Artist Biography
by Mark Deming
Playing smart, enthusiastic power pop that at its best suggested a three-way pileup between
the Who,
Big Star, and
Cheap Trick, Boston's
the Cavedogs began life in 1987, when guitarist
Todd Spahr, bassist
Brian Stevens, and drummer
Mark Rivers
joined forces and put out a locally released single. A self-released
cassette-only album followed in 1989 before the band scored a deal with
Restless Records, who released an EP on the group in 1990. The Cavedogs
were bumped up to Restless' parent label, Enigma Records, for their
first proper album, Joy Rides for Shut-Ins, which was released later the
same year. Then, Capitol Records, who had a distribution agreement with
Enigma, absorbed the band's contract, and the group now found itself
with a major-label deal. The group's second album, the
Michael Beinhorn-produced
Soul Martini,
found the band in considerably more polished form, though the clever
songwriting and sharp, tuneful melodies that marked Joy Rides for Shut
Ins were still very much in evidence. While both albums received
enthusiastic reviews, commercial radio did not embrace the band, and
neither album sold well beyond the band's immediate following; in 1993,
the Cavedogs split up.
Todd Spahr went on to form the Gravy, Mark Stevens joined Poundcake, and
Brian Stevens released a solo album. In 2001,
the Cavedogs reunited for some live shows, and the group released a CD of rarities and radio broadcasts.
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