In the midst of the grunge revolution, The Supersuckers released this largely unnoticed album, The Smoke of Hell, which begins with a song that can not only be praised for its muscle but also for its psychic prediction -- "Coattail Rider." The band perked things up a bit since their dreary early singles. Songs like "Luck," "Caliente," and "Hot Rod Rally" rapidly surge with electric power chord fury, while the band brings it down some for the blues ramble of "Hell City, Hell." Source: [AMG]
Supersuckers - Coattail Rider
Track Listing 1. Coattail Rider 2. Luck 3. I Say Fuck 4. Alone and Stinking 5. Caliente 6. Tasty Greens 7. Hell City, Hell 8. Hot Rod Rally 9. Drink and Complain 10. Mighty Joe Young 11. Ron's Got the Cocaine 12. Sweet 'N' Sour Jesus 13. Retarded Bill 14. Thinkin' 'Bout Revenge
Two-thirds of Ash were born in 1977, which means that their latter-day punk-pop isn't very Catholic. Instead of sticking to the rigid rules of American punk-pop -- which means you can't stretch the song past three minutes -- Ash take a cinematic approach to their songs, throwing in elements of power pop, glam, post-Nirvana grunge, and post-Oasis rock. It's a melting pot of pop styles, basically because the members of the band are so young, they haven't conformed to the standards of the indie and punk subcultures. Sure, Ash still use loud guitars -- they're all over 1977 -- but they create a distinctive, melodic, and energetic sound that's equal parts heavy grunge and light pop. And while they may indulge in jamming a bit too much, they remain a pop band at heart, capable of turning out epic guitar pop like "Goldfinger," punk-pop like "Kung Fu," and the lovely but loud "Girl from Mars" with equal flair. Source: [AMG]
Ash - Girl From Mars
Track Listing 1. Lose Control 2. Goldfinger 3. Girl from Mars 4. I'd Give You Anything 5. Gone the Dream 6. Kung Fu 7. Oh Yeah 8. Let It Flow 9. Innocent Smile 10. Angel Interceptor 11. Lost in You 12. Darkside Lightside / Sick Part
With their cult following growing, Morphine expanded their audience even further with their exceptional 1994 sophomore effort, Cure for Pain. Whereas their debut, Good, was intriguing yet not entirely consistent, Cure for Pain more than delivered. The songwriting was stronger and more succinct this time around, while new drummer Billy Conway made his recording debut with the trio (replacing Jerome Deupree). Like the debut, most of the material shifts between depressed and upbeat, with a few cacophonic rockers thrown in between. Such selections as "Buena," "I'm Free Now," "All Wrong," "Candy," "Thursday," "In Spite of Me" (one of the few tracks to contain six-string guitar), "Let's Take a Trip Together," "Sheila," and the title track are all certifiable Morphine classics. And again, Mark Sandman's two-string slide bass and Dana Colley's sax work help create impressive atmospherics throughout the album. Cure for Pain was unquestionably one of the best and most cutting-edge rock releases of the '90s. Source: [AMG]
Morphine - Cure For Pain
Track Listing 1. Dawna 2. Buena 3. I'm Free Now 4. All Wrong 5. Candy 6. A Head With Wings 7. In Spite of Me 8. Thursday 9. Cure for Pain 10. Mary Won't You Call My Name? 11. Let's Take a Trip Together 12. Sheila 13. Miles Davis' Funeral
California-based Bracket -- comprised of vocalist/guitarist Marty Gregori, bassist Zack Charlos, guitarist Larry Tinney, and drummer Ray Castro -- got together in the early '90s and first showcased their power pop and punk sensibilities on the self-released 7" Giant Midge EP. Playing all around the San Francisco area, they signed to Caroline Records and released 924 Forestville St. and 4-Wheel Vibe to a growing fan base. Bracket somehow manage to combine catchy choruses, fantastic melodies, and a quirky sense of humour effortly into 4-Wheel Vibe. From the very first to the very last song on the album, Bracket seem able to write songs that still feel punk, but have an inescapable "sing-a-long" charm to them. Source: [AMG-Amazon]
Bracket - Circus Act
Track Listing 1. Circus Act 2. Cool Aide 3. Happy to Be Sad 4. John Wilke's Isolation Booth 5. Tractor 6. Green Apples 7. Closed Captioned 8. Trailer Park 9. Fresh Air 10. P.C. 11. G-Vibe 12. Warren's Song, Pt. 4 13. 2 Hot Dogs for 99¢ 14. Metal 15. Pessimist 16. Lazy
Equal parts Ramones, Rivieras and Paul Revere and the Raiders, the Swingin' Neckbreakers deliver straight-up rock & roll on this spirited outing. Fueled by the genre-faithful songwriting from bassist/singer Tom Jorgenson and a keep-it-simple rhythm section of drummer/brother John Jorgenson and guitarist Don "Shaggy" Snook, the Neckbreakers play a straightforward brand of rock'n'raunch that critics hate but nonetheless resonates perfectly with the average Joe who just wants to shake it down. Split evenly between strong Jorgenson originals "Action Kid," "The Answer Is No," "Wait," and "Help Wanted," and obscure punk and garage classics like Glen Barber's "Ice Water," Bobby Fuller's "Shakedown," and the Underdogs' "Get Down On Your Knees," this thing doesn't let up for a second. Fans of the Ramones will find much to love here. Source: [AMG]
The Swingin' Neckbreakers - Wait
Track Listing 1. Wait 2. Mighty Mack 3. Ice Water 4. That's the Way My Love Is 5. Help Wanted 6. Shakedown 7. The Answer Is No 8. I Wanna Be Your Driver 9. Action Kid 10. I'm in Love With Me 11. You're Gonna Make Me 12. A Thousand Times a Day 13. Get Down on Your Knees 14. The Girl Can't Help It 15. Brown Eyed Girl
Perhaps co-defining the future of heavy metal, White Zombie's major-label debut nearly equals fellow classics Guns N' Roses' Appetite for Destruction, the Cult's Electric, and Soundgarden's Badmotorfinger in significance. With a funky rap-metal undercurrent, these metal monsters combine Black Sabbath's riff sludge and Metallica's rhythmic intensity, a combination that would again resurface in the late '90s. On La Sexorcisto: Devil Music, Vol. 1, Zombie and co. take listeners on a hokey carnival ride capable of inducing vomit yet provide an exhilarating, heart-throbbing metal experience. Tactless and continuously shocking, lyricist Rob Zombie reveals blatant tales of muscle cars, sleazy encounters, and Fangoria-mustered fantasy, clearly paying homage to vintage trash culture. Complemented by Russ Meyer film soundbites and demonic aura, Zombie ridicules middle American Leave It to Beaver values and insolently challenges the politically correct. Diabolical manifestos such as the barbaric "Soul-Crusher," macabre "Spiderbaby (Yeah-Yeah-Yeah)," and sexually indiscreet "Thrust!" will intrigue those yearning for lewd explicitness but may offend traditional hard rock enthusiasts. "Thunder Kiss '65," an ode to Russ Meyer's 1965 busty B-movies Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! and Mudhoney, remains this album's most listenable and enduring highlight. Along with perverted lyrics, Rob Zombie's vocal snarls and the band's muscular metal thunder produce the furious concoction that secures La Sexorcisto: Devil Music, Vol. 1's place in heavy metal history. Weak appetites for raunchy, tongue-in-cheek decadence need not apply. Source: [AMG]
White Zombie - Thunder Kiss '65
Track Listing 1. Welcome to Planet Motherfucker/Psychoholic Slag 2. Knuckle Duster (Radio 1-A) 3. Thunder Kiss '65 4. Black Sunshine 5. Soul-Crusher 6. Cosmic Monsters Inc. 7. Spiderbaby (Yeah-Yeah-Yeah) 8. I Am Legend 9. Knuckle Duster (Radio 2-B) 10. Thrust! 11. One Big Crunch 12. Grindhouse (A Go Go) 13. Starface 14. Warp Asylum
Having subtracted bass from Today Is the Day and added keyboards, noise rock auteur Steve Austin thereby altered his outfit stylistically, moving from the warmth and emotional appeal of Willpower to an icily digital landscape of painful, high-frequency tones, screeched vocals, and even more painful guitar. Today Is the Day is a brutal record, owing a bit of its industrial nature to acts like Skinny Puppy and Merzbow. However, this is hardly textbook industrial music. Still utilizing guitar and organic drums, Today Is the Day is not driven by the keyboards so much as augmented sonically by them. The keys produce more of an atmospheric than a melodic effect, thereby leaving the essential constitution of Today Is the Day intact and guitar-driven. Source: [AMG]
Today Is The Day - Marked
Track Listing 1. Kai Piranha 2. Marked 3. Bugs Death March 4. A Man of Science 5. Realization 6. Black Iron Prison 7. Mountain People 8. Ripped Off 9. The Tragedy 10. She Is in Fear of Death 11. I Love My Woman 12. Dot Matrix
A shambling wreck of an album, Big Star's Third/Sister Lovers ranks among the most harrowing experiences in pop music; impassioned, erratic, and stark, it's the slow, sinking sound of a band falling apart. Recorded with their label, Stax, poised on the verge of bankruptcy, the album finds Alex Chilton at the end of his rope, sabotaging his own music long before it can ever reach the wrecking crew of poor distribution, indifferent marketing, and disinterested pop radio; his songs are haphazardly brilliant, a head-on collision between inspiration and frustration. The album is a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy, each song smacking of utter defeat and desperation; the result is either one of the most vividly emotional experiences in pop music or a completely wasted opportunity, and while the truth probably lies somewhere in between, there's no denying Third's magnetic pull -- it's like an undertow. Although previously issued on a variety of different labels, Rykodisc's 1992 release is the initially definitive edition of this unfinished masterpiece, its 19 tracks most closely approximating the original planned running order while restoring the music's intended impact; in addition to unearthing a blistering cover of the Kinks' "At the End of the Day" and a haunting rendition of Nat King Cole's "Nature Boy," it also appends the disturbing "Dream Lover," which distills the album's messiest themes into less than four minutes of psychic torment. Source: [AMG]
Big Star - Thank You Friends
Track Listing 1. Kizza Me 2. Thank You Friends 3. Big Black Car 4. Jesus Christ 5. Femme Fatale 6. O, Dana 7. Holocaust 8. Kangaroo 9. Stroke It Noel 10. For You 11. You Can't Have Me 12. Nightime 13. Blue Moon 14. Take Care 15. Nature Boy 16. Till the End of the Day 17. Dream Lover 18. Downs 19. Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On
Garage punk outfit the Makers formed in Spokane, WA, in 1991, originally assembling frontman Mike Maker, his bassist brother Don Maker, guitarists Tim Maker and John Maker, and drummer Jay Maker. Famed for their anarchic live dates and for traveling from show to show in a 1965 Pontiac hearse, the group signed to Sympathy for the Record Industry to issue their debut 10" Hip-Notic; the exit of John Maker coincided with a move to the Estrus label for the full-length follow-up, 1993's Howl! The Makers' debut is full of the pounding, garage punk madness that built the Spokane band a small but devoted following. Unfortunately, that following was built largely on live antics and didn't translate terribly well to record. Blunt production, indecipherable lyrics, and too-tense rhythms keep the listener firmly at arm's length, while the band charges full throttle through song after song, oblivious to everything around them. A good record for people who like to zone out, jump around, and throw glasses, but the Makers' later albums offer much more rewarding and enjoyable music. Source: [AMG]
Track Listing 1. I Just Might Crack 2. Think About Your Man 3. I'm Hurt 4. Like a Diamond Ring 5. Allright, Allnight, Allright 6. Memphis Chillun 7. Don't Cross Your Man 8. Explosion 9. Ricky Ticky Tock 10. Try to Cry 11. Your Daddy Drives a Big Car 12. Let Him Try 13. Death of Mr. Monster 14. Sometimes, Sometimes 15. Cool, Clear and Sheen 16. Howl
Power pop fans have occasionally pointed to this, Australian outfit DM3's sophomore release, as one of the best pop albums to come out of the mid-'90s and one of the cornerstone albums of the '90s Australian pop movement. Both may be true to varying degrees: Road to Rome is possibly the "classic" disc in the late-'90s Australian power pop scene, which included similarly talented bands like Ice Cream Hands, Even, Challenger 7, and Michael Carpenter. While the debit of Australian power pop is that it often favors slavish imitation over solid songwriting, Dom Mariani's ear for a hook is what makes Road to Rome stand out. Well, that and Mitch Easter's arena-ready production. Sounding like the Plimsouls playing with Badfinger and the Who, Mariani cranks it to ten more than a few times here. It lends songs like the excellent "Please Don't Lie" or the riff-heavy "Soultop" a glossy, almost '80s stadium rock vibe -- in a good way. Sure, sometimes DM3 can get a little derivative and rest on their skinny tie-shaped laurels, but for the most part the chunky riffage and Easter's boomy production will be more than enough to please anyone who is motivated enough to seek this album out in the first place. Source: [AMG]
Dom Mariani & Rippled Souls - Foolish
Track Listing 1. Can't Get What You Want 2. Please Don't Lie 3. Speed Freak 4. Second Floor 5. Pleaze You 6. I Thought That You Were Foolin' 7. Show You 8. Dead Stars 9. Something Heavy 10. Soultop 11. Fairweather Friend 12. T.V. Sound
In the midst of the grunge revolution, The Supersuckers released this largely unnoticed album, The Smoke of Hell, which begins with a song that can not only be praised for its muscle but also for its psychic prediction -- "Coattail Rider." The band perked things up a bit since their dreary early singles. Songs like "Luck," "Caliente," and "Hot Rod Rally" rapidly surge with electric power chord fury, while the band brings it down some for the blues ramble of "Hell City, Hell." Source: [AMG]
