SLOBBERBONE

Crow Pot Pie

1994

Barrel Chested

1997

by request

Artist Biography by Jason Ankeny

Alternative country-rock unit Slobberbone comprised singer/guitarist Brent Best, lead guitarist Jess Barr, bassist Brian Lane, and drummer Tony Harper. Formed in Denton, TX, in early 1992, the group originally approached their music with the same seriousness with which they chose their name (a reference to a dog's chew toy, incidentally), gigging in the pursuit of free beer and little else; their first live show, in fact, was even held at an area liquor store. However, in 1995 Slobberbone self-released an LP titled Crow Pot Pie that caught the attention of Doolittle Records founder Jeff Cole, who quickly signed the band; in 1997 they issued their sophomore effort, Barrel Chested. Everything You Thought Was Right Was Wrong Today followed on the New West imprint three years later. After hooking up with producer Don Smith, the band recorded Slippage in the spring of 2002 for a summer release. The band played its final show in Denton in 2004, and Best, Barr, and Harper went on to form a group called the Drams.

PIST.ON Number One 1996

by request

Artist Biography by Eduardo Rivadavia

Built around the core of guitarist, singer, and songwriter Henry Font and bassist/background vocalist Val Ium, New York's Pist-On mixes extremely heavy, mid-paced guitar riffs with occasional vocal harmonies. Lead guitarist Paul Poulos and drummer Danny Jam Kavadlo both left soon after the release of the band's 1996 debut, Number One, which went largely unnoticed in America but garnered great reviews from the British press. Pist-On returned three years later with 1999's Sell Out, featuring new guitarist Burton Gans and drummer Jeff McManus.

 

KICKING GIANT Halo 1993

by request

Artist Biography by Jason Ankeny

The indie-rock duo Kicking Giant comprised singer/guitarist Tae Won Yu and drummer Rachel Carns, who first teamed while both were attending art school in New York City in 1989. That same year they issued their first cassette-only release, January; three more tapes -- Boyfriend Girlfriend, Secret Teenage Summer and Present -- appeared on an annual basis before Kicking Giant
relocated to Olympia, WA in 1992. There they compiled 1993's Halo, a collection of material from the earlier cassettes; the duo then signed to K Records and released a single, "She's Real," as part of the label's International Pop Underground series. The full-length Alien iD followed in 1994.

SLUGHOG Grit! 1995

Tracklist

1		Fossil	2:37
2		Hangman	3:31
3		Mannix	2:32
4		Brainbucket	1:57
5		Hanker	4:47
6		Yous	4:58
7		Berzurkel	2:34
8		Organ Grinder	2:34
9		Horseshoe	3:25
10		Bread	2:28
11		Forcefeed	5:12

SLUGHOG self titled 7 inch 1991

Tracklist

A1		Swine
A2		Gut
B		100 Gloves

I HATE THE 90S Volume 8

And as always, like in the 90's, this mix fits on a CD.

1. BEATNIK FILMSTARS Bigot Sponger Haircut Policy
2. THE FLUID Our Love Will Still Be There
3. PJ HARVEY Sheela-na-gig
4. IDAHO One Sunday
5. POND Grinned
6. CLEM SNIDE Uglier Than  You
7. ROBYN HITCHCOCK Madonna of the Wasps
8. THE TELESCOPES And Let Me Drift Away
9. MIKE WATT Chinese Firedrill
10. SVELT Not My Type
11. THE WRENS Pretty O.K.
12. SHRIMP BOAT Back to the Ukraine
13. GUIDED BY VOICES No Sky
14. DRUNKEN BOAT Tragic Hands
15. FONDA One of a Kind
16. TEXAS Dream Hotel
17. LLOYD COLE AND THE COMMOTIONS She's a Girl and I'm a Man
18. THE DEVLINS I Knew That
19. SUPER DELUXE Your Pleasure's Mine
20. MELTING HOPEFULS Coming
21. OUTHOUSE Genius Boy
22. AUGUST SONS Weeds
23. THE BLACK VELVET BAND As You Go Down
24. GASTR DEL SOL Black Horse
25. COWBOY JUNKIES Lay It Down

SMALL FACTORY I Do Not Love You 1993

by request

 

Artist Biography by Jason Ankeny

While never the most popular, most acclaimed, or most innovative act on the underground pop scene, in their own way, Small Factory crystallized and articulated the effervescent brilliance of American indie rock like no other band of their era. With their artfully tuneless vocals, primitive but indelible melodies, and singular combination of innocence and abandon, the group captured the sound and spirit of their moment to perfection. Small Factory formed in Providence, RI, in 1991, teaming singer/bassist Alex Kemp, singer/guitarist Dave Auchenbach, and singer/drummer Phoebe Summersquash. After earning a strong local following, the group made an enormous splash at the now-legendary Lotsa-Pop-Losers festival in Washington, D.C., soon after making their recorded debut, "The Giant Merry-Go-Round," alongside Honeybunch and the Scottish Bachelor Pad on a flexi-disc included with the fanzine The Milky Way. After closing out 1991 with their first proper single, the Collision Time label release "Suggestions," the following spring Small Factory moved to Slumberland to issue the follow-up, "What to Want." A series of British dates in support of Heavenly resulted in a more extended American tour opening for Fudge and the Dambuilders. New material, the Pop Narcotic single "So What About Love," wasn't released until the summer of 1993, trailed soon after by the epic "If You Hurt Me," the indisputable highlight of the Simple Machines label's Working Holiday singles series. Another label move, this time to Spin Art, preceded the fall release of Small Factory's debut LP, I Do Not Love You; for the follow-up, 1994's sublime For If You Cannot Fly, the trio jumped to Virgin subsidiary Vernon Yard. Small Factory disbanded in the fall of 1995, with Kemp and Summersquash reuniting in the inferior Godrays and Auchenbach resurfacing in Flora Street; the singles compilation The Industrial Evolution was issued by Pop Narcotic in 1996. 

 

SLUGHOG Ungodly Amounts of Meat 1998

by request

 

Tracklist

1		Answer: The Best Kind
2		Mars, The Angery Red Planet
3		Devil's Advocate Rebuttal
4		Lake
5		A Man Called Ass
6		Electric Mistress
7		Left
8		Freshmaker
9		Triple Clutcher
10		Monkey Fly Plane
11		Speak Of The Devil
12		Lillest White Lie

 

 

MOUSETRAP

Cerebral Revolver

1993

Lover

1994

The Dead Air Sound System

1995

 

by request

 

 

Mousetrap was formed in May 1988 in Omaha, Nebraska by Guitarist Patrick Buchanan, Bassist Craig Crawford and Drummer Scott Miller. All three were graduates of Ralston High school in southwest Omaha. Mousetrap’s early work from 1988 to 1989 was somewhat jazzy and poppy, but was not very mature. The band recorded some material from this period but almost no copies survive. In 1989, Mousetrap disbanded to pursue other projects. In late 1990, Mousetrap reformed following an impromptu performance at the Antiquarium record store. With the help of record store owner David Sink, Mousetrap released their first single, Superkool B/W Fubar, and their second, Wired/ Train on Dave’s One Hour Records label. The later single led to a deal with Grass Records under the Dutch East India imprint. The later version of the band had a much more aggressive sound, reinforced by Buchanan’s wall of guitar sound, his brutal lyrics and Crawford and Miller’s driving rhythm. In 1993 Mousetrap released their first full length album, Cerebral Revolver, and in 1994 their second, Lover. The band toured extensively behind both albums, and was noted for their intense live show. Drummer Scott Miller left the band after their 1994 summer tour. Duncan Black replaced Scott and appeared ..trap’s last album for Grass, 1995’s The Dead Air Sound System. In 1995, the band decided to relocate to Chicago, IL, this time with drummer Michael Hogan. Mousetrap recorded an unreleased (officially) EP, and continued to tour until disbanding in mid 1998.
Live Review: Mousetrap Reunion – Dec. 24, 2009
"Finally, Mousetrap.
Last night's set at The Waiting Room might be the most cohesive set that they've ever played. Certainly it was their longest. What's the old saying -- you always sound best at the CD release shows, the farewell show and the reunion show.
For me, the most amazing part: Some of their music is nearly 20 years old but it's as good, or better than, what we're getting now from bands out there that are just getting started. It held up well. And at times during the set, it was like hearing some of those songs again for the first time.
There was always something subversive or obscene about Mousetrap. They were indeed an underground band in their short-lived heyday. You needed to know someone who knew them to know them, or you had to shop at The Antiquarium. You weren't going to find them on your own, that's for sure. And once you did find them, it was going to take awhile to figure out what they were about.
A band could be subversive back then; it could be "underground." That's simply not possible anymore, especially if you're any good. And Mousetrap was good. Dave Sink knew it, Grass Records knew it, John Peel knew it, a lot of kids that would become central to the Omaha music scene and Saddle Creek Records knew it. In the end, it didn't matter. Their music was too "out there," too abrasive, too disturbing for a larger audience to appreciate.
Time has blunted the illicit nature of Mousetrap. In an era where nothing is shocking, their music also no longer has the ability to shock. And that changes everything. Instead of disturbing, Mousetrap's music merely sounds like loud, fast, hard, distorted, and perfectly stylized post-punk, which I've always thought they were trying to be anyway. They just wanted to be a rock band, and now they are. What was once unrecognizable is now pop. Which is an overblown way of saying their music may be more relevant now than it ever was back in the '90s. Especially considering the lack of good, heavy music these days.
The setting couldn't be more perfect. The Wagon Blasters -- ex-Frontier Trust, another band from the era -- opened. They were followed by Beep Beep, a band clearly influenced by Mousetrap. And then another band who -- along with Frontier Trust -- often shared the bill with Mousetrap in the '90s: the reunited Mercy Rule, bigger and badder than ever. I caught the full Mercy Rule set and it was as if they never stopped playing all those years ago. They rolled out a couple new songs, one of which is probably harder and faster than anything they've ever done before (and which I can't wait to hear recorded).
It all led up to Mousetrap. Yeah, Buchanan and Crawford looked older than the last time they took the stage together, but no worse for wear (see live photo). In fact, Buchanan looked the part of the rock star -- Big City Hair, as one guy put it. He had the look and the style. But most of all, still he had the chops -- his voice, his guitar, sounded pristine. And then there was Crawford's amazing bass playing -- an aerobic workout -- and his voice also never sounded better. Time has been kind to these guys. New drummer Mike Mazzola did what he needed to do to hold it all together.
Together, the band sounded more rock than punk, or at least more rock than I remembered them sounding. The highlights were my favorites from the past -- "Superkool," "Mariko," "I Know Where You Live," "Wired." There were a couple missing from the bunch, chief among them "Have Fun in Hell" and the El Fino Imperials classic "Step Off." But hey, you can't have everything.
The set list from last night (via the set list found on stage):
Signal To Noise
Mariko
Flamer
Ribbed
I Know Where You Live
The Coathanger Kid
People Who Disappear
Wired
Sweet Dreams Baby
Superkool
(Encore)
The Last Dance
Give it
The only thing that sounded different other than the drums was the way the band seemed to stretch out the endings of a couple songs -- to their betterment. Overall, Mousetrap sounded, well, groovier, less static, certainly less angry. Looking at them smiling on stage, it's hard to remember Buchanan's terse, pained scowl and volcanic spitting from the old days. They were having a good time. I think they may have been surprised by the size of the crowd, commenting that it was the biggest show they every played. It wouldn't have been a Mousetrap show without some sort of technical difficulty -- a broken string, a blown amp. So in keeping with their history, Crawford's bass cut out at the end of "Superkool." He fiddled with plugs and switches and finally got it going again before the song ended. Perfection.
So what next? I asked both Crawford and Buchanan after the show, and neither could say. Crawford said they've talked about working together on another project. After all, they only live about five hours away from each other. Whatever happens, Craig said he plans on continuing playing. It would be a shame if he didn't. Buchanan always kept playing after Mousetrap ended and I have no doubt that he'll continue to do so with our without Crawford, but wouldn't it be cool if they kept it together? I'd love it if a label like Team Love would either reissue a Mousetrap album or create a "best of" collection that pulls together songs from the various singles and albums. And then the band hooked up with one of Omaha's bigger players for a three-week tour. And then, who knows. Wishful thinking on my part, but I guess it's the right time of year for that sort of thing." More

SPEED THE PLOUGH Wonder Wheel 1991

by request

Tracklist

1		Aeroplane	3:22
2		The Tide Won't Tire	3:24
3		Story Of The Moon	3:27
4		Coal & Courage	2:38
5		Hemlock Tree	4:19
6		Cutting Branches For A Temporary Shelter	1:38
7		Final Day	6:45
8		Trains	5:11
9		Centerville	4:02
10		One Of Your Friends	4:08
11		The Plough & The Stars	3:11

VARIOUS ARTISTS Slow Death in the Metronome Factory 1997

by request

 

Tracklist

1	Wallstar –	Razor	6:37
2	Pram –	Carnival Of Souls	4:57
3	Critters Buggin –	Space Rant	4:27
4	Pro-seed –	General HP	4:07
5	Perfume Tree –	Too Late, Too Early	9:06
6	Colin Newman –	May	5:58
7	Rossburger Report –	Der Greuel	4:51
8	Scenic –	Ionic Curve	2:06
9	Scala –	Vitamin X	4:50
10	Electric Company –	Beautiful And Clean	5:16
11	Ui –	Horn Crown Label	9:12
12	Flotilla –	Through And Out	3:42
13	Sugar Plant –	Saudade	6:24

 

LAURELS

90 - 95

1995

 

L

1996

by request

BRIDGET Bridget of California 1994

by request

 

Tracklist

1		The Fastest Car In The World
2		Kartoon
3		Cousins
4		Swing
5		Comanche
6		Dynamo
7		Salt Lick
8		Stories
9		Sap
10		Go Fever
11		The Sheriff Is Coming
12		Mae Brussel
13		Planet Bum
14		Desperado