Dig Me Out: 90s & 00s Rock

Latest Episodes:

#471: Hormone Hotel by Bandit Queen Jan 21, 2020

Show notes

One and done bands are always an interesting listen, whether they were full-formed bands, one-off side-projects or solo albums, or something else entirely. In the case of Bandit Queen, they formed out of the ashes of Swirl, retaining three of the four members and an indie rock sound. Gone were the jammy rhythms and chorus'd guitars for a more straightforward approach, reminiscent of American female-led alternative acts like Throwing Muses and The Breeders. While the harmony vocals and honest production kept us interested throughout, a few more soaring vocal hooks would have made Hormone Hotel a can't miss record.

Songs In This Episode:

Intro - Back In The Belljar

14:00 - Big Sugar Emotional Thing

18:54 - Blue Black

20:57 - Scorch

Outro - Give It To The Dog

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Listen to the episode archive at DigMeOutPodcast.com.

#470: Apollo 18 by They Might Be Giants Jan 14, 2020

Show notes

There are plenty of anomalies in what did and didn't become popular in the rise of alternative music during the 1990s. Take for instance They Might Be Giants, who's breakthrough 1990 album Flood with almost thirty tracks of weird and quirky songs that combine humor and musical knowledge into a wholly unique recording. So what then to follow it up? The band decided to produce themselves, and rock out a bit more on the 1992 follow-up Apollo 18. While the experimentation with a slightly more traditional pop-rock sound on songs like The Statue Got Me High and Dig My Grave made the band a bit more palatable to our ears, the stripped-down reliance on simplistic looped drums held back what expanded in year with a full band backing them.

Two notes: Tim was battling a cold, hence the nasal congestion you can clearly hear in his voice. Also, this was recorded prior to the death of Rush drummer/lyricist Neil Peart, which is why there was no mention of it when Rush was briefly brought up during the episodes. #RIPTheProfessor

Songs In This Episode:

Intro - I Palindrome I

11:48 - The Statue Got Me High

16:15 - My Evil Twin

24:17 - Mammals

38:47 - Spider

Outro - Dig My Grave

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Listen to the episode archive at DigMeOutPodcast.com.

#469: Post Orgasmic Chill by Skunk Anansie Jan 07, 2020

Show notes

By 1999, the musical landscape had seen the rise and fall of a variety of genres touted as the next big thing. The electronic sounds of The Chemical Brothers and The Prodigy offered varying takes on electronica, which bands would incorporate elements of over the years that followed. In the case of Skunk Anansie and their 1999 album Post Orgasmic Chill, it means adding layers to an already layered sound. Guitars are buzzsaw aggressive on one track, followed by a pop ballad approach on the next. Feedback is replaced by orchestrated strings. Booming drums by breakbeats. And making it all work is the dynamic Skin, who vocally covers all the ground with thought-provoking lyrics and near-unparalleled range.

Songs In This Episode:

Intro - Charlie Big Potato

17:00 - The Skank Heads

21:32 - Good Things Don't Always Come To You

Outro - We Don't Need Who You Think You Are

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Listen to the episode archive at DigMeOutPodcast.com.

#468: Season Nine - Year In Review Dec 31, 2019

Show notes

Our look back at Season Nine of the podcast really highlighted how much growth we've experienced and how much more we have ahead of us. We turned over the selection of our roundtable episodes to our Steering Committee and Board of Director level Patreon patrons, and the results did not disappoint. Our poll selected episodes were as interesting and diverse as ever, and our patrons selected reviews also provided us with a chance to revisit some familiar names (Nirvana, The Verve Pipe, etc.) as well as expand the sounds and genres to include rock en español, symphonic metal, avant-garde noise pop, and much more.

Songs In This Episode:

Intro/Outro - Dig Me Out by Sleater-Kinney

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Listen to the episode archive at DigMeOutPodcast.com.

#467: New Album Reviews for 2019 Roundtable Dec 24, 2019

Show notes

For our final roundtable of 2019, we invited several of our Patreon patrons to discuss the new albums released this year from artists connected to the 1990s. Turns out, 2019 had dozens of albums that qualified, over a hundred in reality. We talked about new releases from bands like UK shoegazers Swervedriver and Ride, the long-awaited return of Tool, a stellar new release from The Sheila Divine, plus names you know like Bob Mould, Fastball, UNKLE, Beck, Sleater-Kinney, etc., as well as lesser-known releases like Giants Chair and New Rising Sons.

Songs In This Episode:

Intro - Saw Lighting by Beck from Hyperspace

10:07 - White Collar by Fastball from The Help Machine

18:42 - Russian Racehorse by Giants Chair from Prefabylon

31:34 - Future Love by Ride from This Is Not A Safe Place

40:25 - Age Is Just A Number by The Sheila Divine from Beginning Of The End Is Where We'll Start Again

1:06:07 - Can I Go On by Sleater-Kinney from The Center Won't Hold

1:15:07 - Miracle Pill by Goo Goo Dolls from Miracle Pill

Outro - Africa by Weezer from Weezer (Teal Album)

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Listen to the episode archive at DigMeOutPodcast.com.

#466: Animal Bag by Animal Bag Dec 17, 2019

Show notes

Bands like Animal Bag were dime a dozen in the early 1990s. Getting signed, putting out a record, the musical landscape shifts, and suddenly your sound is outdated and the record label is in flux. Their 1992 self-titled debut has reverb-filled production that pins it to the start of the decade, and taking cues from fellow Californians like Faith No More, Jane's Addiction, and Red Hot Chili Peppers. But their funk and weirdness only shows up in short bursts, as this band could easily be lumped in with the jeans and t-shirt alternative metal and grunge bands like Raging Slab, Mind Funk, and label mates Mother Love Bone. Though they lack Andy Wood's penchant for an epic ballad, there is no doubt Animal Bag had their sights set on Seattle rather than the Sunset Strip. Does it all come together in a timeless way? Depends on the listener.

Songs In This Episode:

Intro - Another Hat

21:24 - Personal Demons

35:55 - Mirrored Shades

42:11 - Everybody

Outro - Moonsong

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Listen to the episode archive at DigMeOutPodcast.com.

#465: Sleep's Holy Mountain by Sleep Dec 10, 2019

Show notes

Where is the line between rock and metal? What about stoner or desert? And what is doom besides a video game and bad movie? All questions worthy of discussion as we revisit the 1992 album Sleep's Holy Mountain by Sleep. Baked into the sound of Sleep is the ever-present influence of 70s Black Sabbath, but with an occasional pummeling dirge closer to The Melvins, while trafficking in the same sun-soaked low-end riffage of Kyuss. It's dark, heavy, psychedelic, drone-filled head-nodding rock that works best when the rhythm section gets to swing.

Songs In This Episode:

Intro - The Druid

17:00 - Evil Gypsy/Solomon's Theme

25:20 - Holy Mountain

30:31 - Inside The Sun

Outro - Dragonaut

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Listen to the episode archive at DigMeOutPodcast.com.

#464: San Diego In The 90s Dec 03, 2019

Show notes

San Diego may be known for beaches and year-round mild weather, but the second-largest city in California is also home to a vibrant if isolated music scene dating back to the 1960s with Gary Puckett & The Union Gap and Iron Butterfly. As per our "Digging Your Scene" episodes, we're interested in sounds of the 1990s - where those bands played, bought and sold records, recorded their music, read and listened to other bands, and all the other interesting and unique elements that help define a scene. What we discovered is a deep and vast collection of guitar rock heading off in multiple directions - from punk to post-punk, hard rock to nu-metal, industrial to experimental. To help us discover it all, we're joined by members of No Knife, Jejune and aMiniature to talk bands, venues, record stores, labels and more.

Songs In This Episode

Intro Medley (Academy Flight Song by No Knife / Peddler's Talk by aMiniature / Hileah by JeJune

28:16 - Does Not Compute by Drive Like Jehu

53:33 - Flexiclocks by The And/Ors

Outro - Deadbolt - Voodoobilly Man

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Listen to the episode archive at DigMeOutPodcast.com.

#463: This Is Greta! by Greta Nov 26, 2019

Show notes

Greta was and is definitely not a household name when discussions of 90s bands come up. But like so many, major labels still found them and on occasion put out stellar releases that have gone forgotten, which is sort of the entire point of this podcast. Their second and final album, 1995's This Is Greta! may not fall into the stellar and must-have category, but it's got a lot going for it. Tight alt-rock songs with tinges of Beatle and Cheap Trick pop on a few tunes, hard-driving rockers with big guitars, all backed by a solid rhythm section has more than it's share of standout performances. They keep the songs tight, but perhaps a little too reliant on the well-worn verse/chorus/verse formula, that keeps everything familiar but also stale after a listen or two.

Songs In This Episode:

Intro - About You

9:08 - Some People

11:35 - Charade

18:03 - Rocking Chair

23:47 - Nothing At All

Outro - Stained

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Listen to the episode archive at DigMeOutPodcast.com.

#462: Split by Lush Nov 19, 2019

Show notes

By 1994, shoegaze was no longer the hip, underground music scene the UK press was enamored with just a few years prior. The Britpop of Blur, Oasis, Elastica, and Pulp had taken over, My Bloody Valentine had collapsed, and blissing out on feedback and layers of guitar was no longer novel. Smartly, the singing/songwriting/guitar-slinging tandem of Miki Berenyi and Emma Anderson of Lush evolved, and on 1994's Split, the band toe the line between the underground dream pop and shoegaze sounds that got them started, while mixing in some less noisy and more melodic tunes. It sounds both remarkably stamped to 1994 in its tones and production, but with the resurgence of dream pop and shoegaze in the 2010s, that doesn't mean it out of place.

Songs In This Episode:

Intro - Blackout

14:19 - Hypocrite

18:31 - Never-Never

23:49 - Undertow

Outro - Light From A Dead Star

Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon.

Listen to the episode archive at DigMeOutPodcast.com.