VERBENA Souls for Sale 1997

 by request

Verbena was named after a small town near Birmingham, Alabama.

Discogs 

Artist Biography by Tracy Frey

Wearing their animosity on their sleeve, Birmingham, Alabama-based Verbena bear more than a slight resemblance to Nirvana with their gritty, aggressive rock and singer/guitarist Scott Bondy's soul-bearing vocals. Bondy began playing with Les Nuby (drums) and Duquette Johnston (bassist) when the three were in high school in the early '90s. Ann Marie Griffin (singer/guitarist) joined the trio, called Shallow, and shared songwriting duties with Bondy. Nuby left the group and was replaced by original Remy Zero drummer Louis Schefano. The band renamed itself Verbena and released the EP, Pilot Park, on Merge. Nuby rejoined the band a year later. Verbena's debut full-length, Souls for Sale, attracted attention from Capitol and Foo Fighter Dave Grohl, who agreed to produce the band's major-label debut, Into the Pink. In 1999, Johnston left the band, making Verbena a trio once again. It would be another four years until Verbena would rise again. In 2003, Nuby and Bondy, along with bassist Nick Daviston, resumed their schedule with Capitol for their third album, La Musica Negra, which continued the band's move toward straight-ahead rock. 

Tracklist

1	Hot Blood
2	Shaped Like A Gun
3	Junk For Fashion
4	The Song That Ended Your Career
5	The Desert
6	Hey, Come On
7	Me & Keith
8	So What
9	Postcard Blues
10	Kiss Yourself

THE DARLING BUDS

Pop Said...  

1988 

 

Crawdaddy  

1990 

 

Erotica 

1992

 

Discogs

 

 

Artist Biography

by Craig Harris

With their Beatles-influenced vocal harmonies and hook-laden melodies, the Darling Buds were one of the most promising bands in Wales during the late '80s and early '90s. Firmly entrenched in the "blonde" period of British indie music, the group is remembered for the singing of blonde female vocalist, Andrea Lewis (born: March 25, 1967) and the beatnik-like black clothing worn by the band's instrumentalists.

Formed in Cardiff, Wales in 1986, the Darling Buds took their name from a comic novel, Darling Buds of May by British author H.E. Bates. Releasing their debut single, "If I Said," on their own label in February 1987, the group began attracting considerable attention. Reissued by the Native record label, the single was heard numerous times on John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show.

Signing with Epic in 1988, the Darling Buds released several singles before issuing their debut full-length album, Pop Said, in January 1989. The album quickly reached the British Top 30 and led to an appearance on popular British TV music show, Top of the Pops.

Just as it looked as though the Darling Buds were headed for stardom, things began to fall apart. Original drummer Bloss was replaced by Jimmy Hughes, formerly with British rock band, Black. Although they reached for a more-sophisticated sound with their second album, Crawdaddy, they lost the raw edge of their initial sound. The release of their third album, Erotica, in 1992, did little to recapture the Darling Buds' early glory. Released a few weeks before a Madonna album with the same name, it faded into obscurity before making a dent on the charts. Although they toured the United States in support of the album for a year, the members of the Darling Buds grew increasingly frustrated by their lack of commercial success and disbanded.

Moving into acting, Lewis worked for a Cardiff theater company before agreeing to host a show, The Slate, for BBC Wales.

 
Pop Said...

Tracklist
1. Hit The Ground
2. Burst
3. Uptight
4. The Other Night
5. Big Head
6. Let's Go Round There
7. She's Not Crying
8. Shame On You
9. You've Got To Choose
10. Spin
11. When It Feels Good
12. Things We Do For Love

Crawdaddy

Tracklist

1. It Makes No Difference
2. Tiny Machine
3. Crystal Clear
4. Do You Have To Break My Heart
5. You Won't Make Me Die
6. Fall
7. A Little Bit of Heaven
8. Honeysuckle
9. So Close
10. The End of the Beginning

Erotica Tracklist 1. One Thing Leads to Another 2. Sure Thing 3. Off My Mind 4. Gently Fall 5. Please Yourself 6. Angels Fallen 7. Isolation 8. Long Day In The Universe 9. Wave 10. If

PSYCHEFUNKAPUS

self titled
1990

Skin
1991

P.O.L. Parade of Losers 1995

By request

BAREFOOT CONTESSA

self titled
(year unknown - this is not the original artwork)

You Can't Go Home Again
1996

Happy Together EP
1997

LOUD LUCY Breathe 1995

by request

Discogs

 

 

A not very flattering review. Listen anyway.

 

Breathe Review

by Tracy Frey

In the mid-'90s, major labels scrambled to sign alternative bands in Chicago in hopes of finding the next big thing. However, most of the bands signed during this frenzy fizzled out after only one or two albums. Loud Lucy was one of those bands. Known more for their connections with other bands, such as Alanis Morissette and Veruca Salt, than for their talent, Loud Lucy released their only major-label album, Breathe, in 1995. Comprised mostly of three-minute songs, Breathe features the band's bland guitar-driven alternative pop. Each song is built around a repetitive guitar riff and has lyrics describing relationship troubles, which singer/guitarist Christian Lane hoarsely delivers. Although the album is mediocre, one of its catchier songs, "Ticking," enjoyed modest success with both MTV and radio airplay.

Tracklist

1		Ticking	3:19
2		Over Me

3:15
3		1000 To Five	3:00
4		On The Table	3:40
5		I'll Wait	2:58
6		Awaiting Time	3:18
7		Breathe	2:48
8		Down Baby	2:32
9		Not Here	3:48
10		Fleas	3:15
11		Clear World	4:08
12		Meet You Down

3:10

 

DAISYCUTTER Shithammer Deluxe 1992

Discogs

 

Daisycutter was a rock band from Red Bank, New Jersey, USA.
They existed from 1991 to 1995.  

Tracklist

1	Havoc Mass	1:54
2	Pull	2:36
3	Trash	3:19
4	Mexican Speed Ranch	1:50
5	Acid Gut	2:25
6	Electrikill	2:48
7	Greivous Amalgam	4:03

 

THE VESTRYMEN Ruby Ranch 1993

 

Discogs

 

Ruby Ranch Review by Jack Rabid

This Northampton, MA quintet (actually, their members reside in three or four different states in the Northeast) now includes ex-Blases keyboard guy Billy Donahue. Geography aside, Ruby Ranch is nicely rounded, with a little bit of garage rock, sterling guitar pop, a little post-punk rhythmic grace, and plenty of finely polished backing vocals. There's a hint of the '60s running through every one of these 18 (18?!?) tracks without soiling their shoes in it. Though the production tends to harness the group where they otherwise might rock out more, this kind of sonic clarity also invites the little tasty touches, the bits of trumpet and guitar, and other well-placed overdubs that enliven the material. A pretty solid, varied LP where material and singing are king.

 

Tracklist

1		3 Kings
2		Backyard
3		Drill Sergeant
4		First
5		The Plastic Hassle
6		Walk Around the Block
7		Greener
8		Visionary
9		Jennifer Cup
10		Oldsmobile
11		The Rage
12		Bookmark
13		Natural Boy
14		Salena
15		Chris' Vision
16		Her World
17		Separation
18		Box of Pictures

 

SUBROSA Never Bet the Devil Your Head 1997

by request

Discogs 

AllMusic Review by Bret Love

You can forgive Subrosa if their debut was a less-than-stellar effort. In addition to the usual pressures of being a new band on a major label, they had some tragic history as well. Guitarist/singer Travis Tooke and drummer Jack Griego were half of For Squirrels, the Florida band that lost its singer, bassist, and road manager in a horrible van accident while touring to promote their debut release, Example. The duo soldiered on, recruiting bassist Andy Jim Lord and touring incessantly behind their modest modern rock radio hit, "Mighty K.C.," but apparently decided a name change would help get them out from under their former band's dark shadow. Far removed from the For Squirrels sound, Never Bet the Devil Your Head is hit-and-miss, with Nirvana-wannabe singles offset by striking songs like "Antigen Fiend," which features clever wordplay, dazzling eruptions of guitar noise, and Tooke screaming as if his soul depends on it. You can almost hear the band trying to shrug off the shackles of its past, not to mention its past influences (R.E.M., Nirvana, etc.), and the moments in which it achieves that goal can be positively breathtaking. 

Tracklist

1	World's Greatest Lover	3:47
2	Rollercoaster	4:00
3	Damn The Youth	4:02
4	Antigen Fiend	3:44
5	The Life Inside Me Killed This Song	3:02
6	Buzzard	4:08
7	Aerial	3:41
8	Never The Best	2:52
9	Murder An Angel	4:48
10	Madness Is Genius By Design	5:05
11	¡pleH	3:49
12	Lullaby To The Enemy	4:11
13	Pretend	5:46

THE MENDOZA LINE Like Someone In Love 1998

This is one of my requests. Thanks to Michael for sharing this with us!

Discogs

Artist Biography by Jason Ankeny

Athens, GA, indie pop outfit the Mendoza Line were formed during the summer of 1995 by singer/guitarists Timothy Bracy and Peter Hoffman (longtime friends born and raised in McLean, VA) along with Paul Deppler and Margaret Maurice. Andres Galdames and Lori Carrier completed the original lineup, so named in tribute to ex-major league slugger Mario Mendoza, whose .215 lifetime batting average remains the absolute minimum any self-respecting ballplayer can maintain without banishment to the minors.

Formed from the remnants of Athens band the Incompetones, the Mendoza Line signed to local label Kindercore to issue their 1997 debut, Poems to a Pawnshop, which favored a more kinetic indie rock approach than the subtly pastoral sound introduced on the follow-up EP, Like Someone in Love. Shannon McArdle signed on prior to 1999's I Like You When You're Not Around, released concurrently with the group's relocation from Georgia to Brooklyn, NY. The superb We're All in This Alone, the Mendoza Line's first effort for new label Bar/None, followed in the spring of 2000, with Maurice leaving shortly thereafter. The mature and more variety-filled Lost in Revelry followed two years later. In 2003, their first album, If They Knew This Was the End, was reissued. Fortune arrived on Cooking Vinyl in 2004, followed by the Misra-released Full of Light and Full of Fire in 2005. The next year, guitarist Clint Newman and drummer Adam Gold took over duties for the live shows, and in 2007, the new lineup returned to the studio to create their final album, 30 Year Low, before officially parting ways.

Tracklist

1	The Aragon & Trianon
2	Wiretapping
3	I Know I Will Not Find The Words
4	Running With An Older Crowd
5	Molly, Please Stop Touching Me
6	Casey At The Bar
7	Elaine, My Dear
8	Fall Down Here
9	Like Someone In Love
10	How Can I Leave You?

SCHTUM Grow 1995

by request

Discogs 

Tracklist

1	Post Modern	4:54
2	Run	3:30
3	Millennium	5:09
4	Space	3:43
5	Skydiver	3:24
6	Big Big City	5:59
7	New Year Dawning	3:15
8	Grow	4:26
9	Follow (1989)	4:25
10	Last Sad Song	3:28
11	Crackpot	4:41
12	Low Unknown	3:50

RAILROAD JERK Raise the Plow 1992

by request 

 

Discogs 

 

 

Tracklist 

1	These Streets
2	Call Me The Son
3	Pin Prick
4	During The War
5	Fixin' To Die
6	In The Main
7	I Wanna Sway You
8	Yes Baby
9	You Can't Go Back
10	Hanging Around

 

SINCOLA What the Nothinghead Said 1995

by request

Discogs

Tracklist

1	Hint Of The Titty	2:18
2	Bitch	3:43
3	1000 Miles	5:04
4	Girlfriend	2:28
5	Sedate Me	3:45
6	Cement Shoes	3:06
7	Hey Artemis	4:46
8	Hymn 13	3:10
9	Drive	2:44
10	Sud	2:53
11	Amazing	5:36

ST. JOHNNY

1993

1994

1995

By request

FREEDY JOHNSTON The Trouble Tree 1990

By request

Discogs

Artist Biography by Mark Deming

A gifted songwriter whose lyrics paint sometimes witty, often poignant portraits of characters often unaware of how their lives have gone wrong, Freedy Johnston seemingly appeared out of nowhere in the early '90s and quickly established himself as one of the most acclaimed new singer/songwriters of the day. Johnston was born in 1961 in Kinsley, Kansas, a small town with the odd distinction of being equidistant between New York City and San Francisco. Growing up, Johnston developed a strong interest in music, but living in a city without a music store or a record shop, doing something about it took some effort. When he was 16, Johnston bought his first guitar by mail order, and a year later, a friend drove him 35 miles to the nearest record store so he could buy an album he'd read about: My Aim Is True by Elvis Costello. After high school, Johnston enrolled at the University of Kansas in Lawrence; while his academic career didn't last very long (less than one year), Johnston wasted no time immersing himself in the city's new wave scene and became a passionate fan of local legends the Embarrassment. Johnston also began listening to everything from Neil Young to XTC and developed a taste for country music. After several years of working in restaurants and writing songs on a four-track recorder in the evening, Johnston pulled up stakes in 1985 and moved to New York City. After several years of making the rounds, Johnston's work caught the attention of Bar/None Records, a respected independent label based in Hoboken, New Jersey.

Johnston made his recording debut in 1989 with two tracks on a Bar/None label sampler, Time for a Change, and his first album, the scrappy and genially eccentric The Trouble Tree, followed in 1990. While the album received largely positive reviews and became a minor hit in Holland, sales were poor in the United States, and in order to finance recording of his second album, Johnston was forced to sell some farmland that had been with the Johnston family for generations (an decision Johnston set to music in his song "Trying to Tell You I Don't Know"). However, the risk paid off as 1992's Can You Fly earned enthusiastic reviews and was named among the year's best albums by The New York Times, Billboard, Spin, and Musician Magazine; Robert Christgau in The Village Voice went so far as to call it "a perfect album." The album also earned a healthy amount of alternative radio airplay, and Can You Fly's success convinced Elektra Records to sign Johnston. His first set for Elektra, 1994's This Perfect World, received similarly positive press and spawned a minor hit single in the song "Bad Reputation."

While Johnston's next three albums for Elektra -- 1997's Never Home, 1999's Blue Days Black Nights, and 2001's Right Between the Promises -- didn't fare as well in terms of sales, he maintained a loyal fan following and the respect of critics and peers. After Right Between the Promises ran its course, Elektra dropped Johnston and he occupied himself with live work, dabbled in film scoring by writing incidental music for the Farrelly Brothers' comedy Kingpin, and performed occasionally with the Know-It-All Boyfriends, an informal cover band featuring Butch Vig and Doug Erikson of Garbage. A collection of Johnston's early four-track recordings from between 1986 and 1992, The Way I Were, appeared in 2004, and Live at McCabe's Guitar Shop (taken from a show he played at the famous Los Angeles venue in 1999) was released in 2006. In 2010, Johnston released Rain on the City, his first set of new material since leaving Elektra, followed by extensive touring, and in 2012 he teamed up with John Dee Graham and Susan Cowsill to record an album under the group handle the Hobart Brothers featuring Lil' Sis Hobart. In 2014, Johnston launched a crowdsourcing campaign to finance the completion of his next album; the fundraiser was a success, and Neon Repairman, Johnston's first self-produced effort, was released in the summer of 2015. 

Tracklist  

1	Innocent	2:24
2	Down On The Moon #1	3:19
3	No Violins	3:39
4	That's What You Get	3:31
5	Fun Ride	5:14
6	Gina	3:20
7	Nature Boy	4:40
8	Bad Girl	3:04
9	After My Shocks	2:49
10	Tucumcari	2:14
11	Down On The Moon #2	3:43
12	Little Red Haired Girl	4:27
13	Untitled Track	20:39