HAZEL Heida 7 inch 1992

by request

Discogs

 

Tracklist

A	Heida
B	Pop Uncle

JOYRIDER Be Special 1996

by request

 Discogs

 

Artist Biography

Comprising Phil Woolsey (vocals/guitar), Cliff Mitchel (guitar), Simon Haddock (bass) and Buck Hamill (drums), this bracing alternative rock band was formed in Portadown, Northern Ireland, in 1992. Throughout ensuing years they built their reputation on the back of a torturous touring schedule that took them across Europe as support to artists including Terrorvision, Dog Eat Dog and Therapy? Their hard-drinking but affable outlook immediately won over many critics in the music press, earning them praise that eventually transcended the original criticism that Joyrider were merely ‘Therapy? Jnr’. They also made a point of crossing the sectarian divide by bussing both Protestant and Catholic fans to out-of-town gigs, while parodying religious and paramilitary slogans on their record sleeves. They made their debut with two singles, ‘Dweeb King’ and ‘Getting That Joke Now’, for Blunt Records, run by Andy Cairns of Therapy?, before signing a recording contract with A&M Records subsidiary Paradox. Three EPs, including the excellent Fabulae, endeared them to a growing audience in the UK, but it was their 1996 debut album, at which time Hamill had been replaced by Carl Alty, that convinced others of their long-term potential. The lyrics to ‘Bible Blackbelt’ and ‘Another Skunk Song’, in particular, were simple but effective, the latter song denouncing the prevalence of a particular brand of marijuana on their fellow musicians (‘High every night/And we’re all talking shite’). A second album followed in 1997 but despite further good press the group disbanded shortly afterwards. 

Tracklist  

1	Fabulae	2:04
2	Strikes Sparks Everwhere	2:38
3	Rush Hour	3:12
4	That Tired	3:55
5	Said She To Me	2:48
6	Bible Black-Belt	3:06
7	I Cursed You	3:29
8	Nobody Home	2:24
9	Another Skunk Song	2:47
10	All Gone Away	2:56
11	Vegetable Animal Mineral	3:46
12	I Don't Give In	2:54
13	Are You Sure You're Alright	3:50
14	Imagine Dead Language	4:03

CREASE Interference 1995

A little pop, a little punk and perhaps a little grunge

Thanks to Dsvvsd

Artist Biography by Steve Huey

Post-grunge hard rockers Crease formed in Fort Lauderdale, FL, in 1994, their membership including three-quarters of a local outfit dubbed Excessive. Singer Kelly Meister and brothers Eric (drums) and Fritz Dorigo (guitar) had been performing for several years, and when their bassist left the band to get married, they refocused their energy with the help of new bassist Greg Gershengorn. Changing their name to Crease, the group recorded an independent album, Interference, which cemented their local reputation. However, when their recording deal fell through, the band was forced to regroup, spending their time honing their songwriting and performance chops on the South Florida club scene. In 1997, their EP ...Six Pack Shy of Pretty (which was slated to be a full-length until the band ran out of money) produced a local radio hit with the single "Frustration," and several high-profile gigs at home and on the East Coast helped land Crease a deal with Roadrunner Records toward the end of 1999. The five songs on ...Six Pack Shy of Pretty were redone for inclusion on Crease's Roadrunner debut, Vindication, which was released during the summer of 2000.

SISSY BAR Songs for Peeps 1999

by request

Discogs

Artist Biography by Jason Ankeny

The childlike lo-fi pop sextet Sissy Bar formed in 1994 when the core duo of singer Joy Ray and guitarist Courtney Holt -- the son of Will Holt, the author of the Peter, Paul and Mary hit "Lemon Tree" -- delivered an impromptu performance at a friend's party in Los Angeles. After enlisting banjo player Brad Kluck, bassist Anne Kadrovich, keyboardist Mary Ellen Mason, and drummer Patrick Simpson, the group began honing a sound built around Holt's mandate that the members play whatever they feel like, resulting in an off-kilter fusion of country, new wave, and waltz music. In 1996, Sissy Bar issued their debut LP, Statutory Grape, a record highlighted by the band's odd cover of Snoop Doggy Dogg's "Gin and Juice," later sampled by members of the Dogg Pound posse. Songs for Peeps followed in 1999. 

UNION CARBIDE PRODUCTIONS From Influence to Ignorance 1991

by request

 

Discogs

 

Artist Biography by John Dougan

How about a bunch of thuggish-sounding, Stooges-inspired pounders from...Sweden? That's right, you American xenophobes, I said Sweden. In fact, I can think of few bands who employed the Stooges primal riff-thud'n'noise better than UCP. Fueled by the rampaging guitars of Patrick Caganis and Bjorn Olsson, and the half-octave, node-encrusted vocal growl (and did this son of a bitch growl!) of Ebbot Lundberg, UCP roared out of the blocks with an awesome debut record entitled In the Air Tonight which, despite its title, has nothing to do with the Phil Collins hit single of the same name. Sounding as if they worshipped at the altar of the first two Stooges records (with a little bit of the MC5's Kick Out the Jams tossed in for good measure), In the Air Tonight is not slavishly imitative, but is rather indicative of what UCP were all about early in their career: riff-heavy sonic overload, with occasional free-jazz blurting (Lundberg and Olsson both played sax) and walls of feedback. It was a huge-sounding recording, brutal, violent, its assaultive power leaving you breathless after the closing 11-plus-minute bashfest "Down On the Beach." In fact, In the Air Tonight could well be one of the great pre-alternative nation, proto-grunge records ever made. Certainly every fan of early-'70s Detroit rock should own one.

Tracklist

1		Train Song
2		Be Myself Again
3		Golden Age
4		Can't Hear Nothing
5		Baritone Street
6		Got My Eyes On You
7		Can't Slow Down
8		Sunset Trip
9		Circles
10		Coda

 

BABOON Face Down in Turpentine 1994

by request

Discogs

 

Tracklist

Master Salvatoris	1:44
Tool	4:05
Step Away	3:53
Good Friend	3:19
Happy Life	2:40
Positive	4:04
Why'd You Say Die?	3:49
Emotionless	3:20
Thumbhead	1:57
Sucker	4:02
Kamikaza	1:55
Naked In The Mall / California Dreaming	4:01
Bright Lights Big Mommy	2:50
E	4:31

VANILLA TRAINWRECK Sounding to Try Like You 1992

by request

Tracklist

Waint
Yellow
Jangarene
43
Jet
Safer Than Zero
Sawed Off Shotgod
Shitstorm
Suspensia
Murderstar
Emission Control
Merry Go Round

VOODOO GEARSHIFT It's About Time 1995

Grunge

 

Thanks to Sludgey

 

 

Discogs

Tracklist

1	Change The Grey	3:06
2	4 A.M.	3:29
3	Stainmaster	1:34
4	Waste Of Time	2:55
5	Juice	3:58
6	Novocaine	3:50
7	Toady	3:32
8	Nothing New	5:12
9	Burnt Out	3:32
10	Brainfart	7:22
11	Tuning Notes	2:47

 

UNSANE / HINT Erase Your Head # 5 1997 split 7 inch

 

Released on French record label Pandemonium Records

Tracklist

A1	– Unsane	Committed
A2	– Unsane	No Soul
B1	– Hint (3)	Trafics Pt. 1
B2	– Hint (3)	Trafics Pt. 2
B3	– Hint (3)	Trafics Pt. 3

VAN GOGH'S DAUGHTER Shove 1995

by request

Discogs

 

Review by Alex Henderson

When Van Gogh's Daughter debuted with Shove, the all-female alternative rock foursome was compared to artists ranging from Veruca Salt and Hole to the Runaways. All of those comparisons are valid, but the bottom line is that VGD was an impressive band in their own right. While this CD is full of angst and grunge-influenced aggression, the songs tend to be melodic. In fact, cuts like "Struggle and Sting," "Bad Ralph," and "Crystal" are as melodic as they are forceful. "Through the Eyes of Julie," which describes a heroin addict's life, boasts such a memorable chorus and melody that it seemingly had the makings of an alternative rock anthem. Shove rocks passionately, but even if it didn't -- even if you took away all the amplification and forced VGD to go acoustic -- the songs' melodies and the heartfelt vocals of Jane Woodman and Paige Weber would still command attention. It's regrettable that VGD didn't deliver several more albums in the 1990s; the band showed a lot of promise on Shove. 

Tracklist

1	Crystal	3:57
2	Through The Eyes Of Julie	2:55
3	Sacred Pole	2:56
4	Down	3:40
5	Slag	3:00
6	Struggle And Sting	4:02
7	U F@#*	4:01
8	Induline	2:54
9	Survival Song	3:53
10	Bad Ralph	2:39
11	World Between Your Knees	4:10

CHAINSAW KITTENS

Pop Heiress

1994

 

self titled

1996

by request

Discogs

Artist Biography by Ned Raggett

Arguably the best American band who never made it when alternative music suddenly became a huge proposition in the early '90s, the Chainsaw Kittens predated and outlasted that time with its own marvelous, energetic blend of glam-damaged energy, theatrical extremity, and punk rock basics. Fronted by Tyson Meade, former lead singer of Defenestration, the Oklahoma-based group came together in early 1989, shortly thereafter signing to the Mammoth label. Initially partnering on guitar with Mark Metzger but working thereafter with band stalwart Trent Bell, Meade and company released a debut, Violent Religion, to relatively little attention. However, the band built up a steady reputation through touring and appearing with a variety of up-and-coming bands, most notably the Smashing Pumpkins. The Kittens' sophomore release, 1992's Butch Vig-produced Flipped Out in Singapore, helped to heighten the group's profile and fan base further, while a follow-up EP in 1993, Angel on the Range, introduced what would finally be a stable rhythm section for the band, bassist Matt Johnson and drummer Eric Harmon. Mammoth's tie-up with Atlantic gave a boost to what should have been the band's breakthrough, 1994's Pop Heiress. The hoped-for smash didn't materialize, but the group kept on, issuing a self-titled album (also known as Oklahoma Speedway) in 1996 on Scratchie. The Kittens then took an extensive break while its members pursued other musical and personal work before returning in 2000 on 4 Alarm with The All-American. 


Pop Heiress

 Tracklist 

1	Sore On The Floor	3:12
2	Loneliest China Place	3:22
3	Pop Heiress Dies	3:47
4	Closet Song	2:37
5	Dive Into The Sea	5:54
6	Burn You Down	2:31
7	Ride Free	4:30
8	Silver Millionaire	2:53
9	Media Star Hymn	3:27
10	Soldier On My Shoulder	4:18
11	Justine Find Heaven	4:27
12	We're Like...	6:01

self titled

 Tracklist 

1	Dorothy's Last Fling
2	Heartcatchthump
3	Tongue Trick
4	King Monkey Smoke
5	Bones In My Teeth
6	Waltz Across Debris
7	Ballad Of Newsman 5
8	Mouthful Of Glass
9	The Leash
10	Bicyclehead
11	All (No Surprise)
12	Sounder
13	Mad Hatter's Blues
14	Speedway Oklahoma