it begs the question - is lo-fi simply a recording technique based on circumstance, or an aesthetic artists strive for to attain a particular emotional effect.
Song In This Episode
Intro - I Am A Scientist by Guided By Voices
12:57 - Splendid Isolation by The Bevis Frond
22:49 - Drive All Over Town by Elliott Smith
32:37 - Losercore by Sentridoh
45:56 - Parting Shot by The Grifter
1:06:38 - Anytime You Want by Eric's Trip
Outro - Summer Babe (Winter Version) by Pavement
Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon.
Tuesday Apr 13, 2021
Tuesday Apr 13, 2021
After the early 90s explosions of Seattle grunge and alternative rock, labels swept up bands from across the country (and globe) that had any sonic resemblance to the chart toppers. By 1994, the signing frenzy was in full swing, and bands new and old found their way to major labels. Some were teenagers from Australia, while others might have veterans of midwestern hard rock and metal bands, as was the case with Sponge. If there is a reason why their major label debut Rotting Piñata from 1994 sounds so confident, it's because these weren't first timers figuring it out. That confidence shows as the album balances tight, melodic singles with album tracks that incorporate a wide pallet of influences from 80s Psychedelic Furs and R.E.M. to 90s shoegaze and metal.
Songs In This Episode:
Intro - Molly
16:32 - Miles
18:00 - Neenah Menasha
28:00 - Giants
31:36 - Pennywheels
Outro - Drowned
Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon.
Monday Apr 05, 2021
Monday Apr 05, 2021
Bands only get to make their debut album once, but for Jimmie's Chicken Shack, a few practice swings paid off. Taking tracks from several low-profile independent releases and combining them for the 1997 major label debut means the material on Pushing the Salmanilla Envelope sounds refined and well-thought-out without being stale and lifeless. Unlike some contemporaries who relied on thick, down-tuned guitars to push their angst, JCS work in layers of intricate guitar leads that recall 1970s progressive rock or 90s math rock but with a funk metal twist.
Songs In This Episode
Intro - High
21:00 - Dropping Anchor
24:16 - When You Die You're Dead
33:14 - This Is Not Hell
36:02 - Milk
Outro - Hole
Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon.
Tuesday Mar 30, 2021
Tuesday Mar 30, 2021
We've listened to plenty of Australian 90s rock that made little to no impact in the United States many times but rarely has a band sounded so US-based in its influences as Hoss. On their third album Bring On The Juice, swinging punk rhythms recall Detroit's 70s action rock scene, while more dissonant moments sound like pre-90s grunge from the likes of Mudhoney or early Dinosaur Jr. Attitude, confidence, and swagger abound on these eleven tracks, sometimes leading the band into overly long excursions that could use some trimming. But overall, Hoss finds a way to sound off the moment and timeless concurrently, not an easy feat to pull off.
Songs In This Episode
Intro - 11:11 Again
21:36 - Mighty Hand
28:04 - Lip From Lip
31:27 - Gentle Claws
Outro - The Tiredest Man Awake
Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon.
Tuesday Mar 23, 2021
Tuesday Mar 23, 2021
While 1996's Congratulations, I'm Sorry charted higher than 1992's New Miserable Experience for the Gin Blossoms, it failed to produce the same number of singles and managed only a quarter of the sales. The simplistic answer is to pin the decline on the loss of guitarist and songwriter Doug Hopkins, who penned their biggest and most enduring hit "Hey Jealousy." But as we have learned, the landscape changed fast for bands in 90s rock. NME singles made an impact in 1993 and 1994, and the band's contribution to the Empire Records soundtrack, "Til I Hear It From You," was also a hit. Is it possible listeners had Gin Blossoms fatigue in 1996? The album charted well upon release, and "Follow You Down" was a hit, but no other singles connected, and the band would break-up the following year for a four-year hiatus. So does Congratulations, I'm Sorry deserve its sophomore slump status, or is it worthy of redemption?
Songs In This Episode
Intro - Follow You Down
20:38 - Virginia
30:54 - Day Job
45:46 - Competition Smile
Outro - As Long As It Matters
Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon.
Tuesday Mar 16, 2021
Tuesday Mar 16, 2021
By 1995, it was difficult for American "alternative" bands to make a dent in the US, let alone a rookie Australian band on a new label with just a handful of releases to crack MTV and radio. Ammonia did that with the quirky single "Drugs," which found singer/guitarist Dave Johnstone melding the quiet/loud bombast of Nirvana with a delivery more reminiscent of Wayne Coyne. But "Drugs" is the classic case of a single not exactly representing the sound of the record, as the rest of Mint 400 shifts between big fuzzed-out riffing in the vein of Swervedriver's shoegaze and Superchunk's early noise pop. The band works best in short, loud bursts, only losing focus when the tempo drops and running time drags.
Songs In This Episode:
Intro - Drugs
22:17 - Suzi Q
30:40 - Ken Carter
43:41 - Mint 400
Outro - Sleepwalking
Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon.
Tuesday Mar 09, 2021
Tuesday Mar 09, 2021
Of the all bands that scored alternative hits in the 90s rock, few managed to recapture that sales magic on ensuing albums. But that doesn't mean their follow-ups records were lesser, and in some cases they made superior albums that got overlooked by fickle record buyers. Case in point: Better Than Ezra. After having their 1993 self-released sophomore album Deluxe repackaged and reissued by Elektra in 1995, and scoring a hit single with "Good," the band quickly reconvened and recorded the follow-up Friction, Baby. What the 1996 album lacks is the killer-hook single, but what it gains is confidence. While still boasting a pair of quality radio friend tracks in "King of New Orleans" and "Desperately Wanting," the album overall has the air of a band confident and secure in the sound while still stretching. That can lead to some magic, like on the blazing "Long Lost" and somber "Speeding Up To Slow Down," but also some hubris to go too far on the bad funk of "Normal Town" and "Still Live with Cooley."
Songs In This Episode:
Intro - King of New Orleans
19:36 - Long Lost
27:33 - Scared, Are You?
31:24 - Speeding Up To Slow Down
34:31 - Normal Town
Outro - Desperately Wanting
Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon.