Dig Me Out: 90s & 00s Rock

Another week, another  requested review ! This week we’re checking out the 1993 debut album Icky Mettle by  Archers of Loaf . Check out any music website, blog or magazine, and when the best alternative albums of the 90s are ranked, you’ll usually find this album somewhere on it. Propulsive drums, melodic bass, dissonant guitars and urgent vocals are combined in short bursts without adhering to th...

Our latest  requested review  brings us  The Welcome Mat ’s debut release Gram from 1993. This four-piece from Sydney, Australia packs some power-pop worthy hooks thanks to crisp vocal harmonies, well-crafted tunes and expert guitar riffage. It’s only when either of the vocalists steps out on their own that the songs start to suffer, but how much? It’s (mild) disagreement time! Songs in this Episo...

Thanks to a  requested review , we’re joined by  Bluebottle Kiss  lead singer/guitarist  Jamie Hutchings  to revisit the 1996 album Fear of Girls. We chat about his earlier years playing drums and how that influenced his guitar playing and singing. We discuss seeing late 80s/early 90s American indie-rock bands touring Australia before forming Bluebottle Kiss, then getting signed and working with p...

We’ve got a  requested review  this week, and to help us revisit his request, we invited Brandon Trammell, guitarist for  Braidedveins  and  Kid Brother Collective  on to talk about his pick - 1997′s Pure Juice by  Summercamp . After an independent release under a different name, this was the only album released by the band, and it runs the gamut from syrupy power-pop to grungy thumpers and big ro...

Joining us this week is  Kevin Martin  to walk us through the past, present and future of  Candlebox  and his career in music. Kevin fills us in on his earliest musical influences - his Mom and Dad, the Texas punks, and the mid/late 80s Seattle scene. From there, Kevin walks us through the wild ride that landed Candlebox on Madonna’s  Maverick  record label and put the band on the road for well ov...

What exactly is  emo ? To help us, and several listeners who have asked this same question, we’ve assembled an emo all-star team to figure it out. Joining us is  Tom Mullen  ( Washed Up Emo podcast ,  Is This Band Emo? )  Eric Grubbs  ( Do You Know Who You Are? podcast , author of  Post ), and  Jeff Takacs  ( Rocketfuel podcast ,  Punktastic ). In This Episode: Intro - Emo Medley (Sunny Day Real E...

With an well-received new album just released, it’s the perfect time to check out an album by Britpop pioneers  Suede  (or, The London Suede here in the states). We put it up for a vote on our  Patreon page , and after a tie-breaking coin flip, we’re checking out the 1994 sophomore album Dog Man Star. Like a lot of sophomore albums in the ‘90s, this album came after a well received (critically and...

For our first interview of 2016, we’re chatting with  Andy Hindman , current bass technician (aka, roadie) for the  Goo Goo Dolls . Andy started out in Columbus, Ohio playing in bands and going out on the road as a driver/roadie first for  Watershed , then  Howlin’ Maggie . After short stints with  Dovetail Joint  and  Luscious Jackson , he joined the Goo Goo Dolls crew, which led him to jobs on t...

It’s our first roundtable discussion of 2016, and we’re tackling the albums from 20-years prior, with special guests  Matt Wardlaw  ( Ultimate Classic Rock ,  Lost Together podcast ),  Chip Midnight  ( KidsInterviewBands.com ) and  Jeff Takacs  ( Rocketfuel podcast ,  Punktastic ) to help us cover the best, the overlooked, the letdowns and faded-aways of ‘96. In This Episode: Intro - 1996 Medley (...

It’s with heavy hearts we share with your are latest episode, recorded four days prior to the passing of  David Bowie . With Black Star, his 26th album just released, we decided to revisit his 1993 album Black Tie White Noise, co-produced with Nile Rodgers, who worked with Bowie on the successful Let’s Dance album ten years earlier. With drum and keyboard loops influenced by the burgeoning house a...

We start our first show of the 2016 season addressing the passing of Scott Weiland before tackling our first  requested review  of the year, the 1991 album  Thrumdone by Carnival Art . Band member connections to Weezer and Jane’s Addiction make this an interesting listen, but the sounds of those bands aren’t really present, for better or worse. Bouncing between catchy new wave, metal riffing and a...

It’s the final episode of 2015, and what a year it was! We recently kicked off our Patreon campaign, and on this episode dig a little deeper into what that means for the future of the show. We talk about our favorite interviews, roundtable discussions and album reviews, read some listener feedback and preview 2016. Follow on  Twitter  /  Facebook Request A Review  /  Buy A T-Shirt

For our final review of 2015, we’re checking out the sophomore album Aluminum from  Gods Child . This New York City band has an interesting and at times odd combination of influences and sounds, jumping from jazz verses to soaring Bon Jovi choruses literally in the same song. Sometimes it works, other times it left us scratching our heads. But did we like it? Tune in to find out. Songs in this Epi...

As we discussed in our October roundtable episode on  female artists of the 90s , 1995 was a historic year thanks to Jagged Little Pill by Alanis Morissette. But Alanis wasn’t the only artist to make an impact. The  New York Times noted  in early 1996 about the debut album Hello by Poe and her “moody hip-hop to hymnlike piano to fingerpicking pop-folk.” We revisit this eclectic record that feature...

For our final roundtable of 2015, we’re joined by  Matt Wardlaw  and  Eric Peterson  to discuss movie soundtracks of the 1990s. Where the 90s the ultimate decade for movie soundtracks? Can a great soundtrack redeem a mediocre movie? What were the best songs written specifically for movies? What artists made their careers thanks to soundtrack songs? All this more, plus special thanks to our guest i...

This week  Scott Lucas  of  Local H  joins us to talk about their latest album Hey, Killer and their recent tour with  Failure . We dig into Scott’s early years in Zion, IL, getting his first Harmony guitar and playing basement and garage shows in the dry town. We discuss the early years of the band, working various jobs while gigging and writing before signing to  Island Records . We talk about t...

Atari Teenage Riot ’s 1995 album Delete Yourself! was supposed to be at the start of the wave that would usher the end of guitar music and a takeover by synths, samples and drum machines. That didn’t exactly happen, however plenty of interesting albums were released during that time, and we’re checking out the German trio’s self-described “digital hardcore” debut. Songs in this Episode: Intro - In...

It’s been twenty years since  Son Volt  released their debut album Trace, which means it is up for repackaged remastered re-release and reappraisal. Always compared to Wilco thanks to their time together in alt.country pioneering band Uncle Tupelo, Son Volt finds Jay Farrar at his songwriting peak, easily shifting from uptempo rockers to acoustic slow burns with radio friendly production tying it...

This week we’re kicking off the first of a series in which we revisit the 90s output of a band from the 1980s that was massive popular. For the first “in the 90s” round table, we’re tackling  Van Halen , who sold a combined  47 million albums  from 1980 to 1988, and enter the 90s with the successful For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge album in 1991 that spawned the gigantic single “Right Here Right Now....

This week we’re checking out the 1993 album Earth vs the Wildhearts by The Wildhearts, which came up in the comments for our  recent review of The Almighty . While they share some similarity in the big riffing department, The Wildhearts take a decidedly different approach to the vocals, dipping into power pop melodies and harmonies throughout. Jason, who picked the album, says this should be his f...

A few weeks back we with  spoke with musician/producer J. Robbins  and touched upon his production work with  Braid . This week we decided to revisit their 1998 album Frame and Canvas, which has made it onto top whatever lists for emo from  NME ,  LA Weekly  and  Treble , just to name a few. Does it live up to the hoopla? Tune in to find out. Songs in this Episode: Intro - Killing a Camera5:57 - H...

This week we’re joined by  Morgan Taylor , formerly of the band  Mink , to help us revisit our r eview of their album Get In Get Out  from season one. We didn’t know much about the band and their history, or of the Dayton, Ohio scene in the ‘80s or ‘90s, so Morgan walks us through this small but influential town. Morgan takes us back to his earliest bands, opening for an embryonic  Guided By Voice...

This week were discussing the influences on, the influence of and the variety of female artists who made an impact on alternative and indie rock in the 1990s. To help us scratch the surface of this very big topic, we’re joined by  Annie Zaleski  of the  AV Club ,  Salon  and many more,  Jim Kopeny  of the  Chicagoist  and  Chip Midnight  of  Kids Interview Bands . From Riot Grrrl to Lilith Fair an...

This week, we’re joined by producer and musician  J. Robbins , of such bands as  Government Issue ,  Jawbox ,  Burning Airlines ,  Channels  and  Office of Future Plans . What do we cover in our two and half hours? Marriage and kids, and how they change a musicians life. Writing, recording and touring. Vans vs. Buses. The styles of Zach vs. Pete.  Steve Albini : producing vs. engineering. Dealing...

Jon Fine , author of  Your Band Sucks: What I Saw at Indie Rock's Failed Revolution (But Can No Longer Hear) , and guitarist of  Bitch Magnet , joins us to discuss his newly released book. We talk the genesis of the book and what makes a good rock memoir, try to figure out what exactly is “indie rock,” chat about gear and how to properly dispose of guitars in disrepair, and so much more. Songs in...