Dig Me Out: 90s & 00s Rock

Sandwiched between 80s metal and 90s alternative,  Mindfunk  occupy the same limbo space as Mother Love Bone and Saigon Kick. We’re checking out their self-titled 1991 debut, a mix of big metal riffs, groove rock with funk influences and some slow burn nods to what would later be called desert or stoner rock. While Jason was familiar with this from when it was released and bought it on cd when it...

Greg Glover, co-founder of the  Arena Rock Recording Company  stops by for a lengthy chat. After some initial Goonies talk, we revisit our recent review of  Harvey Danger’s Where Have All The Merrymakers Gone  to fill in some blanks and learn some information about the behind the scene machinations involving the record business. We cover Greg’s childhood and college days, running a fanzine and how...

From charity comps to label samplers, the 1990s may have been the peak decade for  compilation albums . We discuss the qualities that make a worthy compilation album with our guests  Keith Sawyer  from  WMBR ,  Jim Hanke  of  Vinyl Emergency  and  Eric Peterson  of  Love That Album . We pick our favorite comps and favorite compilation-only tracks, and discuss whether compilation albums are still r...

With her first solo outing,  Tanya Donelly  attempts to balance her indie rock past with a radio friendly approach. 1997′s Lovesongs for Underdogs, our latest album selected by our Patreon voters, came with the burden of Tanya having been a part of numerous successfully and respected indie rock group, including  Throwing Muses ,  The Breeders  and  Belly . Striking out on her own with a bevy of pl...

Harvey Danger  being tagged as a “one hit wonder” can be both a blessing and a curse. Is the rest of the album criminally overlooked, or does it pale in comparison? We put it to a vote on our  Patreon page , and our patrons made Where Have All The Merrymakers Gone?, released in July 1997 our latest review. Reviews at the time were mixed, but this album and band have gained their share of advocates...

For our latest roundtable we aim at the heavens and request an audience with the gods! The guitar gods, that is. The 60s had Clapton and Hendrix, the 70s had Page and Blackmore, the 80s had Eddie and a slew of gunslingers, now it’s time to christen the guitar gods of the 90s. First, we try to figure out what exactly elevates a guitarist to god status. Then we open the floor for nominations. Some o...

Back when we started this podcast, we created a long list of albums we wanted to eventually get to, mostly due to only knowing one song off an album thanks to a lone minor radio hit single. One of those bands is  Ruth Ruth , and it’s finally time we got around to checking out their 1995 debut Laughing Gallery. To help us dig into this album, we invited roundtable alum  Jeff Takacs  of  Rocket Fuel...

On this Fourth of July, we could think of nothing better than to revisit the human firecracker himself -  David Lee Roth . With help from our friend Gavin in Australia, we’re checking out the 1991 album A Little Ain’t Enough, the third solo release after Dave departed Van Halen. For this outing, there were lineup changes, producer changes and a changing musical landscape. Songs in this Episode: In...

For our last review of June 2017, our Patreon patrons selected from one of four albums from June of 1997, and settled on Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space, the third album by Spiritualized . Much has been written about the album, from reviews to anniversary retrospectives detailing the creation and recording of the massive achievement that finds Jason Pierce and crew exploring gospel,...

We don’t often get a chance to check out bands from the 90s where the terms ragtime or waltz get tossed around, but The Whitlams qualify. We’re checking out the 1997 album Eternal Napcap by this Newtown, Australian band. Led by vocalist/pianist Tim Freedman, The Whitlams can tow the line between indulgent Rufus Wainwright-style balladry and Ben Folds-esque pop, remaining radio friendly with mature...

Previously we chatted about movie soundtracks of the 1990s , so this week we’re switching to the small screen and hosting a roundtable discussion on television soundtracks of the 90s. The best and memorable, the one’s that surpassed the show and stand on their own, and the one’s that were HUGE at the time but maybe haven’t aged all that well. We talk about them all (or all that we can squeeze into...

This week we chatted with Jody Porter , who just released his third solo album this past March, Pacifier. Jody started out in the early with The Belltower , a dreamy/shoegaze band featuring Britta Phillips (later of Luna ) that garnered positive press in the UK but ultimately dissolved. However, a late addition to the band named Adam Schlesinger would later form Fountains of Wayne , who Jody would...

This week a requested review gives us a chance to revisit the 1995 debut album Whirligig by The Caulfields . A confection of jangly guitars, story-telling lyrics and power pop melodies might remind some of 70s and 80s masters like Elvis Costello or Cheap Trick, but The Caulfields forge their own path, for better or worse. When done well, they have few peers among 90s bands. Unfortunately, the high...

We gave our Patreon patrons the opportunity to vote one four different releases from May of 1997, and the consensus winner was eclectic soundtrack from the Batman & Robin movie starring George Clooney, Chris O’Donnell, Alicia Silverstone and more. A mixed bag for sure, there are some clear gems and some awful groaners. We sift through track-by-track and try to find more of the former than the latt...

The winner of our first quarter Patreon contest stops by with his free requested review pick - 1995′s Cockamamie by Jennifer Trynin . Though part of a fertile 90s Boston music scene, Jen Trynin is a bit of an anomaly, self-releasing her debut album prior to a major label bidding war . Her guitar playing shifts between familiar alternative pop and more angular riffing with a rock solid rhythm secti...

We’re back with another “In The 90s” roundtable, our chance to revisit a popular artist from the 1980s and see how they navigated the shifting musical landscape of the 1990s. With fourteen Top 40 hits and two number one singles in the U.S., Duran Duran were one of the most successful artists of the 80s. However, they entered the new decade on the decline, their fifth album Big Thing failing to res...

Musician, label owner, DJ, writer, teacher - you name it, Marko DeSantis has probably done it. You probably know him as the guitarist in pop punk band Sugarcult , and he shares the history of their formation, as well as his involvement in bands such as The Ataris , Nerf Herder , the Swingin Utters , Bad Astronaut . Marko shares his experiences growing up in Santa Barbara, CA, and contributing to t...

Our Patreon subscribers helped us pick an album from April of 1997 to review, and thanks to a tie-breaking coin flip, we’re checking out the self-titled Cheap Trick album. It’s actually the second self-titled album from Cheap Trick, the first being their debut from twenty years earlier. To help us dissect this record and provide historical context on this era of the band, we’ve enlisted Colin Gawe...

We’ve reviewed plenty of bands from Australia over the years, but rarely have we revisited an album that boasts a number one single. This week we’re checking out the band Ratcat , and their 1991 album Blind Love, which scored a number one hit on the ARIA charts with “Don’t Go Now.” Contorting the sunny pop of The Beach Boys in a similar fashion to The Jesus and Mary Chain, Ratcat layer on disparat...

It’s time to revisit another sophomore album from the 1990s and compare it to it’s successful freshman effort. In this case, we’re checking out the 1997 album Eight Arms To Hold You by Veruca Salt , who scored a platinum album and three charting singles with their 1994 debut American Thighs. Though initial sales were strong, after Volcano Girls the singles fell off, and the reviews were not as pos...

This week’s requested review takes us back down under to check out Melbourne, Australia’s Violetine and their 1998 one and only album Small Speaker Joyland. Dual vocals, fuzzy guitars and an urgent rhythm section give Violetine a little something extra, and some quality chorus melodies don’t hurt either. Though the band didn’t make a dent stateside, we think there might be something to this Aussie...

For our next installment of the Digging Your Scene roundtable series, we are exploring sights and sounds of Los Angeles in the 1990s. To help us do so, the following guests joined us: Brian Klein of Scout B Entertainment - his first time on the show, Brian moved to Los Angeles in the early 90s, starting as an intern at Rick Rubin’s American Recordings label as well as employee of Aron’s Records ,...

This week we get to chat with Eli Janney , who you may know as the keyboardist, bassist and backing vocals in Girls Against Boys . You may also know him as the producer for such bands as Brainiac, Ryan Adams, Skeleton Key, Jesse Maiin and many more. You may also know him as the man who remixed tracks by artists such as the Sneaker Pimps, Ruby, Hooverphonic, Enon and more. You may also know him as...

Our latest Patreon pick revisits the one and only album from Super TransAtlatnic , the 2000 release Shuttlecock. You may be familiar with the band thanks to their contribution to the 1999 American Pie soundtrack , or the fact that 3/4′s of the band were previously called Saigon Kick (the 1/4 from Extreme , to round out the equation, so to speak). Either way, the sound of STA won’t come as a shock...

There were dozens, perhaps hundreds, of tribute albums in the 90s to feature a wide array of talented artists with varying results. Thanks to a Patreon subscriber suggestion, we’re checking out the 1996 release T wisted Willie - A Tribute To Willie Nelson . As with all tribute albums, some artists and bands stay close to the original version while other radically reinterpret, and that’s the case w...