Dig Me Out: 90s & 00s Rock

After Jason’s pick last week, Tim takes a shot and brings  Dandelion ’s 1995 sophomore (and final) album Dyslexicon to the table on the strength of the single “Weird-Out.” The album owes a heavy debt to Nirvana, from the familiar vocal style to big drums and guitars. The question becomes: when does influence become imitation? Songs in this Episode: Intro - Trailer Park Girl3:23 - Weird-Out5:39 - H...

This week we’re getting to one of our own picks, and Jason has brought us some prime debate material - 1993′s Powertrippin’ by  The Almighty . Down-tuned guitars, double bass drum pedals and Motorhead meets Alice In Chains riffage, this band made zero impact in the United States, but their sound is familiar to anyone who has listened to hard rock in the last 20+ years. Has all that time made the b...

The description “shoegaze” has been applied to My Bloody Valentine to Ride to Slowdive to Swervedriver to Lush. But what exactly is shoegaze, what links these bands and others to this late 80s/early 90s movement? To help us break it down we’re joined by  Aaron Perrino ,  Andy Derer  and  Eric Grubbs  to talk the bands, the sounds, the albums, the guitar pedals and much more. Songs in this Episode:...

Next week will be hosting our round table discussion on  shoegaze , so to get in the mood, this week we’re tackling one of the lesser known entries in the genre - the 1994 album Tatoonie by  Blind Mr. Jones . Many of the things you come to expect from a shoegaze band are present - etheral vocals and guitars that switch from chorus clean to distorted chaos in an instant. As we dug deeper, we discov...

For our latest episode, we had the pleasure of interviewing Dale Cover, drummer and occasional guitar/bass player for the  Melvins ,  Altamont ,  Fantomas ,  Nirvana  and  Broken Bat . To say this was a “wide-ranging” interview would be an under statement, as the two-plus hours interview spent about half the time talking music, the rest covering topics such as children’s birthday parties, Texas BB...

For our latest round table discussion, we’re revisiting punk rock of the 1990s with a pair of special guests:  author  and  podcaster   Eric Grubbs , and  music writer   Scott Colvin . We trace how the 80s punk underground paved the way for the 90s mainstream explosion, dissect the various punk sub-genres, discuss the overlooked gems, tackle the “sell out” label, and much more. Who’s punk, what’s...

Back in January,  Kellii Scott of Failure joined us  to discuss the reunion of his band, his career in music, and their in-progress recordings. Eight months later, the album has been released, so it’s the perfect time to have Kellii back on to talk about  Failure ’s new album, their fourth overall and first in nineteen years, The Heart Is A Monster. To help us do so, we’re rejoined by our old frie...

It’s been twenty-five years since  Mother Love Bone  released their one and only album, Apple. Neither hair metal nor grunge, the band bridged an interesting time between the 80s and 90s. To help us revisit, we’re joined by Eric Peterson of the  Love That Album podcast  to talk Mother Love Bone, Andrew Wood, Temple of the Dog, Pearl Jam, the Singles soundtrack and much more. Songs in this Episode...

We’re checking out  Throwing Muses  1991 album The Real Ramona, that last to feature  Tanya Donelly  as a full time member alongside Kristin Hersh. There is plenty to like about the twin-guitar attack and layered vocals of Donelly and Hersh, but a few we had a few complaints as well. Are we are on target, or do our criticisms miss the mark? Tune in to find out. Songs in this Episode: Intro - Count...

We’re back with another round table discussion, this month we’re discussing the influential bands of the 90s. Which bands from the 90s are we shocked became influential? Which bands from the 90s should have been more influential, but aren’t? Too help us break it down, we have a pair of special guests - video music director  Shawn Michael Foster , and Eric Peterson of the Love That Album podcast. T...

Joining us this week is  Chris Wyse , whose rock ‘n roll resume includes past stints with  Ozzy Osbourne  and  The Cult , and who now holds down the low end for  Ace Frehley  when not fronting his own band  Owl . While he spent the better part of the late 80s and early 90s in his own bands, Chris tells us about his decision to leave his home in New York and cross the country to Los Angeles in the...

This week we’re revisiting the 1999 album 001 by  Dovetail Joint . With radio-friendly singles and sharp songwriting, Dovetail Joint were a Chicago band that could have had Smashing Pumpkins or Veruca Salt level success a few years earlier in the decade, but the shifting radio and label landscape worked against them as guitar-centric rock bands took a back seat to third-generation grunge knock-off...

Our requested review this week is the third album by  Acetone , 1997′s self-titled release. Like one-time label mates Low, Acetone delivers a slow and deliberate performance with sparse arrangements and mostly hushed vocals. Rarely do Tim and Jason find themselves in almost total agreement on a record, but in this case they do. Tune in to find out if that is a good or bad thing. We apologize for t...

Thanks to a recent  request , this week we are checking out the 1998 album Deserter’s Songs by  Mercury Rev . Hailed at the time by critics in the US and UK, the orchestral arrangements combined with Flaming Lips style psychedelia helped make Deserter’s Songs a landmark album the helped usher in a decade of bands expanding on both. But age can make the adventurous seem tame, does Deserter’s Song s...

This week is a first - we’re revisiting an album by a band we’re already checked out. Back in season one,  episode three , we reviewed the debut album by  Paw . Over five years later, we’re checking out their sophomore album,  Death to Traitors . To help us do so, we’re joined by singer  Mark Hennessy , who takes us back to the beginning of the band in Lawrence, Kansas. We learn about the formatio...

This week we’re talking about concerts of the 1990s for our June round table discussion. We’re joined by frequent suggester/commenter David “ Dirty Gert ” Gorgos,  Rocketfuel Podcast  host and  Punktastic  writer Jeff Takacs, and the voice of Dig Me Out, Katie Minneci. We talk about our favorite shows and venues of the decade along with our least favorites as well. When did an opening band blow aw...

This week Naoko Yamano of the legendary Japanese punk rock band  Shonen Knife  joins us.  Naoko talks about her thirty-plus years fronting Shonen Knife. We talk about how the band started in Osaka in 1981 and discuss the music scene of Osaka vs. Toyko. We dig into songwriting, guitars, touring and much more! We hope you enjoy, and be sure to check out Shonen Knife on their  U.S. tour this June . S...

Joining us this week is singer, guitarist and songwriter  Stephen Brodsky  of  Cave In ,  Mutoid Man  and many other projects. Stephen takes us back to the beginning: bootlegging Metallica onto cassettes to practice guitar licks, early grade school jams and trying to figure out how to get distortion. We explore his his high school years, discovering hardcore (and hating it at first) and what event...

This week’s  Requested Review  features  Richard Butler ’s post- Psychedelic Furs  project  Love Spit Love . We’re checking out the second (and final) album from the band, 1997′s Trysome Eatone. Butler is able to inject his unique melodic and vocal style with some new blood thanks to new players and a wide range of sounds. Sometimes the band evokes his previous band, other times the louder more ag...

This week we’re chatting about  one-hit wonders of the 90s . Joining us is returning champ  Andy Derer  and newbie  Joy Royland . We try to figure out what exactly is a one-hit wonder. We talk about our favorite and least favorite one-hit wonders from the 90s. We cover the one-hit wonders of the 90s that we still enjoy and still annoy us. Songs in this Episode: Intro - Epic by Faith No More10:14 -...

Our latest  requested review  might be our most challenging listen ever, 1995′s Sing to God by  Cardiacs  - our first double album (no, Use Your Illusion doesn’t count). With almost two decades under their belts, Cardiacs unleashed this behemoth not just in length, but density. The songs are packed with instrumentation, and many flying by at a breakneck pace, churning twisted pop with equal parts...

Joining us this week is  Matthew Sweet  for a lengthy and wide-ranging discussion. Matthew shares his insights on his latest album project, and what the fulfillment aspect of crowd-funded albums is really like. We talk about his earliest influences, from new wave and punk to 70s power pop like Big Star and The Raspberries, and discuss why power pop bands are almost always critically acclaimed but...

Joining us this week is  Matthew Sweet  for a lengthy and wide-ranging discussion. Matthew shares his insights on his latest album project, and what the fulfillment aspect of crowd-funded albums is really like. We talk about his earliest influences, from new wave and punk to 70s power pop like Big Star and The Raspberries, and discuss why power pop bands are almost always critically acclaimed but...

Our second requested review of Australia month is the self-titled 1995 album by  Kim Salmon & The Surrealists . By ‘95, Kim Salmon was already a legend in Australia, having fronted the influential 70s & 80s punk band The Scientists, then The Beasts of Bourbon along with The Surrealists amongst other projects. This album finds Kim and his rhythm section exploring some familiar sounds as well as new...

Before this month, we had reviewed thirteen albums from Australian bands in the 90s in the first four years of the podcast, but we still did’t have a good understanding of the overall history Australian music during that time. What were their influences? What were the scenes in the different cities like? What is Big Day Out? The Saints? The Scientists? To help us unlock the mysteries, we’re joined...