Alternative Rock Nostalgia Buzz

Forgotten Songs of the ‘90s: Rave-Ups One of the most forgotten bands of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s were the Rave-Ups out of L.A. The band struggled for years until they got noticed by John Hughes and landed a song on the soundtrack of “Sixteen Candles” and then landed a deal with Epic Records. After releasing one record, 1988’s The Book of Your Regrets , they almost got dropped but some people at the label really had faith in the band and they were able to hang on long enough to make another record, 1990’s Chance and ended up scoring a hit with the masterful “Respectfully King of Rain.” Kicking off with the excellent riffs of guitarist Terry Wilson and the vocals of Jimmer Podrasky, the band get into the groove quickly and are unable to let it go. By the time they get to the chorus, one almost wonders if the song is about the band’s attempts at success, “Well I won’t make it if you won’t make it, take these lonesome dreams of making it, down.” The band are able to convey these imag...

Forgotten Songs of the ‘70s: Dickies The Dickies were one of the most unique and poppy punk bands of the initial seventies outbreak. Coming out from southern California, they made a name for themselves for their unique take on cartoon theme songs and pop classics. Their hits range from covers of “Paranoid” and “Nights in White Satin” to the theme of “Gigantor” and the song they should be remembered for “Banana Splits (Tra La La Song).” Doing the sixties kiddie classic at warp speed, the band immediately set off on a mess of fun by upping the ante by having great harmony vocals from the whole band and tight concise drumming, courtesy of Karlos Kabarello (R.I.P.) But the real star of the show is frontman Leonard Graves Phillips, whose high, nasally pitch became the band’s trademark and the song’s original vocals give him a chance to shine here and he does wonderfully. All of these things helped to make the band household names in England where this song went top ten on the singles chart,...

Forgotten Album of the Month: Monster Magnet It’s hard to believe I haven’t done anything about this band but it’s time for that to change. By the time 1998 rolled around, the stoner/sludge metal band Monster Magnet had gone as far as they could with their trademark sound and they realized that it was time for a change. So frontman Dave Wyndorf, suffering from writer’s block went to Las Vegas for a few months and wrote what became his band’s breakthrough album, Powertrip . Now most people remember the band for “Space Lord,” with its’ hip hop inspired video but there is so much more to recommend on the album besides the throwaway pop hit. The best track on the record is the title track, which I heard in the fall of ’98 with a video filled with footage from the now forgotten Kurt Russell action “Soldier” and I was riveted because the song was so damn heavy and covered in riffs. The lyrics, as with most of Wyndorf’s words are as true now as they were when he wrote them because there are m...

The Best of 2010! By: Pete Crigler Well another year has circled the drain and the world of music has gotten worse and worse. In 2010, there just wasn’t a lot of kickass music like there’s been in previous years but it not the musicians’ fault, it’s everything else, just because there haven’t been a lot of good things to listen to. But these bands have stood out by rebelling against the bullshit and doing what they best. On the personal side, 2010 has been one of the best fuckin’ years in recent memory with the runaway success of my first book “Keeping It Tight In The Old Dominion: A History of Virginia Rock Music” and work with Redefine Online. As you read this list, go and download some shit you wouldn’t listened to earlier. With 2011 comes some excellent music so take a chance DAMMIT! Records of The Year: 1. Stone Temple Pilots- S/T With a long-awaited new record, Stone Temple Pilots combined the best of their past with their future and turned in a great pop alternative record that ...

Forgotten Songs of the ‘90s: Unsane Unsane were always one of the loudest, heaviest bands of the Noise Rock scene of the early ‘90s coming up alongside bands like Helmet, Cop Shoot Cop and Surgery but Unsane were able to keep coming out with strong records their entire career. 1996’s Scattered Smothered and Covered was no exception and with the record, they also released one of the coolest songs of their career: “Scrape.” Starting out with the thrashing guitar of frontman Chris Spencer, the trio come at you with full tilt and never let up. The effect on Spencer’s screaming is one that it tends to blend in greatly with the music and it doesn’t sound forced. With the rhythm section of drummer Vinnie Signorelli and bassist Dave Curran constantly gaining ground as the song moves on, it’s only a matter of time before they all collide and in the crescendo they come together perfectly and Chris just screams his head off but it all made a great song and a great combination of sounds. Now in a...

Forgotten Songs of the ‘90s: Jawbox This is going to be a bit different for two reasons; 1. The song is a cover and 2. It’s a hidden track. When Jawbox released their self-titled final album in 1996, they chose to close it with a cover of Tori Amos’ “Cornflake Girl” from 1994. Now knowing that the media would jump all over the song, they buried it at the very end of the song “Absenter.” But because the song was so strong, it became one of the few hidden tracks to ever be made into a single/video, but listening to the song, it’s easy to understand why. Starting up with their signature wall of feedback, the band kicks into the familiar melody of the song about three minutes after the end of “Absenter” and once you hear the melody, you know you’re gonna hear something different. Instead of Amos’ lilting voice, J. Robbins’ tuff snarl comes in and adds a whole new dimension to the song. With the band delivering a heavier backbeat, the song really becomes harder and meatier and with a new le...

Forgotten Songs of the ‘80s: Icicle Works It’s only just been recently that the Icicle Works have started to get recognition for being so diverse in the face of eighties new wave. The best place to start for anyone who is interested in getting to know the band is “Whisper to A Scream (Birds Fly).” Kicking off with a memorable guitar riff courtesy of Ian McNabb, the band tread the ground a bit lightly at first before the tight rhythm section of bassist Chris Layhe and drummer Chris Sharrock come in with a bit of African rhythm that sets up the rest of the track. When McNabb’s light and heavy at the same time voice comes in, listeners know that they’re in for a different song than previously used to. The chorus is absolutely barnstormingly brilliant and remains one of the most recognizable choruses of the eighties. By the time the breakdown comes in utilizing three part harmonies from the trio, one should know that this band is quite different than everything else around them. Just when ...