Dig Me Out: 90s & 00s Rock

Latest Episodes:

Monique Powell of Save Ferris | 90s Artist Interview Apr 11, 2024

Show notes

All the way back in season seven, we reviewed Save Ferris’s 1997 release It Means Everything, the first ska album discussed on a deep dive for the podcast. Seven years later, we catch up with Save Ferris lead singer Monique Powell who discusses how she joined the ska-punk band, the highs and lows of signing to a major label, what it was like being on the road with artists like Sugar Ray and The Offspring in the late ‘90s and the current status of the band. During the interview, we briefly discussed the legal fight Powell was engaged in with former members which led to Powell taking ownership of the group and retroactively being given co-songwriting credits for songs that appeared on It Means Everything and 1999’s Modified. To read more about the case, read the 2019 Forbes magazine feature.

Songs in this Episode:

Intro - The World Is New

30:47 - Come On Eileen

Outro - The World Is New

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Supergrass - In It for the Money | 90s Album Review Apr 09, 2024

Show notes

Rock music genres often get reduced to a "Big Four." For Grunge, it was Alice In Chains, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden. For Thrash, Anthrax, Megadeth, Metallica, and Slayer made the grade. In 90s Britpop, Oasis, Blur, Pulp and Suede got the nod. But as if often the case, the bands on the cusp are often as interesting or even more-so thanks to being just outside the spotlight. In the case of Supergrass, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones creep in as influences like their Britpop contemporaries, but the energetic attitude and willingness to embrace the chaos of The Who's rhythm section and the concise songwriting perfection of The Kinks helps their second album, 1997's In It for the Money, exceed not just their debut, but most of the Britpop catalog. Looking at the charts, it's not hard to see why killer singles like "Richard III," "Cheapskate," "Sun Hits The Sky" and "Late in the Day" failed to impact American radio and pop culture consciousness. While Blur had "woo-hoos" and Third Eye Blind had "do do do's," Supergrass ditched guitar solos for theremins and vintage synthesizers, constructing layered pop gems that deserve revisiting.

Songs In This Episode

Intro - In It for the Money

27:40 - Sun Hits the Sky

31:42 - You Can See Me

35:45 - Going Out

40:08 - Tonight

Outro - Richard III

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Pollen - The Glorious Couch Life | 90s Album Review Apr 02, 2024

Show notes

You're forgiven if you tried to search for Pollen on the internet and struggled to find this band. Besides the numerous bands named Pollen, there is also the issue of their debut 1998 album The Glorious Couch Life not appearing on streaming services, rendering it hard to find for the average music listener. That's a shame, because throughout the record, Pollen finds the combination of indie rock energy tinged with a little garage and some danceable rhythms, topped with catchy melodies and smart lyrics. Shades of American bands like Superchunk, Guided By Voices, Beck, Death Cab For Cutie, and Sebadoh peak through, as well as Australian contemporaries like Screamfeeder, Ratcat, Ammonia, and Moler, permeate the sound, from the propulsive "Greater Than" and "Sin as Fast as You Can" to the angular "Walruses to Whales" and quirky "Settle the Score on the Dancefloor."

Songs In This Episode

Intro - Million Destinations

12:25 - Sin as Fast as You Can

16:18 - Brighter Day

21:28 - Settle the Score on the Dancefloor

25:08 - Soma and Nerves of Steel

27:56 - Special Features

Outro - Not Rocket Science

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Hobey Echlin of Majesty Crush | 90s Artist Interview Mar 28, 2024

Show notes

Formed in a city best known for either Motown Soul or Garage Rock, shoegazers Majesty Crush were an anomaly in the early ‘90s Detroit music scene. Inspired by the music coming out of the UK, Majesty Crush’s sound employed swirling guitars, hazy vocals, and captivating dreaminess while incorporating elements of soul and R&B. After their song “No. 1 Fan” received significant airplay during prime hours on the Windsor radio station 89X, Majesty Crush - David Stroughter (vocals), Mike Segal (guitars), Hobey Echlin (bass) and Odell Nails (drums) - signed with Dali Records, a subsidiary of Warner/Elektra and released their debut full-length, Love 15, in 1993. However, just a month after the album came out, Dali Records folded bringing Majesty Crush’s momentum to a halt and, ultimately, to an end just a few years later. Though their time was short, the band amassed a small but loyal following in the shoegaze scene of the early ‘90s and have been cited as an influence for everything from indie guitar groups to metal bands. And curators of this style of music have sought out Majesty Crush’s music to include on compilations like Third Man Records’ Southeast of Saturn which features 19 tracks from Detroit shoegaze and dream pop artists. In March 2024, Numero Group released Butterflies Don’t Go Away, a 2 LP set featuring the Love 15 album as well as singles, EPs, and rarities, all remastered from the original tapes. The package is completed by a 24-page booklet. Majesty Crush bassist Hobey Echlin joins us on this episode for a deep dive into not only his band’s career but the ‘90s independent music world. As a music journalist, Echlin has amassed a number of stories over the years and this conversation - at times - goes to places you’d never expect.

Songs in this Episode:

Intro - No. 1 Fan

29:33 - "Club Connect" TV show intro

33:46 - Worri

1:25:17 - Space Between Your Moles

1:30:47 - Where the F**k is Kevin Shields? (by PS I Love You)

Outro - Uma

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Dredg - Leitmotif | 90s Album Review Mar 26, 2024

Show notes

Leitmotif, released in 1999 by Los Gatos, California quartet Dredg, is a concept album exploring themes of identity and time. The album blends elements of alternative rock, progressive rock, nu-metal, and post-hardcore, showcasing the band's skillful versatility, drawing comparison to fellow California bands Tool and Deftones. With its intricate instrumentations and dynamic shifts, Leitmotif takes listeners on an emotive musical journey through its narrative arc. Where the band runs into trouble is in the indulgences, stretching out noisy outros or delayed intros far too long, and ending on an unnecessary jam below their skill set. What looks like an album quickly shrinks to something more like a long EP, missing a few tracks that focused on their talents instead of their experimentation.

Songs In This Episode

Intro - Movement I: @45N. 180W

13:15 - Lechium

16:57 - Movement IV: RR

23:40 - Penguins in the Desert

32:13 - Traversing Through the Arctic Cold, We Search for the Spirit of Yuta

Outro - Yatahaze

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The Lemonheads - It's A Shame About Ray | 90s Album Review Mar 19, 2024

Show notes

Released during the decline of 80s hair metal and rise of 90s Seattle grunge and alternative, the 1992 album It's A Shame About Ray by The Lemonheads is rarely mentioned as being in the pantheon of 90s album, but maybe it should. Sporting tight and smart songwriting arrangements with track after track of catchy hooks, lead singer and guitarist Evan Dando, bassist and backup singer Juliana Hatfield, and drummer David Ryan make the most of their sub-thirty minute album, packing short songs with simple but well-thought-out changes and dynamics on par with contemporaries like Sugar, Buffalo Tom, and Dinosaur Jr.

Songs In This Episode

Intro - It's A Shame About Ray

21:39 - Hannah & Gabi

27:41 - My Drug Buddy

33:05 - Alison's Starting to Happen

40:30 - Bit Part

Outro - Confetti

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Keith and Glenn Kochanowicz of Riverside | 90s Artist Interview Mar 14, 2024

Show notes

With the music landscape dominated by the grunge movement coming out of Seattle, it’s little wonder that Pennsylvania’s Riverside, a band influenced by the likes of The Smiths and Echo and the Bunnymen, didn’t stand a chance. Featuring Keith Kochanowicz (vocals, guitar, organ) and his brother Glenn Kochanowicz (bass, vocals), Kenneth Jackson (guitars), and Geoff Verne (drums), the band’s debut - and ultimately lone - album for Sire Records, One, was released in 1992. While featuring a number of alt-rock-radio friendly songs (“Waterfall,” “Cinnamon Eyes,”), Riverside couldn’t catch a break and were dropped by the label despite finishing a sophomore album, Taste. More than 30 years after One’s release, the Kochanowicz brothers hooked up with the Lost in Ohio record label and a Kickstarter campaign was launched to fund the first-ever pressing of the album on vinyl. Despite never achieving massive success in the ‘90s, the campaign was fully funded within weeks of the announcement and the vinyl will be available later this summer. In this conversation, the Kochanowicz brothers discuss the formation of the band, how fellow Pennsylvania band The Ocean Blue served as mentors, the realities of having a major label record deal in the ‘90s, and what happened after Sire dropped Riverside.

Songs in this Episode:

Intro - Waterfall

7:15 - General Nature

57:00 - Waterfall

1:04:48 - Marvel (from Taste)

Outro - Cinnamon Eyes

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Sinéad O'Connor - Universal Mother | 90s Album Review Mar 12, 2024

Show notes

By 1994, Sinéad O'Connor had established herself as a musical powerhouse willing to take risks behind the microphone and under the hot spotlight of the media. Following up her third album, the 1992 release Am I Not Your Girl?, consisting mostly of jazz standards, O'Connor returned with an album of diverse musical styles, blending elements of folk, rock, and traditional Irish sounds. The mix of acoustic and electric instrumentation, from the trip-hop flavored singles "Fire On Babylon" and "Thank You For Hearing Me," bookend a much more subdued and intimate affair, including a cappella tracks and a hushed cover of "All Apologies" by Nirvana. While some of the 90s electronic production ends up sounding dating, overall the album reflects a generational talent pushing the limits of mainstream music.

Songs In This Episode

Intro - My Darling Child

20:36 - John I Love You

23:41 - Fire on Babylon

34:44 - All Babies

40:59 - Famine

1:00:26 - Thank You For Hearing Me

Outro - Red Football

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It Came From Slimey Valley compilation | 80s Album Review Mar 05, 2024

Show notes

Compilation albums have helped define a musical scene or time period for decades, and the roots of 90s alternative rock are unmistakably tied to the underground music of the 1980s. While punk exploded into the mainstream 1994 thanks to million selling albums by Green Day and The Offspring, the seeds were planted in the small scenes across the country more than a decade earlier, many of which were never documented. Luckily, those that got laid down on vinyl or tape often have unknown gems waiting to be discovered. In the case of the 1984 compilation, It Came From Slimey Valley, which documents the Oxnard, California "nardcore" scene, the hardcore sound isn't as predictable as one might expect, with bands occasionally slowing the tempo, incorporating more dynamics, or turning up the fuzz.

Songs In This Episode

Intro - Prophesy by False Confession

16:24 - Death of Two Lovers by Flower Leperds

20:08 - Violent Children by Reign of Terror

22:43 - In the Trenches by Rigor Mortis

34:37 - Old Towne Mall by The Grim

39:09 - Boy's Life by Dr. Know

Outro - There's Someone in the Cellar by Crankshaft

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The Hookers - Black Visions of Crimson Wisdom | 90s Album Review Feb 27, 2024

Show notes

The 1999 album Black Visions of Crimson Wisdom by The Hookers is a loud, pummeling rock record that draws influence from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal as well as '80s hardcore and punk. Guitar riffs that would sound at home on Iron Maiden or Judas Priest albums rip while a thundering rhythm section propels the band with hardcore energy, keeping the songs short and tight and the album under thirty minutes. That turns out to be the right move, as the pummeling sound of the band never lets up, and lead singer Adam Neal has one gear - full-throat-shredding-throttle.

Songs In This Episode

Intro - Maximum Overdrive

19:03 - Behold God's Candy

23:38 - Black Magic Stallion

27:10 - The End Is Comin'

47:09 - Ride The Dragon To The Crimson Light

Outro - Ball Crusher Love Machine

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