Dig Me Out - The 90's Rock Podcast

What if Nick Cave or Mark Lanegan decided to record an album of Bob Marley, ZZ Top, War, and Slim Harpo covers? That's the question posed by the 1993 album The Honeymoon Is Over by The Cruel Sea, an instrumental blues and surf band from Australia that added Beasts of Bourbon frontman Tex Perkins to create a weird and oddly compelling album. Somehow, that combination managers to come together better than we could have ever expected, as the players involved completely buy into the swampy grooves with organ stabs, lurching bass lines and more. It may not be for everyone, and we may not even agree on it completely, but it's definitely worth a spin to reorient your understanding that the 90s weren't just grunge, pop-punk, industrial rock, etc.   Songs In This Episode:   Intro - Delivery Man 5:27 - Black Stick 14:36 - Naked Flame 21:48 - Woman With Soul Outro - Better Than Love   Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon. Listen to the episode archive at DigMeOutPodcast.com.  

On their 1994 debut album Rubberneck, the Toadies managed to score a hit single that is still a staple of rock stations spinning 90s alternative hits. But like a lot of people, that one single is our starting point with the band. When we gave the entire album a listen, we discovered a band confident from the get-go in their style and strengths - energetic, concise, no-frills alternative riff-rock with a distinctive lead vocalist. Spending time with the record, the deeper layers revealed themselves - a circular rockabilly-esque riff on I Come From The Water, nods to the blues-based thump Led Zeppelin on Backslider - without being obvious or sounding dated. But the superior single Possum Kingdom also made us wonder what happened to the distinctive and inventive lead guitar driving that tune, and wonder if this material translated better to the live setting.   Songs In This Episode:   Intro - Possum Kingdom 17:59 - I Burn 20:17 - I Come From The Water 22:22 - Backslider Outro - Quitter   Support the po

To paraphrase a rock 'n roll saying, you get a lifetime to make your first record, but six months to make your second. As we've discovered in our Sophomore Slump Revisited series, it is not always the case that limited time causes the dreaded Sophomore Slump. Record label management shake-ups, shifting radio playlists and various other factors have impacted the success or failure of second albums. But what about the opposite? Bands that made okay or solid freshman efforts, but kicked it up a notch on their sophomore album and finally "discovered their sound" or "delivered on their promising debut." Or bands that released massive, chart-topping first albums, only to equal or exceed with their follow-up. There's a lot to cover, and a lot to discuss as we talk about a bunch of bands and albums that reversed the curse of the Sophomore Slump.   Songs In This Episode:   Intro - Sophomore Jinx by Self 9:57 - Cut Your Hair by Pavement 24:34 - Not Too Late by Satchel 37:20 - Pen Pals by Sloan 48:41 - Until You

While we've touched on some alternative country over the years on the podcast, we've never encountered a straight-up folk record. Until now. Thanks to a patron selection, we checked out the 1999 debut album Bareback by Hank Dogs. A family band with lineage to the Sex Pistols, we had no idea what to expect, though the name and album cover tipped us off to something country-ish. The reality is much more traditional, recalling the English folk of The Fairport Convention, Pentangle, Steeleye Span, Richard Thompson, etc. - all well outside our respective wheelhouses. But albums like this help expand our musical horizons, even if they fall victim to the overstuff compact disc era, and foreshadow the 2000s folk and freak-folk revival.   Songs In This Episode:   Intro - Lucky Break 13:06 - 18 Dogs 19:52 - I'm An Angel 25:27 - Take Back My Own Heart Outro - Sun Explodes   Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon. Listen to the episode archive at DigMeOutPodcast.com.  

If we told you that a soul/blues singer from Detroit released a record on Sub Pop on 1996 backed by funk rockers Big Chief, who had themselves just released an album influenced by 70s Blaxploitation films, you'd think we'd have a crazy game of Mad Libs going on. But the end result of Thornetta Davis' debut solo album Sunday Morning Music is much more traditional than expected, find space between the 1990s neo soul of Maxwell, D'Angelo and Erykah Badu, and the new wave of young American blues artists like Jonny Lang and Kenny Wayne Shepard.   Songs In This Episode:   Intro - Helpless 10:38 - Only One 13:58 - Cry 21:01 - And I Spin Outro - Come Go With Me   Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon. Listen to the episode archive at DigMeOutPodcast.com.  

If there is a new episode of Dig Me Out in your feed on a Thursday, that can only mean one thing - we sharing with you a preview of our latest Dig Me Out '80s episodes. With the help our Patreon Board of Directors and Steering Committee tiers, we're revisiting another album from the 1980s based on suggestions and votes of our patrons. This month we're checking out the 1989 album Freedom by Neil Young. Join the DMO Union for as little as $2 a month and get access to bonus content like this episode, vote in our album review polls, get exclusive merchandise and more! Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon. Listen to the episode archive at DigMeOutPodcast.com.

Touring festivals were all the rage in the 1990s, with Lollapalooza kicking things off in 1991, following by Lilith Fair, the H.O.R.D.E. Tour, Ozzfest, Family Values Tour and others. We're heading back to 1995 to revisit the Warped Tour, from those who attended it and those who played it, gaining insight on the various line-up incarnations of the 90s, as well as the evolving line-up of artists, that started as a pop-punk-ska skate boarding, but morphed into a broader "youth-oriented" festival thanks to co-founder Kevin Lyman. We learn the various quirks (daily line-up shuffling!), the queasy (no showering for days! port-a-potties!) and the community that was built over twenty-five years of the Warped Tour.   Songs In This Episode:   Intro - Al's War by Less Than Jake Outro - History Of A Boring Town by Less Than Jake   Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon. Listen to the episode archive at DigMeOutPodcast.com.    

When singer/guitarist Toni Halliday and multi-instrumentalist Dean Garcia paired up to form Curve in 1989, they already had established bonafides in the music world with previous releases on Anxious Records, set-up by Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics. While those efforts failed to connect, their three 1991 EPs gained enough momentum that the 1992 debut album Doppelgänger, with assistance from soon to be in-demand producer Flood, was primed for widespread acclaim and respectable sales. Doppelgänger cracked the top twenty UK album chart, but their sound, an at times hypnotic combination of noisy-pop, shoegaze, dreamy textures and Madchester big beats, failed to connect with a larger audience, a sound that years later Garbage would refine for the mid-nineties radio waves. But for all the forward thinking and ahead-of-its-time accolades, there is a decidedly 1990s time stamp to the wall of sound approach, especially in the layered drums and percussion that left us equally fatigued and fascinated.   Songs In This

If you are checking us out for the first time, you'll quickly learn what our regular listeners already know: reggae and/or ska were not our thing back in the 1990s. Now, we're not going to claim to have fully converted to fandom, but the 1996 album Forever = 1 Day by Fighting Gravity left us with positive vibes. When the band locks into a relaxed mid-tempo groove, we're fully on board. When they occasionally pick up the pace to skanking speeds, or slow to a new age crawl, we found less reason to stay engaged. We got to explore all sides of the band, as well as the dig into the touring regional band phenomenon prevalent in the 1990s with access to cheap CD replication and an established college fraternity circuit that will no doubt come up again in future episodes.   Songs In This Episode:   Intro - One Day 12:20 - Fools And Kings 21:35 - Ted's River Song 31:22 - Quiet Angel Outro - Mission Bells   Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon. Listen to the episode archive at DigMeOutPodcast.c

Maybe you listened to Modest Mouse in 1996 or 1997 and thought, yes, this band will invade the public consciousness with a catchy single in the 2000s, launching them into elite status as a festival headliner, collaborate with a legendary guitarist, and influence a new generation of artists like Silversun Pickups, Future Islands, Car Seat Headrest and more. Most likely like us, you didn't, and figured a solid career in the indie music world was their destiny. We're okay with not foreseeing what may end up being the underground's last stab at infiltrating the mainstream, and decided to revisit for our second "Origins" roundtable the early years of Modest Mouse in the 1990s. Isaac Brock's unique songwriting style is present immediately, but the refinement of later years hasn't happened, allowing for exploration and experimentation across expansive (re: long) albums. It's in 1997's sophomore album The Lonesome Crowded West that the band gels, the focus sharpens, and the seeds of what were to come begin to sprout

Albums made in 1990 or 1991 often have the "sound" of the 80s in their production - lots of reverb on the drums, particular guitar effects, etc. Sometimes in reviewing albums from this period, it can date the album, pinning it down to a certain time instead of receiving the "timeless" accolade that so many well-regarded albums receive. But what if big, booming reverb gives the album a personality instead of a stamp? That's the case with the 1990 album Bloodletting by Concrete Blonde, who mined the vampire novels of Anne Rice to deliver an album that matches lyrical content with its musical approach. "Goth" is the term thrown around, and the album plays with dark themes matched with occasional dissonance. But what is really on display is a singer fully in command of their voice, constructing unique melodies, wrapped around a diverse selection of songwriting styles and approaches that deliver over and over again.   Songs In This Episode:   Intro - The Bloodletting (The Vampire Song) 17:47 - Tomorrow, Wendy

Movie soundtracks, as we have learned, come in all shapes and sizes. The 1994 Backbeat soundtrack is an interesting concept - get a bunch of well-respected alternative musicians of the day, and have them tackle early cover songs played by The Beatles. The list is impressive even today: Dave Pirner of Soul Asylum and Greg Dulli of The Afghan Whigs sharing vocal duties, Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth and Don Fleming of Gumball handling the guitars, Mike Mills of R.E.M. on bass guitar and vocals, and Dave Grohl, then of Nirvana, later of Foo Fighters, pounding away on the drums. On the one hand, you'd love to hear what this band could do with the restriction of making these period specific recordings to fit the film, or what actual Beatles tunes might sound like. On the other, hearing the band stick to the format, and tear through two-minute rock 'n roll classics is its own special thing. We hope they were having fun, because the energy and enthusiasm for the material is evident, leaving us to wonder what would/c

By the end of the 90s, a number of bands had penetrated the mainstream with ambitious, layered albums. Like with OK Computer, The Soft Bulletin, Deserter's Songs and Ladies & Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space, dEUS took a turn on their third album, 1999's The Ideal Crash. Dialing down the Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart influences and incorporating contemporary sounds from trip-hop, electronica and alternative rock slot The Ideal Crash nicely alongside the aforementioned, even managing to find spots for banjos and theremins. But like so many bands utilizing the compact disc format, too much of a good thing can be a negative, as the band often turns what could be a three minute gem into five-plus minutes.   Songs In This Episode:   Intro - Put The Freaks Up Front 11:44 - Instant Street 16:03 - The Ideal Crash 27:33 - Everybody's Weird Outro - Magdalena   Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon. Listen to the episode archive at DigMeOutPodcast.com.  

If there is a new episode of Dig Me Out in your feed on a Thursday, that can only mean one thing - we sharing with you a preview of our latest Dig Me Out '80s episodes. With the help our Patreon Board of Directors and Steering Committee tiers, we're revisiting another album from the 1980s based on suggestions and votes of our patrons. This month we're checking out the 1983 album Flick Of The Switch by AC/DC. Join the DMO Union for as little as $2 a month and get access to bonus content like this episode, vote in our album review polls, get exclusive merchandise and more! Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon. Listen to the episode archive at DigMeOutPodcast.com.

We're kicking off a new roundtable series with Slim Moon and Kill Rock Stars, who shares with the history of the Olympia, Washington (now Portland, Oregon) independent label that has been home to an amazing roster of musicians and bands, including Sleater-Kinney, Unwound, Bikini Kill, Bratmobile, The Decemberists, Elliott Smith, Huggy Bear, Mary Lou Lord, Gossip, Deerhoof and many more. We discuss how the label got started, leaning on K Records founder Calvin Johnson for advice, the riotgrrl scene and bands in Olympia, how bands were discovered, the impact of success with Elliott Smith and the importance of legacy catalogs, the end of the decade digital music revolution, and so much more.   Songs In This Episode:   Intro - New Energy by Unwound 3:45 - Words and Guitar by Sleater-Kinney 1:07:45 - Between The Bars by Elliott Smith Outro - I Could Have Loved You by The Peechees   Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon. Listen to the episode archive at DigMeOutPodcast.com.  

In 1991, Material Issue released their long-in-the-works debut album International Pop Overthrow. Along with bands and artists like Jellyfish, Matthew Sweet, The Posies, Redd Kross, major labels were taking chances on the hard-to-pin-down genre known as Power Pop, and the future looked bright until the steamroller known as Nirvana arrived in the fall. Rather than scoop up the next Big Star or Cheap Trick influenced outfit, the next Pearl Jam and Alice In Chains were the priority, and Beatles, Byrds and Badfinger devotees rarely found their favorite bands on mainstream radio or MTV. In retrospect, that might be what makes an album like IPO so listenable after so many years.   Songs In This Episode:   Intro - Valerie Loves Me 13:12 - Diane 18:02 - This Far Before 22:27 - This Letter Outro - Li'l Christine   Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon. Listen to the episode archive at DigMeOutPodcast.com.  

What's your memory of The Verve Pipe? Are they filed away with the alternative rock one-hit wonders of the 90s thanks to the single "The Freshman"? Are they lumped in with other mid-decade "alt rock" bands like Live and Bush? Did you see them in their early indie days when the were Midwest up-and-comers? Did you bother to check out their 1999 post-hit follow-up album? Did you check out more than the singles? As listeners who reassess with an ear on the past and present, the 1996 album Villain provides lots to chew on. Album tracks reveal divergences into slightly more adventures territory while the singles show off noisy guitar licks and tones that sound foreign compared to the modern Top 40.   Songs On This Episode:   Intro - Cup Of Tea 18:01 - The Freshman 23:11 - Villains 26:39 - Photograph 37:28 - Real Outro - Barely (If At All)     Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon. Listen to the episode archive at DigMeOutPodcast.com.

The 1991 album Spiderland by Slint has taken on icon status since release, the bridge between Sonic Youth noise, Velvet Underground drone, Joy Division dread and the 1990s wave of post, math, indie and other alternative rock sub-genres. Like so many revered albums discovered via slow burn over years thanks to the accolades of musicians and rock journalists, the influence of Spiderland can be heard in bits and pieces in dozens of bands, yet tracing them back to the source leads us to a perplexing conclusion - what happens when an album of modest creation becomes mythic when listening with fresh years decades after the release?   Songs In This Episode:   Intro - Breadcrumb Trail 8:49 - Good Morning Captain 25:06 - Nosferatu Man 35:33 - Washer Outro - For Dinner...   Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon. Listen to the episode archive at DigMeOutPodcast.com    

Twenty-five years after the release, Mike Gent of The Figgs stops by to tells us about their 1994 release Low-Fi At Society High. From the small town of Saratoga Springs in upstate New York, The Figgs spent years writing, recording and playing out long before the rest of the nation got a taste of their punk, mod, power-pop and rock sound that recalls the best of Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson, Cheap Trick and The Jam, treading familiar ground with an updated take. We discuss their brief tenure on the Imago label, recording with producer Don Gehman (R.E.M., John Mellencamp, Hootie and the Blowfish), hooking up with legendary new wave/pub rocker Graham Parker to be his backing band, and much, much more.   Songs In This Episode:   Intro - Favorite Shirt 25:25 - Stood Up 38:47 - Step Back Let's Go Pop 1:16:16 - Tint Outro - Chevy Nova   Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon. Listen to the episode archive at DigMeOutPodcast.com    

We often discuss production as an aspect of what makes a record sound good to our ears, but the truth is that different styles of music often demand different production choices. On the 1995 sophomore album Hi Fi Way by You Am I, terms like organic or immediate get tossed around to describe the sound of a band that gives a performance not fussed over, but clearly considered. With Sonic Youth's Lee Renaldo behind the board, the band gets the most of out their limited recording schedule, as every instrument gets a chance to shine with minimal overdubs and effects. While other 90s alternative rock bands might have taken the opportunity to layer track upon track or head down indulgent tangents, You Am I focus on melody and concise song structures, resulting in an album that surpasses their debut in every way.   Songs In This Episode:   Intro - She Digs Her 11:43 - The Applecross Wing Commander 15:15 - Handwasher 19:19 - Pizza Guy 26:45 - Ain't Gone And Open Outro - Jewels And Bullets   Support the podc