THE DIVINE COMEDY Fanfare for the Comic Muse 1990

Discogs

Artist Biography by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

The Divine Comedy is the alias for Neil Hannon, a British pop singer/songwriter with aspirations of becoming a new wave fusion of Scott Walker, Morrissey, and Electric Light Orchestra. During the early '90s, he built up a strong cult following with a pair of idiosyncratic, critically acclaimed records before his third album, Casanova, became a mainstream success in the wake of Brit-pop and Pulp's popularity. "Becoming More Like Alfie" and "Something for the Weekend," both pulled from Casanova, became hits after receiving significant airplay from Radio 1 DJ Chris Evans, and the Divine Comedy moved from British indie rock favorites to a minor mainstream cult in their own right. 

 

Tracklist

1	Ignorance Is Bliss	3:42
2	Indian Rain	3:24
3	Bleak Landscape	3:40
4	Tailspin	2:44
5	The Rise And Fall	4:21
6	Logic Vs Emotion	4:34
7	Secret Garden	4:09

 

WONDERMINTS self titled 1996

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Discogs

Artist Biography by Gregory McIntosh

Formed in Los Angeles in 1991, the Wondermints slowly built a reputation as a cornerstone in the city's pop underground. While the band's status grew, several members individually made names for themselves as expert sidemen, eventually elevating the Wondermints to a sort of underground supergroup. Big names in the industry, such as Eric Carmen and former Dramarama member Chris Carter (who subsequently became the band's manager), started to take note, finally paying off when Brian Wilson recruited them as part of his backing band for his comeback to the stage in 1999.
Beginning as a collaboration between keyboardist Darian Sahanaja and guitarist Nick Walusko, the Wondermints released a series of home-recorded cassettes and by 1992 enlisted the talents of bassist Brian Kassan. Drummer Mike D'Amico entered the fold a year later and the quartet continued to release homemade recordings. Toy's Factory Records of Japan found interest in the band and in 1995 released their first official album, the contents of which were compiled from the home recordings, but right around the time of this release, Kassan chose to leave the ranks.

Regardless, given the greater exposure, the Wondermints secured places on several tribute and compilation albums. Multi-instrumentalist Probyn Gregory agreed to fill the slot Kassan had vacated, and in the fall of 1996 the group released The Wonderful World of the Wondermints, a record entirely of covers -- something of an abnormality for a group's second outing. They followed The Wonderful World of the Wondermints with a track for the immensely successful Mike Myers film Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. Penned by Sahanaja, the track opened up the doors to the Wondermints' first stateside distribution deal, with EMI, and in 1998 the group finally released their first official non-compilation all-original album, Bali, to fantastic reviews. A year later, the Wondermints released the EP Cellophane.

When Brian Wilson enlisted the band for his surprising resurgence as a live performer, the Wondermints were exposed to the masses as the meat of his backing band. The collaboration proved so successful that Wilson brought the band out in 2000 to perform the classic Pet Sounds live in its entirety, then again on world tours in 2001 and 2002. The group found time amidst this heavy touring to record Mind If We Make Love to You, released in 2002, which featured, naturally, a guest appearance from Wilson. The Wondermints and Wilson took 2003 off from touring and Darian Sahanaja joined Heart for their summer tour before work on Wilson's 2004 solo release, Gettin' in Over My Head, began.

Wilson again took the Wondermints out on tour in early 2004, debuting the lost Beach Boys masterpiece SMiLE over 30 years after the project was initially abandoned, and was so invigorated with the performances that he announced plans to release a re-recorded version of SMiLE with the Wondermints. This time he made due on this promise, as the album was released on Nonesuch in the fall of 2004, officially rocketing the Wondermints to sizable importance in the history of rock & roll. Kaleidoscopin': Exploring Prisms of the Past appeared in 2009. 

 

 

Tracklist

1	Proto-Pretty	3:45
2	Fleur-De-Lis	3:28
3	Tracy Hide	4:30
4	She Opens Heaven's Door	3:16
5	Libbyland	3:01
6	Shine	4:19
7	Thought Back	3:23
8	Time	3:58
9	Global Village Idiot	3:30
10	Playtex Aviary	4:00
11	In A Haze	3:45
12	Carnival Of Souls	4:29

STEEL POLE BATH TUB The Miracle of Sound in Motion 1993

Discogs

Artist Biography by Steve Huey

Enigmatic noise rock trio Steel Pole Bath Tub crafted a grungy, droning, offbeat sound from a palette of fuzzed-out bass riffs, blasts of guitar feedback, and tape loops, plus a raft of alternately kitschy and disturbing dialogue samples from vintage TV shows and movies. Additionally, the band had a penchant for deconstructive covers of rock classics, some of which appeared only on 7" singles. Critics were split on the effectiveness of their often repetitive compositions, with some praising their originality and others bemoaning a lack of consistent songwriting polish. A highly unlikely bet for commercial success, Steel Pole Bath Tub nonetheless managed to score a major-label contract (albeit briefly) during the alternative rock feeding frenzy of the mid-'90s.
Steel Pole Bath Tub was founded in Bozeman, MT, in 1986 by guitarist/vocalist Mike Morasky and bassist/vocalist Dale Flattum. After moving to Seattle, they joined up with drummer Darren Mor-X (born Darren Morey), a veteran of the local early-'80s hardcore band Mr. Epp (which featured future members of Green River and Mudhoney). Taking their name from a feature in a true-crime magazine (a Clue-type combination of murder weapon and location), the trio relocated once again, this time to San Francisco.

Steel Pole Bath Tub landed a deal with the Bay Area indie label Boner, which was also home to the Melvins in their pre-Atlantic days. The band's debut album, Butterfly Love, appeared in 1989, and was followed in 1990 by the Lurch EP (both were later combined on a CD issue). These early releases established the band's fascination with pop-culture references and TV dialogue snippets, and led to several Bay Area side projects: Morasky teamed with Boner label head Tom Flynn in Duh (aka Death's Ugly Head), and the whole group worked with Jello Biafra under the name Tumor Circus.

Fans and critics tended to agree that Steel Pole Bath Tub really began to hit their stride on 1991's Tulip and its follow-up, 1993's The Miracle of Sound in Motion. During the same period, Morasky and Flattum teamed up (under the aliases C.C. Nova and Bumblebee) in an electronics-oriented side project called Milk Cult, which gave their interest in sampling a whole new outlet. 1994 brought a new Steel Pole Bath Tub EP, Some Cocktail Suggestions, which would prove to be their final work for Boner. Slash Records -- at the time a subsidiary of Warner, though they would shortly switch affiliations to London -- offered the band a major-label contract, perhaps swayed by similar jumps from Steel Pole influences the Butthole Surfers and labelmates the Melvins.

Steel Pole Bath Tub's major-label debut, Scars From Falling Down, was released in 1995. Due to copyright concerns, their trademark dialogue samples had to be held in check, which placed more focus on the band's music itself. In 1996, they set about recording a follow-up, initially hoping to cover the Cars' debut album in its entirety. Slash, unimpressed with the postmodern prank and the demos of new material that accompanied three Cars covers, promptly dropped the band from its roster. Caught in limbo, Steel Pole Bath Tub gradually drifted into oblivion. The bandmembers remained active, though -- in 1997, Milk Cult received a grant from the French government to join an artists' collective in Marseilles, where they recorded an album that would be released in 2000 as Project M-13. Morasky subsequently went to New Zealand as a special effects technician on Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy, while Flattum retired to North Carolina to pursue the visual arts while working for a software company. Morasky (now calling himself Agent Nova) and Mor-X reunited as Novex in 2002, pursuing a style similar to Milk Cult on their debut, Kleptophonica. Meanwhile, Steel Pole Bath Tub finally recovered the rights to their lost major-label follow-up, and issued the material in 2002 on the 0 to 1 label as Unlistenable (the title a quote from Slash executives' response to the tapes). The group briefly reunited that year to perform at the Beyond the Pale festival. 

 Tracklist 

1	Pseudoephedrine Hydrochloride	5:26
2	Train To Miami	4:46
3	Exhale	4:09
4	Thumbnail	4:48
5	Down All The Days	3:43
6	Carbon	3:59
7	Bozeman	2:57
8	Borstal	4:42
9	594	4:06
10	Waxl	2:58

MOHINDER self titled 7 inch 1994

hardcore from the Gravity Records label

Discogs

Tracklist

A1	The Mission
A2	Alien
A3	Division
A4	Acceptance
B5	The Static Cult
B6	Beautiful
B7	One Warrior
B8	Expiration

TORCHES TO ROME self titled 1999

hardcore on the Ebullition Records label

Discogs

Tracklist

A1	Mass For The Dead
A2	Young Arsenal
A3	Life Led Idle
A4	This Is Not A Step
B1	Torches To Rome
B2	The Guards Are Itchy
B3	Idle Heroes
B4	Numbered Days

HOSE GOT CABLE Majesty 1995

hardcore on the Old Glory Records label

 

Discogs

Tracklist

1	Look	10:40
2	Fuck	1:46
3	Pig Star	2:10
4	Occupatus	3:28
5	Carpal Tunnel Syndrome	1:10
6	Let's Spend Some Time Together	2:54
7	Chevy Chase, Motherfucker	4:34
8	The Smallest Living Thing	3:17
9	Gum Wrapper Roses	2:15
10	Antidisestablishmentarianesque	1:38
11	Pat's Song	2:17
12	Untitled	4:00

HEROIN Heroin C.D. 1997

San Diego hardcore on the Gravity Records label, known for its hardcore releases

Discogs

 

Tracklist

1	Head Cold
2	Undertaking
3	Indecision
4	I've Got Mine
5	This Time
6	Never Ever
7	Has Been
8	Leave
9	Wander
10	Blindly
11	With No Name
12	Meaning Less
13	A Portion
14	The Obvious
15	Comes To Mind
16	In General
17	Moving Parts
18	Another
19	Destination

 

NATIVE NOD Today Puberty, Tomorrow The World 1995

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Discogs

AllMusic Review by Peter J. D'Angelo 

Before the Lapse and even before The Van Pelt, indie rock fixture Chris Leo got his start in the wholly original (if not a bit abrasive) Native Nod. This disc collects the band's two 7" releases, Bread and Lower G.I. Bleed, as well as a comp track and two leftovers; nine songs in total as well as the band's entire recorded legacy. The songs are loose and filled with youthful energy, but like fellow indie groundbreakers Cap'n Jazz, they also have the power to explode into insane bursts of inspired hard rock. Leo's voice, an often spoken, sometimes screamed, and always uncertain wail, is the main contributor to the group's unique sound. Much like the harder-edged material of his later groups, these songs ride on the rage in Leo's voice, and swell even further thanks to the inventively full sounding musicianship. Some of the songs are fairly simple in construct, but others take the time to set a mood and are remarkably effective. Lyrically, the tracks can seem intentionally daft or at least vague, but they're still well-worded, and enough to make listeners try a little harder to understand. This may not be the best work to come from any of the members of this band, but it is an amazing early project that clearly sets the tone for the music that it later spawned. 

Tracklist

1	Bread
2	High Tide In Alaska
3	Back To Mimsey
4	Answers
5	Crossings
6	Tangled
7	Mr. President
8	Lower G.I. Bleed
9	Runner

SAMUEL Lives of Insects 1994

~Female fronted punk rock~ 
The drummer, Eric, ran the label that released "Lives of Insects" called Art Monk Construction.

Discogs

Tracklist

1	Lives Of Insects	4:45
2	Held Over	2:59
3	Common Little Numbers	3:09
4	Sideways Looker	3:48

THE JAZZ JUNE Breakdance Suburbia 1999

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Discogs

Artist Biography by James Christopher Monger

Formed in 1996 in the diminutive Pennsylvania city of Kutztown around the talents of Andrew Low, Justin Max, Bryan Gassler, Adam Gerhart, and Daniel O'Neill, all of whom met at Kutztown University, hard-hitting emo-pop quintet the Jazz June employ a heady mix of punk-infused indie rock and emotionally charged post-rock, and became one of the leading lights of the burgeoning emo scene in the late '90s (falling somewhere between Sunny Day Real Estate and the Promise Ring) before calling it quits in 2002. The group issued a significant body of work before disbanding, including the LPs They Love Those Who Make the Music, Boom, The Motion and the Music, Breakdance Suburbia, Medicine, and Better Off Without Air. In 2007 they put out a collection of B-sides, rarities, and live cuts under the title Scars to Prove It, and in 2014 they made their reunion official by releasing a brand new studio album, the Top Shelf Records-issued After the Earthquake. 

 

Tracklist

1	Burned Out Bright
2	Silver Dollar
3	The Teenage Fight Song
4	Russians Part 2
5	Antiquated
6	Nothing
7	Signal
8	Bleach In Your Eyes
9	At The Artist's Leisure
10	D3PO