Dig Me Out: 90s & 00s Rock

The release of Nirvana's album Nevermind in 1991 shaped the musical landscape of the 1990s in numerous ways, but 1999 may be the year that truly upended everything. Along with our favorite albums, our hidden gems, our late discoveries, and our long forgottens, we also dig into the year that foretold the re-emergence and dominance of pop music that has never been challenged since, the year that gav...

We're not sure what album Mantissa intended to make with their 1992 debut Mossy God. On the one hand, it's got the guitar riffage that would find allies in heavier/dirtier 1980s hard rock/metal bands like Circus Of Power or Faster Pussycat. On the other hand, with producer Terry Date onboard, there is a tinge of the Seattle sound, like early Alice In Chains or pre-Superunknown Soundgarden. There i...

The term "album tracks" gets thrown around to describe perfectly fine songs that are clearly not going to be a radio single for a band. It represents what the band does, but maybe is less melodic in favor of a sound that expands, experiments or diverts enough to make it worthy of inclusion. For a band like Stanford Prison Experiment, we tossed around the term "album track" a number of times for a...

To understand "Desert Rock" and the Palm Desert Scene , you have too look further than Queens Of The Stone Age, as we learned on our Desert Rock episode. That's when you discover a number of bands and important figures, including Chris Goss and his band Masters Of Reality , contemporaries of Kyuss and others who helped bring the bass heavy guitar dirges of the desert to the mainstream. But there i...

2018 seem to fly by, and with it another slate of reviews, roundtables and interviews that we look back upon with equal parts amazement and exhaustion. Thanks to our great community of folks at Patreon, the burden of actually picking records to revisit was lifted off our shoulders this year, and we got to check out some completely new discoveries like Fini Scad, Sheena Ringo and The Gathering, whi...

Although we host a 90s-focused music podcast, if you think Fugazi is a no brainer for us, think again. While we both had passing interest and exposure, neither of us were ardent followers of punk, hardcore or post hardcore during that time, and really only came to it years later thanks to our varied appreciations for bands like Jawbox, Sonic Youth and At The Drive-in. This makes revisiting Fugazi'...

With his work as Sparklehorse, Mark Linkous left behind a collection of music wholly unique - masterfully combining the intimacy of his home recording setup paired with his singular lyrical approach. His songs shift from abrasive guitar driven "Pig" and "Ghost Of His Smile" to the laid back pop of "Sick Of Goodbyes" with little interruption, managing to find common ground in melody with such conte...

While the Seattle record label Sub Pop is primarily associated with "grunge," the list of artists and catalog of releases is far more broad. Take for example Eric Matthews , whose whispered vocal and orchestral arrangements couldn't stray further from the so-called Sub Pop sound. On his sophomore solo release from 1997, The Lateness Of The Hour, Matthews expertly and often densely constructs songs...

There are not many 1990s albums that fall under the "alternative rock" banner that prominently feature harp and horns the way the lone 1997 album Free Mars by Lusk does. The fact that it does so featuring a wide cast of characters from bands such as Tool (Paul D'Amour), Failure (Greg Edwards), Guns 'n Roses (Chris Pitman) and Medicine (Brad Laner) only adds to the unique and intriguing charm of th...

Power pop, as we have learned over the years, is a hard subgenre of rock 'n roll to pin down. The 1999 self-titled debut by Owsley has been referred to as power pop, with some calling it a masterpiece. It's not hard to hear why, as the album is chock full of catchy hooks, harmonies, tasteful nods to The Beatles and checks all the boxes of retro without being nostalgic. For as much as we've enjoyed...

Our "In The 90s" series exploring successful 1970s and 80s artists and bands has discovered a common theme - sometimes it was not the rise of grunge and alternative music that through a wrench into their success, sometimes overwhelming success created a watershed moment leaving the band in flux. What was Metallica to do after the Black album? And in this case for our latest episode, what was Aeros...

Many musical genres and subgenres previously found in the cultural underground bubbled to the mainstream surface in the 1990s thanks to a major label feeding frenzy and the ever expanding definition of "alternative." Like punk, ska, swing and even grunge, industrial and electronic music had their moments in various ways, and gave rise to interesting iterations that briefly snuck onto MTV and comme...

For some, metal shock rockers Gwar are more style than substance. In fact, we were in that camp, having paid little attention to the band beyond their notorious stage antics and costumes. But thanks to our second annual Halloween-themed episode, we're checking out the 1990 sophomore album Scumdogs Of The Universe. While we expected over the top lyrics with various R-rated subject matter, we did no...

Built To Spill have remained an anomaly in a number of ways throughout their career - a band steeped in classic rock conventions that seamlessly integrates 1990s indie rock guitar shredding, but does so without sacrificing vocal melodies, and doing in on major label Warner Bros. for twenty years. On 1999's Keep It Like A Secret, Doug Martsch shortened the length and kept the six plus minute long j...

After the success of the Sound Of White Noise album with new lead singer John Bush, New York city thrashers Anthrax took the band in a direction that angered and alienated longtime fans. For Stomp 442 from 1995, the band relied less on the chugging thrash riffage of their past, and played with sounds that would be at home in Helmet's post hardcore and alternative metal sound, or the mainstream har...

Cleveland is the home of the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame, Cincinnati is home to legendary soul label King Records and The Afghan Whigs, Akron has Devo and the The Pretenders, but if there is a 1990s alternative and indie rock epicenter of Ohio, it's Dayton, known for its Air Force Base and (alleged) alien cover-ups. The Breeders, Guided By Voices and Brainiac all call Dayton home, breaking through i...

For his 1998 album Since, Richard Buckner enlisted a strong supporting cast (John McEntire of Tortoise, The Sea And Cake / Dave Schramm of Yo La Tengo, The Schramms / David Grubbs of Squirrel Bait, Gastr Del Sol, Bastro) to shape an Americana/Alt Country record that feels out of place for the time, but perfectly in sync with the Jason Isbell's and John Moreland's of today's musical landscape. It h...

We revisit Beck's major label debut Mellow Gold, was it a warm-up for the multi-platinum Odelay, or is Loser the only worthwhile nugget?   Songs in this episode: Intro - Loser 12:54 -Soul Suckin' Jerk 17:58 - Beercan 26:28 - Truckdrivin Neighbors Downstairs (Yellow Sweat) Outro - Sweet Sunshine   To support the podcast, join us at Patreon for bonus content and more. Facebook  /  Twitter  /  Instag...

Wondering about our exclusive content over at Patreon? Here's a sample of the first five minutes of our extended twenty minute discussion on Power Pop as we chat about the 2000s. Hear the entire bonus content, be eligible for quarterly contests, vote in our polls, and support the podcast at patreon.com/digmeout .

For a lot of people, the rock music subgenre known as "power pop" is one of those "you know it when you hear it" situations. However, over the years many have tried to describe and dissect what makes power pop unique from musical cousins such as pop rock or jangle pop. Like the 70s and 80s before them, 90s power pop bands put their own spin on the sound, adding a little more guitar crunch while in...

Craig Finn is best known for his distinctive vocal and lyrical style thanks to The Hold Steady in the 2000s. But while that band channeled Bruce Springsteen, The Replacements and The Band for musical inspiration, his 1990s outfit Lifter Puller took a decidedly more angular approach with nods to Television, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Pavement. Digging into 1997's sophomore released Half Dead a...

Concept albums are as old as albums themselves, though defining what exactly qualifies as a concept album is flexible. The 90s were no different, as many bands and artists took loose ideas and strung together narratives and themes to form a cohesive idea. Of all the bands you were probably expecting to do so back in day, Local H was probably not high on that list, but songwriter/guitarist/singer S...

The 1990s are known as the grunge decade, but really Seattle's reign was contained to the first half, which is when The Posies power-pop tour de force Frosting On The Beater happened to be released in 1993. It's not hard to understand why this band from the Pacific Northwest struggled to find an broad audience - the singles are teeming with Big Star, Cheap Trick, The Beatles, and other classic pow...

When musicians aren't busy writing, recording and touring with their main band, often times you'll find them in side projects, mixing it up with new sounds and new collaborators. The 1990s were no different, as folks from the biggest bands to lesser known indie artists often found a new creative outlet outside their main gig. But what exactly makes it a side project, as opposed to just putting out...

After Nirvana exploded in the 1990s, bands across the globe got signed for sounding just enough like the Kurt, Krist, and Dave, an inevitable result of major labels hoping to find "the next Nirvana." It was also inevitable that young artists would be influenced by the band dominating radio and MTV, and so began the delicate balance of imitation and influence, recycling and reinterpretation. On the...