THE TECHNICAL JED The Oswald Cup 1995

Discogs

Artist Biography by Stewart Mason

Bearing one of the goofier names in early-'90s indie circles, Richmond, VA's the Technical Jed mixes the kind of psych-tinged jangle pop associated with Southern guitar bands like the Olivia Tremor Control/Neutral Milk Hotel wing of the Elephant 6 collective with a more experimental sonic outlook more akin to the post-rock experimentalists of the time.
The Technical Jed formed in Richmond in 1991; singing guitarists Clancy Fraher and Daniel Bartels, bassist Steve Brooking, and drummer David Bush were bored college students at the time, and that peculiarly collegiate brand of smart-alecky amusement colors their music. After a couple of singles on the local micro-indie Brilliant Records, including a split EP with fellow Virginians Twitch Hazel, the Technical Jed signed with New York's estimable Spin Art label in 1993. Their self-titled debut album came out in 1994, collecting the contents of those early singles with a batch of new tracks. The reviews almost invariably mentioned Pavement, who were at the zenith of their hipster-cred popularity at the moment, but with song titles like "Dance of the Lollipop Faeries" and "Gina (Fix Yourself a Drink)" and a guitar sound with strong hints of both Television and Sonic Youth, The Technical Jed is clearly a record that stands on its own.
1996's The Oswald Cup is a less poppy affair, with more bristly arrangements and a bit more of a lean towards the math rock vibe of Polvo or the For Carnation, with an even bigger dose of Tom Verlaine-style liquid guitar lines to boot. Unfortunately, the Technical Jed split shortly after its release. Fraher worked with the more abrasive Drunk after the Technical Jed split up, producing several of their albums. Bush went on to join Sparklehorse for a couple of albums, and later Blonde on Blonde.

Tracklist

1	Idle Spec #2
2	The Oswald Cup
3	Two Shots
4	Tribute
5	E-32
6	Edith Peach
7	Angler
8	Seamus
9	818
10	Been Touched
11	When The Levis Break
12	Club Car

 

THE SEYMORES

1998

1998

 

by request

 

Discogs

Artist Biography by Greg Prato

The Seymores are a Richmond, VA, quartet that consists of David Fera (vocals/rhythm guitar), Joe Nio (lead guitar/backing vocals), Stephen Pletch (drums), and Tony Ammendolia (bass). Three of the four members originally came together while studying at college in Virginia, when they decided to form an alterna-rock band. Personnel changes ensued, and the new band originally went by the name Flounder. They soon changed their name to the Seymores (a sneaker brand in the '70s) and signed to the Vernon Yard label. Their debut full-length, Piedmont, was released in 1995, and the band won over David Lowery (of the band Cracker) as a fan. They recorded a mini-album for Lowery's Pitch a Tent label, 1000 Lb. Grr'la, and he signed on to produce the band's sophomore release, Treat Her Like a Show Cat, which came out in spring 1998. 

 

Treat Her Like A Showcat

Tracklist

1	Sicker Than You	2:35
2	Courtin' Days	3:43
3	First Lady Of Delaware	3:22
4	Personal History	2:29
5	Two Dollars And Seventy-Five Cents	4:03
6	Sublease You	2:11
7	Compton	3:52
8	Aft To Forward	1:59
9	Polecat	3:48
10	Sole Of Your Shoe	3:00
11	Dissolve	2:08
12	Spain	2:11
13	X-Ray	4:30
14	Buses Are Running	3:21

1000 Lb. Gr'lla

  

Tracklist 

1	Sicker Than You	2:36
2	New Rollercoaster	3:29
3	$2.75	4:05
4	Puppet	2:00
5	Courtin' Days	3:39
6	Butternut	2:10
7	What You Got	2:55
8	No Love Lost	3:30

MONDAY MORNINGS Despise Our World? 1991

by request

 

Discogs

Tracklist

1	Am I? No	1:55
2	Pictures For Idiots	2:32
3	My Own Execution	3:14
4	Well Enough To Say	3:10
5	Giving Up The English	4:07
6	Honor Is (Something You Wear Like A Shirt)	3:56
7	Jesus Gets His Kicks	2:24
8	Birthday Valentine	3:11
9	You're Always Right	4:08
10	Trouble Is	3:47
11	Place In The World	3:49
12	The Eternal Afternoon	2:35

COSMIC PSYCHOS Blokes You Can Trust 1991

by request

 

Discogs

Artist Biography by Stephen Howell

One of the most notorious Australian pub rock bands, the Cosmic Psychos officially began their journey together in 1985. Living by the rule of thumb that you should drink before you play a show because your friends might drink all of the beer, the Psychos gained a reputation for not caring about money so much as the free alcohol, laughs, and overseas traveling involved with being in a rock band. Over the course of seven full-length albums, one best-of collection, one EP, 11 singles, and more than five compilation appearances, the group has sang with Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, befriended Mudhoney, and supplied beer to Silverchair at Australia's Big Day Out festival. Bassist Ross Knight was playing in a high school punk band in the late '70s, called Rancid Spam, in Victoria, Australia, located two hours north of Melbourne. In the meantime, guitarist Peter Jones and drummer Bill Walsh were performing together in the Melbourne group Spring Plains with a bassist and vocalist. After the bass player left in 1982, Walsh and Jones asked their friend Knight for his assistance. Knight and the singer from Rancid Spam had relocated to Melbourne in the early '80s. When they arrived in the city, Walsh was one of the first people who Rancid Spam's singer met at university. The singer introduced Knight to Walsh, and they became fast friends. Knight agreed to join Spring Plains on bass and by 1985, the threesome handed the original singer his walking papers. After deciding that Knight would take over vocal duties, the group changed its name to the Cosmic Psychos. 

Tracklist

1	Back At School
2	Dead Roo
3	I'm Up Your Out
4	Loser
5	Nightshift
6	Hooray Fuck
7	Do It To Me
8	Never Grow Old
9	What
10	Elle

GOD'S LITTLE MONKEYS Lip 1990

by request

 

Discogs

Artist Biography by AllMusic

Based in York, England, this indie group played a mixture of rock and folk. The founder members were Jo Swiss (vocals), Jon Townend (vocals/guitar), Dave Allen (drums), and Martin Appleby (bass), with the addition of various keyboard players. Initially named Malcolm’s Mother, their own Eggs Will Walk label issued an excellent 12-inch EP in 1986, on which they reworked the traditional ‘Cruel Mother’. When Appleby departed, the band recruited Dave Wall. Capturing the atmosphere of 80s urban bleakness, with Townend’s oblique, witty political comments, they recorded an album for Special Delivery, and two more noise-folk releases for the modernist label Cooking Vinyl Record s. After Lip, which was remixed against their wishes, they disbanded. Townend and Swiss retained the band’s name, and continued to search for a US label. 

Tracklist

1	Hollywood Or The Humber
2	You Win Some But You Lose More
3	True Colour
4	Too Many Flesh Suppers
5	Reynard
6	Ball Of Confusion
7	Defense Of The Wicked
8	Bare Floor Blues
9	Calgary Cross
10	The Greed Creed

FOR LOVE NOT LISA Information Superdriveway 1995

by request

 

Discogs

Tracklist  

1	Had A Lover
2	Coming Into Focus
3	Good Intentions
4	Seasick
5	Daydream
6	Play
7	Set Apart
8	Snowball Fight
9	Kill Whitey
10	Triple A
11	New Few
12	Fathers And Sons
13	Some Afternoon Glitch

SISTER HAZEL self titled 1994

Discogs

Artist Biography by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Combining elements of acoustic rock, folk, and jangle pop, Sister Hazel formed in 1993 in Gainesville, Florida. The band's five members all boasted ties to the city's local scene: Vocalist/guitarist Ken Block and guitarist/vocalist Andrew Copeland canvassed the coffee shop circuit as a duo, lead guitarist Ryan Newell honed his chops with the local band Waterdog, bassist Jett Beres studied his instrument while pursuing a degree in architecture, and drummer Mark Trojanowski played with several Florida-based jazz ensembles before pursuing a career in pop music. Forging an earthy, melodic sound that highlighted the band's vocal harmonies, Sister Hazel released an eponymous debut in 1994 before moving to a major label for their second album, 1997's Somewhere More Familiar. 

Tracklist

1	Feel It	4:38
2	Sometimes	5:19
3	All For You (Acoustic Version)	3:23
4	Will Not Follow	4:10
5	One Nation	3:45
6	Used To Run	3:22
7	Little Things	4:47
8	Space Between Us	5:04
9	Don't Think It's Funny	3:38
10	Running Through The Fields (For Jeffrey)	4:58
11	Bring It On Home	2:29

FASTBALL Make Your Mama Proud 1996

Discogs

Artist Biography by Andrew Leahey

Formed in 1994 in Austin, Texas, Fastball combined a fondness for melodic, Beatles-inspired pop with the alternative aesthetic of late-'90s mainstream rock. Guitarist/vocalist Miles Zuniga, bassist/vocalist Tony Scalzo, and drummer Joe Shuffield -- all veterans of Austin's underground rock scene -- originally banded together under the name Magneto U.S.A. After signing with Hollywood Records, the musicians changed their name to Fastball (sharing the name with the title of their favorite baseball-themed pornographic film) and released their debut album, Make Your Mama Proud, in 1996. The album failed to yield much commercial success, but it did demonstrate the band's synthesis of modern flavor and bygone pop hooks, a combination that would later launch Fastball into the mainstream. 

Tracklist

1	Human Torch	2:40
2	She Comes 'Round	3:36
3	Make Your Mama Proud	2:10
4	Back Door	2:19
5	Are You Ready For The Fallout?	3:13
6	Nothing	1:50
7	Boomerang	2:57
8	Eater	2:43
9	Knock It Down	2:09
10	Lender	1:59
11	Altamont	3:07
12	Emily	2:07
13	Seattle	2:50
14	Telephone Calls	2:14

DISHWALLA Pet Your Friends 1995

Discogs

Artist Biography by MacKenzie Wilson

The Santa Barbara, California band Dishwalla made a big splash in 1996 with their catchy pop single "Counting Blue Cars." With the gritty heart and soul of those who came before them, Dishwalla's hard rock sound was enough for fans to make "Counting Blue Cars" one of the most-requested songs of that year. The song also garnered the band a Billboard award for Rock Song of the Year and led their debut album, Pet Your Friends, to sell more than a million copies.

Dishwalla, which emerged out of the early stages of post-grunge, is composed of J.R. Richards (vocals), Scot Alexander (bass), Rodney Browning Cravens (guitar), Jim Wood (keyboards), and George Pendergast (drums). They spent the mid-'90s touring with the likes of Sheryl Crow, Blind Melon, and the Goo Goo Dolls in support of Pet Your Friends. Prior to making a second album, the band was caught in the middle of the Polygram/Universal merger and such a move left Dishwalla pondering what to do next. Their second album, And You Think You Know What Life's About, was released in 1998; promotion and sales were lackluster due to label downsizing. Dishwalla's time with A&M was short-lived and exhausting because of such corporate behavior, but they stuck it out to contribute their cover version of "Policy of Truth" for the Depeche Mode tribute album For the Masses. By the new millennium, Dishwalla left behind major-market America for a third album. They signed with Immergent while Pendergrast parted ways with the band. Pete Maloney, a drummer picked up on the 1998 tour, resumed percussion duties. In 2002, Dishwalla issued their experimental third album Opaline (Immergent), quickly followed by 2003's Live... Greetings from the Flow State. A self-titled album produced by Sylvia Massy (Tool, System of a Down), Bill Szymczyk, and Ryan Greene (NOFX, Nerf Herder) followed in 2005 before the band went on indefinite hiatus.

Three years passed before Dishwalla would return in 2008. Debuting a lineup that joined original members Alexander, Pendergast, Cravens, and Wood with new vocalist Justin Fox, the band hit the road, touring sporadically over the following years. They would not return to the studio until 2016, when they began recording their first album in a decade. Juniper Road arrived in 2017. 

 Tracklist 

1	Pretty Babies	5:30
2	Haze	4:21
3	Counting Blue Cars	4:51
4	Explode	3:02
5	Charlie Brown's Parents	5:15
6	Give	5:25
7	Miss Emma Peel	4:06
8	Moisture	5:23
9	The Feeder	3:58
10	All She Can See	3:45
11	Only For So Long	2:58