Dig Me Out: 90s & 00s Rock

Latest Episodes:

Blur - Blur | 90s Album Review Oct 03, 2023

Show notes

Having blazed a trail with some of the most successful Britpop albums of the 1990s, Blur was heading for implosion following their tabloid battle with Oasis in 1995 and inter-band turmoil. To reorient themselves, they turned to the country that used to be a target of scorn - America. Specifically, American indie rock like Pavement. You can hear the influence throughout the album as the band takes the noise, the jagged guitar lines, the lo-fi aesthetics, and put their unique spin on it. That unique spin, of course, would end up creating one of the most memorable songs of the 90s, "Song 2," that still gets played in stadiums at sporting events around the world, and is a staple on 90s classic radio. But "Song 2" is just the tip of a very weird, very singular sound that would find the band taking chances that mostly paid off.

Songs In This Episode

Intro - Song 2

18:57 - Strange News From Another Star

24:40 - On Your Own

29:56 - Death of a Party

37:56 - I'm Just A Killer For Your Love

Outro - Beetlebum

Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon.

Listen to the episode archive at DigMeOutPodcast.com.

Tracy Bonham - The Burdens of Being Upright | 90s Album Review Sep 26, 2023

Show notes

Major label debuts for any artist can be a double-edged sword. Recording a group of songs you've had years to craft means they've spent plenty of time in the woodshed, but the pressure to produce a hit, especially in the back half of the 90s, means sometimes the obvious singles get the most attention in the studio and post-production. That is the semi-issue with Tracy Bonham's 1996 freshman release The Burdens of Being Upright. Chock full of interesting, catchy tunes like the hit single "Mother Mother," the bouncy "The One," the punky "Bulldog," and others helps the record fly by in entertaining fashion. As high as the highs are, there are no low lows, just some disappointing valleys that sound like the first draft of what could have been much more.

Songs In This Episode

Intro - Navy Bean

16:28 - Mother Mother

22:45 - Tell It To The Sky

32:29 - Sharks Can't Sleep

Outro - The One

Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon.

Listen to the episode archive at DigMeOutPodcast.com.

Flu Thirteen - In the Foul Key of V | 90s Album Review Sep 19, 2023

Show notes

Before changing their name to Diffuser and scoring a couple of hits in the early 00s, the long island quartet Flu Thirteen banged out jagged post-hardcore riffs and rhythms on par with bands of the time. Getting producer J. Robbins, whose work in the 90s on albums by Braid, Texas Is The Reason, The Promise Ring, and many more helped define the late 90s indie rock sound, was a perfect match to help refine and define the band's sound. On their 1998 album In The Foul Key of V, the band unleashes a steady stream of dynamic arrangements, shifting between blazing dissonance and subdued restraint that occasionally recalls the valleys of Sunny Day Real Estate.

Songs In This Episode

Intro - Romeo-Core

12:30 - Stale

17:41 - The Ghost of the Organ Player at the Hockey Coliseum

20:45 - Accessing the Know-How

26:10 -Jerome Does a Dance in Hi-Fidelity

Outro - My Beijing Hot Rod

Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon.

Listen to the episode archive at DigMeOutPodcast.com.

Bad Religion - Stranger Than Fiction | 90s Album Review Sep 12, 2023

Show notes

"Sell-out" was a phrase tossed around in the 1990s whenever an indie or small-label band jumped to a major record label. Among the most surprising were Bad Religion because their guitarist Brett Gurewitz owned the label they had released their first seven albums on Epitaph Records. While sell-outs were accused of trading integrity for money, Bad Religion's eighth album "Stranger Than Fiction" makes the case that not only was the jump a good move, but helped kick-start the pop-punk takeover of 1994 along with Green Day and The Offspring, who released million-selling albums the same year in "Dookie" and "Smash," respectively. Thanks to a re-recording of "21st Century (Digital Boy)," a song the band was unhappy with the previous studio version, they had a proper radio and MTV single to expose the suburban masses around the United States to a headier lyrical approach backed by sugar-sweet harmonies.

Songs In This Episode

Intro - Incomplete

25:23 - 21st Century (Digital Boy)

30:46 - Stranger Than Fiction

38:39 - Infected

Outro - The Handshake

Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon.

Listen to the episode archive at DigMeOutPodcast.com.

Downset by Downset | 90s Album Review Sep 05, 2023

Show notes

Incorrectly tagged as Rage Against The Machine followers (they actually existed before Rage), downset. offer a glimpse into the Los Angeles hardcore and metal scene as it transitioned from the 80s to the 90s. Like Rage, downset. combined big guitar riffs with social and political commentary on their self-titled 1994 debut, but traded the guitar histrionics of Tom Morello for a more streamlined approach. The result is a prime example of the unique 90s rock subgenre of rap rock, which would later evolve into nu-metal with the emergence of bands like Korn and Limp Bizkit, who brought the volume without the content.

Songs In This Episode

Intro - Downset

18:54 - Ritual

22:18 - Anger

30:22 - My American Prayer

Outro - About To Blast

Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon.

Listen to the episode archive at DigMeOutPodcast.com.

Milk - Tantrum | 90s Album Review Aug 29, 2023

Show notes

We don't think of many bands coming out of the UK in the early nineties that could fit nicely on a bill with The Jesus Lizard or Mudhoney, but the 1991 album Tantrum by UK band Milk makes the case that noise rock wasn't just an American phenomenon coming out of hardcore. Frenetic rhythms and dissonant guitars shine on the record, covering for a solid but unremarkable vocal performance. The band is at its best when the volume and intensity quickly shift into quasi-blues riffs and thrash metal shredding via Neil Young.

Songs In This Episode

Intro - Is That It?

13:08 - Claws

19:46 - Hot Seat

28:36 - Book One, Page One

Outro - Billy and Bobby

Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon.

Listen to the episode archive at DigMeOutPodcast.com.

Idaho - Three Sheets To The Wind | 90s Album Review Aug 22, 2023

Show notes

The slowcore sound can be simplified down to tempo and a minimalist approach, but like every genre or subgenre of rock music, there are always those pushing the boundaries and reinventing. On the 1996 album Three Sheets To The Wind by Idaho, the boundary pushing comes as a pair of straight-up rock songs that wouldn't sound out place on a Dinosaur Jr. or Heatmiser album. From there, the band adds jazzy and soulful elements - brushed drums here, an electric piano there - paired with Jeff Martin's evocative vocal that falls somewhere between the folky sadcore of American Music Club's Mark Eitzel and the more experimental post-rock of Low's Alan Sparhawk.

Songs In This Episode

Intro - If You Dare

18:18 - A Sound Awake

23:03 - Shame

30:08 - Alive Again

34:00 - Pomegranate Bleeding

Outro - Catapult

Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon.

Listen to the episode archive at DigMeOutPodcast.com.

T-Ride - T-Ride | 90s Album Review Aug 15, 2023

Show notes

Ever wonder what it would sound like if Terry Lewis and Jimmy Jam, famous for producing the likes of Janet Jackson and Boyz II Men, got behind the board of a three-piece rock band? And what if that band drew influence from bands like Queen, Van Halen, and Faith No More? You might end up with the 1992 self-titled (and lone) album from T-Ride, a record that sounds simultaneously of the time and completely out of place during the grunge explosion. Though tagged as "heavy metal," even a cursory listen informs the listener that there is much more going on, from the deranged power-pop of "Luxury Cruiser" to the industrial dance of "Hit Squad." At just thirty-four minutes long, the band finds a sweet spot of not overstaying their welcome but loading up each song with sonic gold nuggets that demand multiple listens.

Songs In This Episode

Intro - Luxury Cruiser

15:28 - Hit Squad

25:09 - I Hunger

31:40 - Fire It Up

Outro - Zombies From Hell

Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon.

Listen to the episode archive at DigMeOutPodcast.com.

Pale Saints - Slow Buildings | 90s Album Review Aug 07, 2023

Show notes

An established band changing lead singers is always a tricky proposition. With the departure of founding member, singer, and bassist Ian Masters following their second album In Ribbons due to a lack of interest in touring, Pale Saints could have called it quits. Instead, guitarist and backing vocalist Meriel Barham stepped into the fire, having briefly filled the same spot in Lush well before the band established themselves. The result draws obvious comparisons to Barham's former band, but Pale Saints have a few more tricks of their sleeves on their third album Slow Buildings. Whether it is long, slow burn tracks like "Henry" or "Suggestion," or three-minute rockers like "Under Your Nose" or "Angel (Will You Be My)," the band gels around the ethereal voice of Barham.

Songs In This Episode

Intro - Angel (Will You Be My)

18:59 - Under Your Nose

27:53 - King Fade

33:19 - Little Friend

Outro - Henry

Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon.

Listen to the episode archive at DigMeOutPodcast.com.

Recoil - Unsound Methods | 90s Album Review Aug 01, 2023

Show notes

After splitting from Depeche Mode in 1995, Alan Wilder focused his full attention on Recoil, his side-project going back to the mid-1980s. In 1997, the same year DM released "Ultra," Wilder released the fourth Recoil studio album, "Unsound Methods." Free to explore the electronic soundscape, Wilder enlisted several vocalists to tackle the electronic/trip-hop material, including Douglas McCarthy from Nitzer Ebb and NYC spoken word artist Maggie Estep. The result is both of the time and ahead of its time, fitting in nicely with the mid-90s trip-hop sounds of Massive Attack, Sneaker Pimps, and Portishead, while also foreshadowing the more experimental and cinematic sounds of James Lavelle's Unkle.

Songs In This Episode

Intro - Stalker

16:19 - Incubus

29:11 - Control Freak

36:14 - Drifting

Outro - Missing Piece

Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon.

Listen to the episode archive at DigMeOutPodcast.com.