Pigman talks The Weepies, Deb Talan, Steve Tannen and theDecemberists/REM Connection

The Weepies, Deb Talan, Steve Tannen
Originally uploaded by picksysticks

Is it me, or does the guitars in the new Decemberists hit sound like REM?

Mash up the Decemberist's "Down by the Water" with REM's "The One I Love".

Saw the Weepies live last Wednesday night down in Little Five Points; Been a
big fan for a couple of years. Very cool and laidback show. Imagine seeing a
band at the Vogue Theatre.

Ciao main.

Alex Chilton: Dead at 59

Alex Chilton
Originally uploaded by deSingel International Arts Campus

Sorry to see that indie rock legend Alex Chilton has died of a heart attack. He was 59. He had a career that spanned the decades and covered all bases including jazz, indie, rock and the like. I got curious about him when a song titled Alex Chilton appeared on the Replacements album Pleased to Meet Me. He was a guest performer on that recording. He was scheduled to appear at the SXSW Festival in the next few days. Not fully recognized for his genius, maybe now Alex Chilton will get the due he deserves.

Decent College Radio still exists...

I stumbled onto the Western Kentucky University station and was pleasantly surprised. They played some Bright Eyes, Surfer Blood, Old 97s. A pretty diverse list of tunes on their play list. No punk. I wonder if they have a punk show on weekends or during the overnight hours? Good old college radio. In the 80s, it was a real force to be reckoned with. Nowadays most radio seems irrelevant. Maybe there is still some hope out there. The best way to find new music is the internet, but radio stations that are adventurous is always a viable option. Rock on, WKU.

Surfer Blood - New and Interesting Grooves from the Sunshine State

Surfer Blood - CMJ 2009
Originally uploaded by Giulia Mazza

Surfer Blood caught my attention because someone described them as punk. I was hoping they would be punk revival along the lines of Against Me! or Anti-Flag. They didn't sound like that, but that is ok. They do have an interesting groove. More like power pop and indie rock rolled together. I hear the surf guitar of the 60s, the Shins, and a little My Morning Jacket along with some new stuff that washed up on the beaches of the Sunshine State. "Surfer Blood are a band from West Palm Beach, Florida. Their debut album, Astro Coast was released on January 19, 2010 on Kanine Records." That is all the information I can find about them on Last.fm. Simple enough. If you want to get some fresh grooves for the fresh decade of the 2010's, check out Surfer Blood.

The Pigman takes on The Kings of Leon

The Kings of Leon
Originally uploaded by chris tuite

This new shtuff by the "Kings of Leon" is just rediculously infectious.

I mean, FOK the Swine Flu.

I can't get outta my small pea brain head, "Sex on Fire" and "Use Somebody". Which have found their way onto several mainstream stations here.

The guitars in SOF remind me of the 80's imports staples. Give it a listen, Mr. Alex Trebec. And, name that band!

The voice in both SOF and US remind me of Eddie Money from the '70's (not that I ever loved Eddie Money....I loved Eddie Munster...but that was earlier in the '70's of the '60's and Billy Munster too in the '80's when he had that "FISH HEAD" song after a long career lost in space).

We have a major avenue here, in the A. Te El, called Ponce de Leon; hence, I thought, pea brainingly that for sure "these 4 Kings are from Ponce, man".

Nope.

Says it plain as day, on "our" SPACE: Dem kangs is from the other 'Ville.

As in Nash. Which is still a good thing. Anything between here and home is on the way, relative.

And so if you look at their group photo, looks like two of 'em belong; dos are emo's.

But they must be doing something right. 91,xxx,xxx hits.

That is math ole W could not comprehend. These foks are huge already.

Yeah, that's right. It's pop music. And these Kangs is a goin' places.

Ciao main.

Bebo

Kalpana: a Band that understands Dynamics

Rare Show Flier, Aug 12
Originally uploaded by Guyermo

I have long been a fan of bands that can play with dynamics. I appreciate loud AND soft passages. I appreciate slow AND fast tempos. One such band is Kalpana. I first heard them on their release "Hors de Combat". The music is very interesting and cinematic. The guitars go from ambient to screaming at the drop of a hat. I hear shades of ...and you will know us by the trail of dead, Husker Du, and other enigmatic noise machines. It is both post art, post punk, post noise, and interesting. Their 2 recordings can be purchased on their myspace page. Check them out.

...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead to release new CD This Week!

...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead
Originally uploaded by vhf

Followers of this blog know that one of my favorite bands and band names out there is "...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead". Century of Self is the title, and as usual the Austin- based band pushes the sonic envelope. From the samples on their website and myspace, I am looking forward to the new offering. I hear shades of Husker Du, Smashing Pumpkins and a lot of other sonic mayhem in their sound. Hoping a tour will follow.

Decemberists Ready to Take on the World in 2009

One of my favorite indie bands is getting busy in time for Spring 2009. The Decemberists are planning a tour in support of their new record Hazards of Love, which is due on March 24. Sorry to see there are no dates for Louisville (humble home of the Dissident Times) as of yet, but I am hoping they flesh out the schedule as the tour approaches.
Here is what the dates look like so far:

May 19, 2009 Hollywood Palladium Los Angeles, CA
May 20, 2009 Fox Theatre Oakland, CA
May 21, 2009 McDonald Theater Eugene, OR
May 24, 2009 Wilma Theatre Missoula, MT
May 26, 2009 Fillmore Auditorium Denver, CO
May 27, 2009 Uptown Theater Kansas City, MO
May 29, 2009 Riverside Theater Milwaukee, WI
May 31, 2009 The Pageant St. Louis, MO
June 1, 2009 Lifestyle Communities Pavilion Columbus, OH
June 3, 2009 Tabernacle Atlanta, GA
June 4, 2009 Memorial Auditorium Raleigh, NC
June 5, 2009 The National Richmond, VA
June 6, 2009 Tower Theatre Upper Darby, PA
June 9, 2009 Bank of America Pavillion Boston, MA
June 10, 2009 Radio City Music Hall New York, NY
June 11, 2009 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival Manchester, TN

Dead Confederate - psychedelic southern rock

2008-11-13 DEAD CONFEDERATE 076149
Originally uploaded by zimfo

Dead Confederate filters their southern rock through equal measures of psychedelic and indie pop. Hailing from Athens, Georgia, the 80's cradle of college rock acts such as Drivin and Cryin, REM, the B52s, these guys have a haunting sound.
Atmospheric waves of guitar are layered on more traditional pop underpinnings.
Bandmates Hardy Morris (vocals, guitar), Brantley Senn (bass), Walker Howle (guitar), John Watkins (keyboards), and Jason Scarboro (drums) bonded over a shared affinity for Pink Floyd and Black Sabbath. I hear a little of both in their sound.
Making a splash at the SXSW fest, the group has relied on its touring efforts, and released both an EP and full length in the last few months. Dead Confederate appears on The Artists Organization (label) and issued their debut EP in early 2008. A full-length album, Wrecking Ball, followed in September. Definitely worth checking out.

Apples in Stereo - Coming soon to a Pop Machine near you

Apples in Stereo
Originally uploaded by bobunderexposed

Indie pop band Apples in Stereo boast a Beatles-esque neopsychedelic sound, and ties to the local music scene here in Kentucky. A recent article in the Lexington Herald Leader describes their ties to the local scene. Member Robert Schneider hails from the Lex, and the band started their last tour in Louisville.
AIS has been chosen for the soundtrack of the current Pepsi marketing campaign "Pepsi's Ode to Joy '09", ensuring maximum exposure nationwide. Unlike other purists, I see know harm in a band using their tunes in an ad campaign. It is all about surviving as a musician, it is your music and you decide where it is used. As long as you don't corrupt your own values in the process, it is fine to do commercial music.
That said, theirs is an interesting sound, and definitely worth checking out. www.myspace.com/theapplesinstereo

TSOL releases new tracks. FREE!!!

TSOL
Originally uploaded by Kevin Baldes Concert shots

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Free Downloads is the new release from old schoolers TSOL.Check it out here . These guys go back to the roots of SoCal punk, hailing from Long Beach, CA. and formed in 1979. The new material is a nice mix of styles that show you what early punk was like. Not so formulaic as it is today, there are shades of glam, metal, hardcore and the like. I even hear some early Bowie going on in there. I am an old fart by punk rock standards, so I root for the old schoolers. Download this release. You just might learn something.

Make Do and Mend: Excellent Free Album Download

Make Do and Mend  are a band from Connecticut that currently has their album up for free download on their myspace page. I have to say I like what I hear. The collection is called "Bodies of Water" and I like the fact that rather than sounding derrivative of so many other bands, they have a sound reminiscent of late 80's and early 90's hardcore bands like Die Kreuzen, Naked Raygun, Husker Du, and Pegboy. Not screamo hardcore like today, but good alternative, creative passionate music.
On tracks like Shambles, there is a nice use of dynamics that carries the song along. Others like Winter Wasteland and Father have a passion and drive to them that reminds me of a day when music was important. This is good stuff. I encourage you to download the tracks, and go see them live. It looks like they are on tour right now. If you never got to see the Huskers or Naked Raygun, you might just hear a trace of them here.

The Dirty Dozen Year End Round Up: The Twelve Most Popular Stories on The Dissident Times for '08

These are the most popular stories voted on by your little mouse-clicking fingers. A little schizo, but so is our blog, our readers and that's okay. Man does not live by punk and politics alone! In a world where Al Franken is a maverick, and John McCain is on Saturday Night Live, anything can happen. What a great year.
Drum Roll please:

1. Henry Rollins Spoken Word Tour of 2008 There seemed to be mucho interest in what Henry has to say, as this was the top article of the year. Henry is a rennaissance man and all-round interesting character. Little did I know during his Black Flag days that he would go on to have a successful career as a talk show host and spoken word artist. I was lucky enough to meet Henry back in '86. He was "intelligent and intense". That is how I always describe him. He has a busy mind, a great sense of humor, and a vitality that is always refreshing.
2. Ten Essential Punk Albums You Should Own. This article was one of my "Ten Essential" series that I like to write to help expose people to new music and artists. I tried to get 30 years of punk and boil it down to the 10 best albums. I could have made it the Top 100, as it was hard to narrow down the list. I tried to pay homage to as many styles of punk from different locales and eras as I could.
3. Anti-Flag Playing a free show at the Republican National Convention. A lot of hits on this came from ground zero itself, Minneapolis. Don't be confused, they were not doing a gig at the RNC, but at a different venue. The concert also featured Rage Against the Machine and others, and was great by many accounts.
4. Story of the Year Releases New Album. This seems like it should be number one, as "story of the year", but it managed a respectable #4 on the list. The St. Louis band turns out tasteful licks with just enough hard edge, good lyrics and hummable melodies to keep you tuning in. The new cd satisfies in several categories. Buy it.
5. New Release of Eva Cassidy material. Who is Eva? She is a jazz/folk/pop singer from DC that died 10 years ago. She had such a powerful voice that it will haunt you. Why else would bloggers like me be talking about her 10 years after her death. She had a purity and natural talent that stands tall even after all these years. Celebrate her life and get some Eva. I know this is a punk blog mostly, but give in to your tender side, bro. I think I love her.
6. Fender's New Joe Strummer Telecaster. Here is an amalgam of everything I love. Punk-The Clash-Fender guitars-Street art. The only way it could be more appealing to me is if it had a picture of my kids on it, got 50 miles per gallon and smelled like pizza.
7. MXPX celebrates 16 years in-yer-face. This article was a nice little howdy do to a punk band that I have always liked. They are straightforward, melodic, classic punk and a nicer bunch of boys you will not find. Happy 16th, MXPX!
8. Live CD: The Clash at Shea Stadium. The Clash at their best in a live concert cd at Shea Stadium. The band sounds tight, vibrant and as important as ever. Buy this disc too or ask Santa to get it for you. I love the Sandinista and London Calling era, and I love this too.
9. Unknown Hinson's Live CD in the works. For the uninitiated, Unknown Hinson is half vampire, half pyschobilly master of the Telecaster. He comes to town a couple of times a year looking for fresh blood. Nice sparse tunes done full-blown rockabilly style, with Unknown's unique delivery. This is priceless stuff!
10. Camper Van Beethoven retrospective Camper Van was there before indie had a name. Their stuff was quirky and different. This article was just a little roundup of a band that I remember fondly from the late 80s and early 90s. I think I accused an old roomy of stealing that CD, but I found it again in a cd folder since the article was written. What is the statute of limitations on libel?
11. Ten Essential Reggae Artists to Know. I never claimed to be a reggae expert, but I do like the music. Here, I just wanted to pay respect to some Reggae artists I felt have had a big influence on the genre over the years. I always loved how bands like Black Uhuru could sound so hopeful and so sad at the same time. There are tons of great reggae bands out there, and this was my list of ones I found worth the listen.
12. The Urges- Psych Ward New cd that merges the atonal and tuneful, the straight ahead with the psychedeilc. It is nice to see newer bands coming out with worthy takes on classic genres, and taking the music to new places in the process.
    
    So that, my friends, is it. Have a great new year, keep your ears open to new music, and contact us with your favorites and opinions on our favorites. May 2009 rock and rock hard!
    
    
    

Drag The River - My New Bestest Favoritest Band, or one of them...

Chad Price of Drag The River
Originally uploaded by matthewadamslife

File "Drag the River" under the category of Bands I would Like to Hear More from in 2009. Drag the River features Chad Price, who's warm vocals and homey style connect with the listener in an intimate way. Their material seems well thought out and tuneful, and the melodies stay with you. The music is consitently great, even while the lineup has been inconsistent over the years. I caught on to them with the Suburban Home sampler cd series, that feature the label's alt country, indie and lo-fi artists.
Here is some info from their website to give it all a little background:
"During the early days of the Blasting Room there were many open hours for learning how to make records. Jon & Chad recorded around 20 some songs in late '96 ... Whoever was in the studio that day could play. They just basically had to learn the songs in the time it took to play them. Over the next couple years those recordings were bootlegged alot.So they finally released "Hobo's Demos" and did some touring around the turn of the millennium. In March 2002 the band released "Closed" which was also on Upland/O&O records. That label is owned & operated by the All-Descendents family & co run by Joe Carducci of the legendary SST label. They put out all your favorite 80's punk records like Black Flag, the Minutemen, DESCENDENTS, Meat Puppets, FIREHOSE, Husker Du.....all those and too many more to mention.At that time Karl Alvarez left & J.J. from the NOBODYS joined and they started traveling more seriously. Later that Oct. 2002 they put out "Live at the Starlight" on Mars Motors (Jon, Flash and Chris Irwin's label) & produced their live, vinyl only release. That was a bar room idea that had little chance but actually happened. The companion to "Live at the Starlight" is "At the GREEN DOOR O.K.C." a humbling & totally different show recorded five days later in front of a less than excited crowd. The "Chicken Demos" is the sister release of "Hobo's Demos" and came out May 2004, also on Upland/O&O."Hey Buddies" e.p. was released in Nov. '04. 6 songs co-released by the fine people at Red Sand. It was super limited to begin with and more limited when more than half of them were stolen at a show in Green Bay. Two months later a more widely available version with different art & packaging was released by Mars Motors & distro'd by suburban home records....beginning that relationship. At this point Zach went back to school and the band kept on as a four piece....but not without infrequent visits from Chad Rex who easily stepped in when available. Casey Prestwood picked up the steel & lead duties for a year and a half from Feb. 2005 thru Oct. 2006. In October 2005 Paul entered his silver years surfing in California. He was in the band a full decade. He later joined the Street Dogs Dogs from Boston & has sat in with DTR on several occasions since.
Dave Barker played drums for a year and a half from the end of 2005 to the beginning or 2007.
In Dec. '05 the band mixed songs for 3 different 7inches. Chris Peirce of ''technical ecstasy studio" in N.J. mixed & recorded two songs for a "THIRD WORLD INDUSTRIES" 7in.& the others were mixed at Jon's where they were recorded.the first release is from our friend Darick's label "wallride" in MD.

In January '06 the band recorded a new record at the Hideaway in Sedalia Co. with Marc Benning. An all analog studio totally lost in the Colorado mountains.There is also a split with the DENTS from Boston where the bands cover each others songs.& Roger De Rok released ''gabba gabba HEY BUDDIES'' on vinyl w/ bonus songs. "It's Crazy" from Suburban Home Records came out June 6th 2006. 10 years of music for the band.January 2008 "you can't live this way." was released.Summer '08 more songs have been tracked & mixed in the garage and at the Blasting Room. Shows happened and continue to happen.
Some are Jon & Chad duo shows & as many are with J.J., Zach & Chris Pierce of N.J. on drums.....it never ends."
Check them out. You will be glad you did.

2009 Warped Tour Bands - Still Ironing Out the Details

These bands have been mentioned as Warped Tour 09 participants. We have some good ones. There are the classics like Anti Flag, NOFX, Bad Religion, Bouncing Souls, Less than Jake... These are the MUST SEE's... There are a lot of others on the list that are more specialized, such as ska-meisters Big D and the Kids Table, and the celt punk Flogging Molly, the more metal-tinged acts like Underoath and Thrice. Alot of the other bands are up and comers you will be better off for having seen as well. The Tour looks to be a nice primer for the school of punk, with something for every taste. From the ska, the old school, the emo's, the metallic, and the celt/folk punks. Get there early and take notes. School's out.

The list:
3OH!3
A Day to Remember
A Skylit Drive
Alexisonfire
Anti-Flag
Bad Religion
Bayside
Big D and the Kids Table
Black Tide
Bouncing Souls
Breathe Carolina
Brokencyde
Cash Cash
Chiodos
Dance Gavin Dance
Dear and the Headlights
Dirty Heads
Escape the Fate
Every Avenue
Flogging Molly
Gallows
Hit the Lights
I Set My Friends on Fire
Jeffree Star
Less Than Jake
Lights
Meg & Dia
Millionaires
NOFX
Outernational
P.O.S.
Saosin
Scary Kids Scaring Kids
Senses Fail
Shad
Silverstein
Sing it Loud
Streetlight Manifesto
Tat
The A.K.A.s
The Architects
The Ataris
The Devil Wears Prada
The Maine
The White Tie Affair
There For Tomorrow
Therefore I Am
Thrice
TV/TV
Underoath
Valencia
Westbound Train

Tour Dates - Warped Tour 2009

http://www.flickr.com/photos/captinoutrageous/2701984251/
Originally uploaded by captinoutrageous

While the venues have yet to be nailed down, the preliminary tour "route" has been mapped out. My favorite date is the one on my birthday July 30, in Milwaukee during the height of Summerfest. Sounds like a great time to me!

June 26, 2009 Pomona, CA
June 27, 2009 San Francisco, CA
June 28, 2009 Ventura, CA
June 30, 2009 Phoenix, AZ
July 1, 2009 Las Cruces, NM
July 2, 2009 San Antonio, TX
July 3, 2009 Houston, TX
July 5, 2009 Dallas, TX
July 7, 2009 Indianapolis, IN
July 8, 2009 Pittsburgh, PA
July 9, 2009 Cleveland, OH
July 10, 2009 Toronto, ON
July 11, 2009 Montreal, QC
July 12, 2009 Hartford, CT
July 14, 2009 Washington, DC
July 15, 2009 Buffalo, NY
July 16, 2009 Scranton, PA
July 17, 2009 Camden, NJ
July 18, 2009 Uniondale, NY
July 19, 2009 TBA, NJ
July 21, 2009 Boston, MA
July 22, 2009 Virginia Beach, VA
July 23, 2009 Charlotte, NC
July 24, 2009 Orlando, FL
July 25, 2009 Miami, FL
July 26, 2009 Tampa, FL
July 28, 2009 Atlanta, GA
July 29, 2009 Cincinnati, OH
July 30, 2009 Milwaukee, WI
July 31, 2009 Detroit, MI
August 1, 2009 Chicago, IL
August 2, 2009 Minneapolis, MN
August 3, 2009 St. Louis, MO
August 4, 2009 Kansas City, MO
August 7, 2009 Boise, ID
August 8, 2009 Salt Lake City, UT
August 9, 2009 Denver, CO
August 12, 2009 Calgary, AB
August 14, 2009 Vancouver, BC
August 15, 2009 Seattle, WA
August 16, 2009 Portland, OR
August 19, 2009 Fresno, CA
August 20, 2009 San Francisco, CA
August 21, 2009 Sacramento, CA
August 22, 2009 San Diego, CA
August 23, 2009 Los Angeles, CA

Nerf Herder : greatest band ever?

Nerf Herder : greatest band ever
Originally uploaded by shellorz

Out with their latest and greatest, Nerf Herder IV, the nerfs are back at it with more of their wacky SoCal party punk. They have been described as nerd rock, garage punk and one of the signs of the apocalypse (by none other than Buffy the Vampire Slayer), you gotta love Nerf Herder. Their name is taken from an insult Princess Leia laid on Han Solo in Star Wars. I caught on to these guys a little late, with their American Cheese cd, and by the airplay they got on the defunct XM radio station Fungus. All of their albums are full of fun tongue-in-cheek punk pop that will infect your brain like a bad computer virus. For those older punk fans in the world, you can hear them channel the Descendents and other fun-loving punk bands of yore in their sounds... My favorite track of the band is called Welcome to My World, which goes into great detail about the author's post-breakup life, which sounds quite bleak... The best part is how he starts raving about how much he hates the show Cheers, including that "...Dumbass mailman..."
So anyway, if you like your punk fun, lively and full of hilarity, you can do no wrong with Nerf Herder, SoCal punk's answer to (I forgot the question...).

Green Day at Work on New Album

Green Day
Originally uploaded by Verlage Photo

After the Punk Pop Opera of "American Idiot", Green Day has set the bar high for their new album.  In a recent interview, Billy Joe gives us the lowdown on a variety of topics regarding the new disc.This recording is being produced by Butch Vig. Butch has been behind the board on many of the fabulous cd's of our times. Billy Joe describes Butch this way:
" I think he's just got a lot of integrity and a lot of class, and one of the things I really respect about Butch is that he doesn't just go for things that are going to be million-sellers, or something that's gonna be massive for the sake of being massive, or is gonna look flashy on his resume or something. He works with a lot of different kinds of bands, and it could be a platinum band, or it could be more of a garage band... he's got a long history of that. He's just a very hard-working, straightforward guy. So it's good. I just had a lot of respect for him going into this record, and I knew his history, and so it wasn't really a matter of having to prepare him with any specific ideas. We talked a lot, and it was more just a thing where I was like, "I want to make something that's the best thing we've ever done, and the bar is really high for us this time." And he was like, "Wow, this could be really daunting, but it's really exciting at the same time." Because he wants to make the record of his dreams, also, so I think it was just sort of a good fit all around. He wasn't trying to change our style or anything; he just was really getting into the process, and everyone was kind of just coming together and bouncing ideas off each other and just getting really in-depth with the arrangements and the lyrics and stuff like that."
"I'm pushing myself to be progressive in songwriting and being a songwriter. I come from a culture where I'm into great albums, and I still believe in that. I'm not saying I can go for it this hard every time--there might be times when I want to have something that's a little bit more spontaneous and off the cuff--but with this record, the feeling's been that you've got to just go for it." "I'm trying to allow more time for things to incubate. I think any time you make a record, you look back and say, "God, this is what I would've done differently," you know? If was to look back at like the songs that were on the Slappy EP, I probably would've wanted for those songs to be on Kerplunk, or if I was to look at the records that came after Dookie, I would've probably allowed myself more time with Insomniac and Nimrod. So I'm learning those lessons, but at the same time, that doesn't mean that's the only way I'm ever gonna do anything. The Foxboro Hot Tubs record we did this year was, like, fly by the seat of your pants and just go. But I am allowing time, allowing for the process to happen naturally without having to force it. And that is a painstaking process, let me tell you. It's miserable." 

Green Day is one band I have not seen on tour, but look forward to the new album and touring. American Idiot will be a tough act to follow, but it seems like the guys have their heads and hearts in the right place. As they grow older and wiser, and have more life experiences, their music has, and will continue to grow. Punk is not about age, it is about point of view.

Ten Essential Grunge Artists You Should Know

Grunge
Originally uploaded by thedrio

In the minds of many, grunge is dead and gone. Though the heyday has long past, the genre did produce some very good and interesting bands. I like to compile lists of artists and albums that I call the "Ten Essential". In no particular order, I group up ten artists that I consider essential if you were to start a record collection of that genre. So break out the old jeans with the knees torn out and your best (torn) flannel shirt... without fanfare, here is my list of ten essential grunge artists you should know.

Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains, alongside Metallica, was the definitive metal band of the early '90s. The band featured a bleak, minimalistic sound that balanced grinding hard rock and subtle acoustic tracks. They straddled a line between metal, punk and garage that placed them among the front ranks of the Seattle-based grunge bands.

Green River
One of the first, if not THE first grunge band, and named for the Green River in the Seattle area, members went on to form other notable grunge bands such as Mother Love Bone, Mudhoney and Pearl Jam. Their tone has been described as dirty, sludgy and gleefully ugly... I can't disagree.

Mudhoney
Here is what allmusic.com says about the band. Mudhoney were the first real success story for Sub Pop Records; their indie-scene success laid the groundwork for the movement that would (briefly) make Seattle, WA, the new capital of the rock & roll universe; and they took the sweat-soaked and beer-fueled mixture of heavy metal muscle, punk attitude, and garage rock primitivism that would become known as "grunge" to the hipster audience for the first time, who would in turn sell it to a mass audience ready for something new. Well said...

Nirvana
The breakout artist of the grunge movement. They were not the first, but they were at the onset of grunge's popularity, with their gazillion seller "Nevermind". In the minds of many, they created grunge. We know this to be incorrect, but in terms of influence, Nirvana topped the scene. After Kurt Cobaine's death, a great post-grunge band Foo Fighters emerged from the ashes.

Pearl Jam
Back in '90, my roommate wore out the cd "Ten". I think it was my cd, but he wore it out. Rising from the ashes of Mother Love Bone, they went on to become one of the most popular bands of the '90s. According to allmusic.com: "After vocalist Andrew Wood overdosed on heroin in 1990, guitarist Stone Gossard and bassist Jeff Ament assembled a new band, bringing in Mike McCready on lead guitar and recording a demo with Soundgarden's Matt Cameron on drums. Thanks to future Pearl Jam drummer Jack Irons, the demo found its way to a 25-year-old San Diego surfer named Eddie Vedder, who overdubbed vocals and original lyrics and was subsequently invited to join the band." the rest is history, as they say.

Soundgarden
This was actually the first grunge band I caught on to. I heard their first outing, and it seemed to be a refreshing hard rock (read: non-hair band) take in the late 80s.A guy I know from A&M gave me a demo copy of their first record, and I enjoyed the fresh sounds. Zeppelinesque, I thought at the time. These guys brought a metal tone to alt rock.

L7
More than just the obligatory "all girl" band of the genre, L7 brought a punk sensibility and ethos to grunge. They hailed from LA, but were often lumped in with the "Seattle Movement" of the early '90s. Founded in 1985 by a pair of guitarists/singers, Suzi Gardner and Donita Sparks, they forged a sound that was in the right place at the right time for success. Suzi has punk street cred, as she was featured on Black Flag's "Slip it In".

Melvins
The Melvins revelled in the slow, sludgy sounds of Black Sabbath meets Black Flag. Slow and heavy and barren of indulgent guitar solos — it's dark and plodding. The Melvins' first record was released in 1987 and in 1993 they went to a major label, thanks to Kurt Cobain. The band formed in Aberdeen, WA, the same town that produced Nirvana's Cobain and Krist Novoselic.

Mother Love Bone
On the grunge family tree, this band gave birth to Pearl Jam. One of the original grunge acts, they were harkening back to a sound from the early 70's glam and metal scene. The untimely death of lead singer Andrew Wood brought about the early demise of MLB and the birth of Pearl Jam.

Screaming Trees
The Trees melded punk, psychedelia and metal into an awesome sound. Never quite the darlings of the MTV grunge explosion, they had a sound that seperated them from the run of the mill acts of the time. These guys were cut from their own cloth, and not easy to pidgeonhole alongside other acts and therefore never attained the towering heights of other Seattle area bands.

Stone Temple Pilots
Stone Temple Pilots turned grunge into stadium rock, to the delight of fans and scorn of critics, who saw them as derrivative of arena rock and other Seattle acts of their era. Less like the dark lyrics and droning of many other bands, they had a tight, radio-friendly sound that holds up pretty well.

Lou Reed- an American Original

Lou Reed at the Stone, NYC
Originally uploaded by wallyg

Look for Lou Reed's collected lyrics in book form, coming out next week on December 8th. "Pass Thru Fire" will include Lou's lyrics, collected like the poetry they are. Lou Reed has always been an original thinker, and not one to shrink away from any project. His lyrics read like a dime store mystery, his ability to set the scene and tone like a playwright. For those wanting a good glimpse of Lou's great lyrics, I suggest "New York", which was like a CNN documentary of NYC in the late 80s. I also recommend "Songs for Drella", which was an intimate warts- and- all portrait of Andy Warhol. These two are among my favorites.
Lou will also be appearing on the Sundance Channel with Elvis Costello next week. As they say, check your listings.