Tracklist ▼
Jawbox – | Air Waves Dreams | | |
Jawbreaker – | With Or Without U-2 |
by Steve Huey
Few of punk rock's founding fathers could have anticipated the extreme to which Half Japanese took the music's do-it-yourself ethos. Founded by brothers Jad and David Fair, Half Japanese was quite probably the most amateurish rock band to make a record since the Shaggs, all but ignoring musical basics like chords, rhythms, and melody. However, the brothers made that approach into a guiding aesthetic, steadfastly refusing to progress in their primitive musicianship over a career that lasted decades. David Fair's article "How to Play Guitar" outlined the Half Japanese philosophy: … » Read more
1 | Rex – | Leak Through | | |
2 | Velma – | 55'201 | | |
3 | Matmos – | Sun On 280 To The 1 | | |
4 | Dots Will Echo – | Help! General Cosloy Is Chasing Me With An Axe! | | |
5 | HiM – | Eugene Trees | | |
6 | Mice Parade – | Galileo | | |
7 | Rex – | Pour Down | | |
8 | Kristen Mccord – | Baby We're Really In Love | | |
9 | Adam Pierce – | Amends(The Rock Epic) | | |
10 | Clutch Mountain Boys – | The Farmer's Girl |
1 | Lift | 3:43 |
2 | Mother Nature | 2:31 |
3 | Seems | 3:57 |
4 | Dreamer | 5:02 |
5 | So Gone Down | 4:05 |
6 | Same Words | 4:04 |
7 | Bee | 2:43 |
8 | Zoom | 3:15 |
9 | Water | 4:33 |
10 | Drag | 3:50 |
11 | Shower | 3:22 |
12 | Grow | 6:02 |
by Jason Ankeny
San Francisco indie-rockers Actionslacks assembled singer/guitarist Tim Scanlin, bassist Mark Wijsen and drummer Martin Kelly. Formed in 1995, the trio recorded the entirety of their first demo in a breakneck 11-hour session, soon signing with the Minneapolis-based indie label Skene! to release their 1996 debut LP Too Bright, Just Right, Goodnight. For 1998's One Word, Actionslacks signed with Arena Rock, subsequently touring with labelmates Harvey Danger. The new millennium was a growing period for the band -- bassist Ross Murray and guitarist/vocalist Doug Modie joined Actionslacks and the long-awaited third album The Scene's Out of Sight was issued in early 2001.
by Mike DaRonco
With their musical that has been described as "crunch pop," 30 Amp Fuse has provided their hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee with a high speed of aggressive power-pop. Debuting in 1995 with their first full-length Wind Up, the line-up of Mike Smithers (vocals/ guitar), Jason Ratliff (drums) and Joshua Bentley (bass) followed with a signing to the BMG distributed label Dedicated. Resulting in the album Saturday Night at the Atomic Speedway, 30 Amp Fuse had the production backing of The Descendants Steve Egerton and Bill Stevenson to coincide with their fast paced styling. After moving on to Melted Records in 1998, the bands third album Rewind was soon released that same year.
by Mark Deming
Suggesting a fractious meeting point between freak folk, noise rock, experimental music, and psychedelia, indie rock band the Supreme Dicks drifted under the radar of public recognition through the 1980s and '90s, releasing a challenging and eccentric body of work that earned them some high-profile admirers and enthusiastic reviews but few sales. The first lineup of the Supreme Dicks was formed in 1982 in Amherst, Massachusetts by a handful of Hampshire College students; while a sizable number of musicians drifted in and out of the lineup over the group's lifetime, the core ensemble featured Daniel Oxenberg on guitar and vocals; Jon Shere on guitar and vocals; Steve … » Read more
by Eduardo Rivadavia
Die Monster Die were formed in the alternative rock epicenter of Athens, GA, by guitarist Evan Player, who took the band's name from the 1965 horror flick starring Boris Karloff, but didn't get very far with the group during its initial run through the late '80s. In fact, it was only after relocating to New York City and teaming up with vocalist/bassist Alice Cohen, drummer Kenny Sanders, and second guitarist Shawn Tracy during the glory days of grunge that Player managed to get Die Monster Die noticed by a handful of indie record labels. They eventually decided … » Read more
by Ron DePasquale
Begun as nc-17, this Canadian alternative pop/rock group changed its name after an American band with the same moniker threatened to sue. Greig Nori (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Bill Priddle (guitar, vocals), and Rosie Martin (bass, keyboards) met in high school in Sault St. Marie, Ontario, and paid the 5,000-dollar cost of releasing nc-17 on its own Smokin' Worm label as the band's full-length debut in 1994. After partnering with indie label Sonic Unyon and re-releasing nc-17, the album became Canada's best-selling indie record and the ballad "Red" received heavy play on college radio and Much Music (Canada's music television network). The following year, the band released the self-titled EP, which doubled as a CD-ROM zine dedicated to 30 of its favorite Canadian indie bands. The album was later released as Treble Charger in the U.S. and featured American indie … » Read more
by John Bush
An indie rock subversive who has been known to perform in dresses almost as much as his ex-wife Courtney Love, Falling James (Moreland) has led the Leaving Trains with a revolving lineup since the group formed in 1980. Originally in a Los Angeles punk band named the Mongrels during 1978-1979, Falling James formed the Downers in 1980 (with David Roback, later of Mazzy Star, and John Hoffs, the brother of the Bangles sisters) and then the Leaving Trains later that year, with guitarist » Read more
by Nick Corr
Smudge is an Australian slacker pop trio who were thrust onto the world stage in the early '90s after recognition of singer/songwriter Tom Morgan's co-authorship of material on the Lemonheads breakthrough, 1992 It's a Shame About Ray. Since then, the group has diversified somewhat with bassist Adam Yee and drummer Alison Galloway contributing material and the occasional lead vocal performance. In 1996, they made a concerted effort to expand their sound by recording the You Me Carpark Now album in Chicago with producer Casey Rice, and recruiting a number … » Read more
by Stewart Mason
What if, instead of splitting off to form Neutral Milk Hotel, the Olivia Tremor Control, and the Apples in Stereo, the original core members of the Elephant 6 collective had formed one band that incorporated Jeff Mangum's scratchy lo-fi folk, Will Cullen Hart and Bill Doss' trippy experimental tendencies, and Robert Schneider's knack for clever pop hooks? The results would have sounded very much like the Delaware psych-pop trio the Licorice Roots. In fact, » Read more
by Stewart Mason
The San Francisco-based noise pop trio Floored (comprising Michele Fialer, Jeanne McKinney, and Terri Weist) originally called themselves Ford, but changed their name before their first album, 1996's This Color Is Bittersweet, was released. A collection of 18 untitled songs and sound fragments, This Color Is Bittersweet is somewhere between the acoustic innocence of K Records and the mind-warping sonic aggression of the Beefheart-worshiping post-punkers. Oddly enough, the combination kind of works. A self-titled follow-up appeared in 2001.