Dig Me Out: 90s & 00s Rock

To kick of our month-long visit to Australia, our first  requested review  for April is the 1993 album Together Alone by  Crowded House . You probably know the band from their two big singles - Don’t Dream It’s Over and Something So Strong. But the band, and by the band we mean Neil Finn, have a number or strong full length albums in their history. Is it possible that Together Alone is tops them a...

With March providing a bonus fifth Tuesday, we decided to take advantage and post a bonus episode. We were invited to speak at Capital University for the  Music Tech Workshop  this past weekend, and are sharing the presentation. Ever wanted to know about the nuts and bolts of putting together a podcast? The equipment, the software, getting it on iTunes, promoting and everything else - we talk abou...

This week by  request  we're checking out the 1996 album Excerpts from a Love Circus by  Lisa Germano . Working in a space filled with stark and occasionally dissonant sounds, the relaxed vocals combine darkness and humor in a way that caught us both off guard. While you won’t want to put this on your workout mix, we had a lot of fun (? I guess) discovering the world Lisa Germano inhabits on Excer...

Our  requested review  this week is unique - an album released exclusively with a comic book - we check out  Absolute Zero by Null , packaged in December 1994 with the comic book  Blank: The Encephalon Void #1 . Since there is a good chance you haven’t heard this, we decided to go track-by-track through this album, which varied in styles and sounds from Ministry and Nine Inch Nails to Helmet and Q...

For our March Round Table Discussion, we're joined by Chip Midnight of  Kids Interview Bands , Tom Mullen of the  Washed Up Emo , and  Louise Post  of  Veruca Salt  to talk about bands reuniting. Louis fills us on how how the band got back together, how the new songs for their Record Store Day seven inch came to be, and plans for a full length album in 2015. We also discuss the break-up of the ban...

This week's  Requested Review  is the fourth and final album by  Cop Shoot Cop , 1994's Release. Neither of us knew what to expect, and our preconceived notions based on the album cover were quickly dashed as this hard-to-categorize two-bass, drum, minimalist guitar, vocal and occasional piano, horns and harmonica band took us on a interesting ride through post-punk, industrial and straight-up roc...

Joining us this week is  John Davis  of  Superdrag  and  The Lees of Memory . We discuss how The Lees of Memory formed, writing and recording the debut Sisyphus Says released last year, and plans for touring and the second album due out later in 2015. John tells us about his musical up bringing, getting his first guitar, playing in a variety of real and imagined bands, before hooking up with the g...

Thanks to a  Requested Review , we're able to continue our Britpop month with  Mansun  and their debut released from 1997, Attack of the Grey Lantern. We (re)discover the perils of trying to review a record released with different versions for the US and UK on various streaming platforms, and not communicating about it before the review. Still, we managed to form some coherent thoughts about a ban...

For our Britpop round table, we're joined by returning guests  Neal Schmitt  and  Andy Derer , as well as newbie  Jim Kopeny . We talk about how we discovered Britpop and our favorite bands and albums of the era, discuss the effect of "Noelrock" and Wonderwall on the second wave of Britpop bands, and legacy Britpop left behind. Songs in this Episode: Intro - Connection by Elastica3:54 - When & Whe...

This week's  Requested Review  kicks off our Britpop month with one of the Godfather's of the sound,  Morrissey , and his 1992 album Your Arsenal. While Morrissey's partnership with Johnny Marr in The Smiths produced legendary results, his output as a solo artists hasn't been nearly as consistent or compelling. With a new band for this album, do they match the lyrical aspirations of Morrissey? Tun...

Joining us this week is Kellii Scott of the recently reunited  Failure , who will release their first new (and fourth overall) album this Spring (most likely May). Kellii takes us through his drumming history, starting out listening to AC/DC and Rush records while staring at KISS Alive artwork, through his move to Los Angeles and starting out with  Liquid Jesus  before joining Failure. He shares t...

Our  Requested Review  for this week is Blues for the Red Sun by  Kyuss  from 1992. Desert rock, stoner rock, metal - whatever you call it, it's heavy, and their sound has influenced bands like Mastodon, Baroness and many more for over twenty years. Songs in this Episode: Intro - Green Machine6:54 - History of the Band20:32 - Molten Universe26:30 - Freedom Run29:13 - Writhe35:20 - Thong SongOutro...

This week, we tread new water with our first round table discussion. Joining us are  Aaron Perrino  of  The Sheila Divine  and Chip Midnight of  Kids Interview Bands  to revisit the albums of 1995. First we dive into our favorites from 1995 that still stand the test of time before heading in the other direction, albums that we used to love, but not so much anymore.  Songs in this Episode: Intro -...

Our first review of 2015 is a request to check out the 1993 album Hi-Fi Sci-Fi by  Dramarama . Best known for their mid-eighties single "Anything, Anything," Hi-Fi Sci-Fi was the last recording from the band for over a decade. The sound is more refined from their earlier recordings, and incorporates a wide range of influences into their brand of rock that borders on pop punk one minute and Stones-...

This week, we wrap up 2014 and our fourth season of Dig Me Out out with a list of our five favorite new tunes we discovered, as well as our favorite album of the year. We've got big news about our bigger and better 2015 season, and at the end, we give away our second Requested Review thank you prize. Thanks to everyone who made our fourth year great - our listeners, our guests, our donators - here...

We wrap up our reviews for 2014 with a  Requested Review  of the  Longpigs , and their 1996 debut album The Sun Is Often Out. Smack dab in the middle of Britpop hysteria, Longpigs deliver an album that finds itself somewhere between the very British Suede and Pulp, while also nodding to bigger idea bands like Radiohead and Blur, while still maintaining a unique approach thanks to the guitar work o...

We're back with another  Requested Review , and this week we're checking out the 1997 album Gone by Sydney, Australia's  Beasts of Bourbon . With a career spanning over thirty years, BOB's output has been relatively small at only six full-length albums, but their influence, as well as the bands connected to BOB, has been felt world wide.  Songs in this Episode: Intro - Saturated3:23 - History of t...

This week we take on Columbus, Ohio punk rock legends the  New Bomb Turks . While Green Day, The Offspring and Rancid were tacking punk rock to the mainstream, bands like the Turks forged a louder, more aggressive path along side Rock From The Crypt, influencing the sounds of The Hives and Hellacopters with their Chuck Berry and Rolling Stones riffage on overdrive. Their 1996 album Scared Straight...

This week we revisit the 1992 sophomore album The Lizard by  Saigon Kick . With sounds the recall a diverse group of bands such as Alice in Chains, Ozzy Osbourne, King's X and even the Beatles, The Lizard is a confusing journey the produces some very high highs and some very low lows. Is it an album worth checking out? Tune in to find out. Songs in this Episode: Intro - Hostile Youth2:58 - Love Is...

Joining us this week is  Clay Tarver , guitarist of  Chavez , to talk about the history of the band and their two releases for Matador Records, 1995's Gone Glimmering and 1996's Ride The Fader. We go deep into the past, present and future of the band, dig into their connection to Ohio via  Guided By Voices  and the  New Bomb Turks , explore the development of the Chavez sound, how  Zwan  uncovered...

This week  Bill Janovitz  of  Buffalo Tom  joins us for an in-depth discuss about their 1993 album Big Red Letter Day. We cover a wide range of topics that include: writing, recording and touring the album, what happens when special visitors like Gene Simmons and David Lynch stop by your recording sessions with the legendary  Robb Brothers , incorporating influences from bands like The Who and Rol...

Big numbers call for big celebrations, and with Dig Me Out hitting episode #200, we thought it was time to tackle a big record. Nevermind? Ten? Badmotorfinger? Siamese Dream? To predicable! Like  Guns n' Roses , we decided to go the biggest of the big and tackle the ambitious double album of the decade Billy Corgan wasn't a part of, the one-two punch of 1991's Use Your Illusion 1 & 2. To help us t...

#199: American Grafishy by Flipper This week we take on the only 90s release by the legendary band  Flipper , their 1993 album American Grafishy. The anti-punk punk band, who traded high speed riffing for Sabbath-induced sludge, show why they encountered as much adoration as scorn with their five plus minute long dirges. Was it worth the nine year wait between albums? Tune in to find out.  Songs i...

This week we revisit the 1992 debut album Shot Forth Self Living by  Medicine . Combining waves of distortion and breathy vocals, Medicine has been called the American My Bloody Valentine. Are they worthy of comparison to such a legendary band? Tune in to find out. Songs in this Episode: Intro - Miss Drugstore3:19 - History of the Band10:33 - Defective15:25 - A Short Happy Life20:36 - Sweet Explos...

This week we're revisiting the 1995 debut solo release Psychic Hearts by former Sonic Youth frontman/guitarist  Thurston Moore . With a new solo album just released, it's the perfect time to check out Moore's first solo outing, with the inevitable comparisons to his (then) full-time gig in Sonic Youth. Shorter, stripped down and condensed songs dominate the album, but is the lack of experimentatio...