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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 Sep 10, 2019
Tuesday Sep 10, 2019
To paraphrase a rock 'n roll saying, you get a lifetime to make your first record, but six months to make your second. As we've discovered in our Sophomore Slump Revisited series, it is not always the case that limited time causes the dreaded Sophomore Slump. Record label management shake-ups, shifting radio playlists and various other factors have impacted the success or failure of second albums. But what about the opposite? Bands that made okay or solid freshman efforts, but kicked it up a notch on their sophomore album and finally "discovered their sound" or "delivered on their promising debut." Or bands that released massive, chart-topping first albums, only to equal or exceed with their follow-up. There's a lot to cover, and a lot to discuss as we talk about a bunch of bands and albums that reversed the curse of the Sophomore Slump.
Songs In This Episode:
Intro - Sophomore Jinx by Self
9:57 - Cut Your Hair by Pavement
24:34 - Not Too Late by Satchel
37:20 - Pen Pals by Sloan
48:41 - Until You Came Along by Golden Smog
Outro - Spice Up Your Life by Spice Girls
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Tuesday Sep 03, 2019
Tuesday Sep 03, 2019
While we've touched on some alternative country over the years on the podcast, we've never encountered a straight-up folk record. Until now. Thanks to a patron selection, we checked out the 1999 debut album Bareback by Hank Dogs. A family band with lineage to the Sex Pistols, we had no idea what to expect, though the name and album cover tipped us off to something country-ish. The reality is much more traditional, recalling the English folk of The Fairport Convention, Pentangle, Steeleye Span, Richard Thompson, etc. - all well outside our respective wheelhouses. But albums like this help expand our musical horizons, even if they fall victim to the overstuff compact disc era, and foreshadow the 2000s folk and freak-folk revival.
Songs In This Episode:
Intro - Lucky Break
13:06 - 18 Dogs
19:52 - I'm An Angel
25:27 - Take Back My Own Heart
Outro - Sun Explodes
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Tuesday Aug 27, 2019
Tuesday Aug 27, 2019
If we told you that a soul/blues singer from Detroit released a record on Sub Pop on 1996 backed by funk rockers Big Chief, who had themselves just released an album influenced by 70s Blaxploitation films, you'd think we'd have a crazy game of Mad Libs going on. But the end result of Thornetta Davis' debut solo album Sunday Morning Music is much more traditional than expected, find space between the 1990s neo soul of Maxwell, D'Angelo and Erykah Badu, and the new wave of young American blues artists like Jonny Lang and Kenny Wayne Shepard.
Songs In This Episode:
Intro - Helpless
10:38 - Only One
13:58 - Cry
21:01 - And I Spin
Outro - Come Go With Me
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Thursday Aug 22, 2019
Thursday Aug 22, 2019
If there is a new episode of Dig Me Out in your feed on a Thursday, that can only mean one thing - we sharing with you a preview of our latest Dig Me Out '80s episodes. With the help our Patreon Board of Directors and Steering Committee tiers, we're revisiting another album from the 1980s based on suggestions and votes of our patrons. This month we're checking out the 1989 album Freedom by Neil Young. Join the DMO Union for as little as $2 a month and get access to bonus content like this episode, vote in our album review polls, get exclusive merchandise and more!
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Tuesday Aug 20, 2019
Tuesday Aug 20, 2019
Touring festivals were all the rage in the 1990s, with Lollapalooza kicking things off in 1991, following by Lilith Fair, the H.O.R.D.E. Tour, Ozzfest, Family Values Tour and others. We're heading back to 1995 to revisit the Warped Tour, from those who attended it and those who played it, gaining insight on the various line-up incarnations of the 90s, as well as the evolving line-up of artists, that started as a pop-punk-ska skate boarding, but morphed into a broader "youth-oriented" festival thanks to co-founder Kevin Lyman. We learn the various quirks (daily line-up shuffling!), the queasy (no showering for days! port-a-potties!) and the community that was built over twenty-five years of the Warped Tour.
Songs In This Episode:
Intro - Al's War by Less Than Jake
Outro - History Of A Boring Town by Less Than Jake
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Tuesday Aug 13, 2019
Tuesday Aug 13, 2019
When singer/guitarist Toni Halliday and multi-instrumentalist Dean Garcia paired up to form Curve in 1989, they already had established bonafides in the music world with previous releases on Anxious Records, set-up by Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics. While those efforts failed to connect, their three 1991 EPs gained enough momentum that the 1992 debut album Doppelgänger, with assistance from soon to be in-demand producer Flood, was primed for widespread acclaim and respectable sales. Doppelgänger cracked the top twenty UK album chart, but their sound, an at times hypnotic combination of noisy-pop, shoegaze, dreamy textures and Madchester big beats, failed to connect with a larger audience, a sound that years later Garbage would refine for the mid-nineties radio waves. But for all the forward thinking and ahead-of-its-time accolades, there is a decidedly 1990s time stamp to the wall of sound approach, especially in the layered drums and percussion that left us equally fatigued and fascinated.
Songs In This Episode:
Intro - Horror Head
13:25 - Ice That Melts The Tips
19:41 - Sandpit
26:30 - Lillies Dying
29:48 - Split Into Fractions
29:57 - Mine All Mine (Van Halen)
Outro - Fait Accompli
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Tuesday Aug 06, 2019
Tuesday Aug 06, 2019
If you are checking us out for the first time, you'll quickly learn what our regular listeners already know: reggae and/or ska were not our thing back in the 1990s. Now, we're not going to claim to have fully converted to fandom, but the 1996 album Forever = 1 Day by Fighting Gravity left us with positive vibes. When the band locks into a relaxed mid-tempo groove, we're fully on board. When they occasionally pick up the pace to skanking speeds, or slow to a new age crawl, we found less reason to stay engaged. We got to explore all sides of the band, as well as the dig into the touring regional band phenomenon prevalent in the 1990s with access to cheap CD replication and an established college fraternity circuit that will no doubt come up again in future episodes.
Songs In This Episode:
Intro - One Day
12:20 - Fools And Kings
21:35 - Ted's River Song
31:22 - Quiet Angel
Outro - Mission Bells
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Tuesday Jul 30, 2019
Tuesday Jul 30, 2019
Maybe you listened to Modest Mouse in 1996 or 1997 and thought, yes, this band will invade the public consciousness with a catchy single in the 2000s, launching them into elite status as a festival headliner, collaborate with a legendary guitarist, and influence a new generation of artists like Silversun Pickups, Future Islands, Car Seat Headrest and more. Most likely like us, you didn't, and figured a solid career in the indie music world was their destiny. We're okay with not foreseeing what may end up being the underground's last stab at infiltrating the mainstream, and decided to revisit for our second "Origins" roundtable the early years of Modest Mouse in the 1990s. Isaac Brock's unique songwriting style is present immediately, but the refinement of later years hasn't happened, allowing for exploration and experimentation across expansive (re: long) albums. It's in 1997's sophomore album The Lonesome Crowded West that the band gels, the focus sharpens, and the seeds of what were to come begin to sprout just enough at the intersection of distinct yet recognizable.
Songs In This Episode:
Intro - Teeth Like God's Shoeshine
10:30 - Novocaine Stain
16:18 - Talking Shit About A Pretty Sunset
23:29 - Sleepwalking
31:04 - Trailer Trash
39:48 - Float On
Outro - Gravity Rides Everything
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Tuesday Jul 23, 2019
Tuesday Jul 23, 2019
Albums made in 1990 or 1991 often have the "sound" of the 80s in their production - lots of reverb on the drums, particular guitar effects, etc. Sometimes in reviewing albums from this period, it can date the album, pinning it down to a certain time instead of receiving the "timeless" accolade that so many well-regarded albums receive. But what if big, booming reverb gives the album a personality instead of a stamp? That's the case with the 1990 album Bloodletting by Concrete Blonde, who mined the vampire novels of Anne Rice to deliver an album that matches lyrical content with its musical approach. "Goth" is the term thrown around, and the album plays with dark themes matched with occasional dissonance. But what is really on display is a singer fully in command of their voice, constructing unique melodies, wrapped around a diverse selection of songwriting styles and approaches that deliver over and over again.
Songs In This Episode:
Intro - The Bloodletting (The Vampire Song)
17:47 - Tomorrow, Wendy
21:57 - The Sky Is A Poisonous Garden
24:14 - Caroline
35:05 - Joey
Outro - Darkening Of The Light
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Tuesday Jul 16, 2019
Tuesday Jul 16, 2019
Movie soundtracks, as we have learned, come in all shapes and sizes. The 1994 Backbeat soundtrack is an interesting concept - get a bunch of well-respected alternative musicians of the day, and have them tackle early cover songs played by The Beatles. The list is impressive even today: Dave Pirner of Soul Asylum and Greg Dulli of The Afghan Whigs sharing vocal duties, Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth and Don Fleming of Gumball handling the guitars, Mike Mills of R.E.M. on bass guitar and vocals, and Dave Grohl, then of Nirvana, later of Foo Fighters, pounding away on the drums. On the one hand, you'd love to hear what this band could do with the restriction of making these period specific recordings to fit the film, or what actual Beatles tunes might sound like. On the other, hearing the band stick to the format, and tear through two-minute rock 'n roll classics is its own special thing. We hope they were having fun, because the energy and enthusiasm for the material is evident, leaving us to wonder what would/could happen if this line-up reunited every so often.
Songs In This Episode:
Intro - Money
12:11 - Rock and Roll Music
15:36 - Good Golly Miss Molly
24:26 - Please Mr. Postman
Outro - Carol
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