Das Efx's Dead Serious is one of those albums from the '90s that was incredibly influential for a very short time, but what a tiggedy-time it was. But if inferior rappers were openly stealing from Das Efx, a host of emo and pop-punk bands might not have even realized they were stealing from Placebo's self-titled debut album well into the 2000s.
In Our 1990s Ep. 44: The Church - Gold Afternoon Fix | The Sundays - Reading, Writing and Arithmetic
This week's show sets out to shatter all your illusions. We reveal that the title of the Church's follow-up to the beloved Starfish is not a reference to doing heroin, and that the Reading in the Sunday's debut album title has nothing to do with books.
In Our 1990s Ep 43: The Divine Comedy - Promenade | Big Audio Dynamite II - The Globe
We return after numerous home studio difficulties with a new episode featuring two albums that couldn't be farther apart. First there's Promenade, Neil Hannon's extremely mannered followup to the Divine Comedy's break out album, Liberation. Then there's the second coming of Mick Jones' post-Clash dance rock band, Big Audio Dynamite. The Globe is a fun snapshot of early '90s British rave culture, and we'll answer the question of just how many TB-303 filter knobs were abused in its creation (the answer might surprise you!).
In Our 1990s Ep. 42: Janes Addiction - Ritual de lo Habitual | Tiger Lillies - Births, Marriages and Deaths
WE'RE NOT DEAD! However, some new gear purchases did necessitate a complete teardown and rebuild of our recording studio, and getting this episode edited and posted just got lost in the shuffle of cables and hardware.
We start this long awaited (?) episode by taking on Jane's Addiction's beloved Ritual de lo Habitual, a very '90s clash of transcendent music and troubling lyrics about doing heroin with your high school girlfriend. Then we venture into the no less troubling or smack-filled world of the Tiger Lillies and their more cartoonish, if no less disturbing, take on the world's gutters.
In Our 1990s Ep. 41: Moby - Play | The Sugarcubes - Stick Around For Joy
This week we dive into Moby's Play, a landmark in electronic music whose legacy turns out to be as fraught as its creator has turned out to be in his...proclivities. Then we re-evaluate Stick Around For Joy, the possibly underrated and definitely over-European final record by the Sugarcubes.
In Our 1990s Ep 40: Plague Mass | Twoism | Autre | Candlebox
In our second obligation special, we're back with four more records that couldn't really carry a full length segment, encompassing some of the best and worst of what the '90s had to offer.
In Our 1990s Ep. 39: Wilco - A.M. | Ride - Nowhere
On our first official episode of spring, we look at new beginnings. Jeff Tweedy strikes out on his own after the breakup of Uncle Tupelo, with Wilco's debut, A.M. Then we go back to the early '90s for Ride's shoegaze milestone, Nowhere.
In Our 1990s Ep. 38: No Doubt - Tragic Kingdom | Switchblade Symphony - Serpentine Gallery
We return after some much needed time off with No Doubt's troubled breakout album; and because we love a good contrast, Switchblade Symphony's first experiment with their goth/industrial/classical hybrid sound.
In Our 1990s Ep. 37: The Magnetic Fields - 69 Love Songs
For our first Valentine's Day episode, we had to cover Stephin Merrit's magnum opus, 1999's three disc set, 69 Love Songs. Over 20 years later, does this sprawling effort live up to its reputation as a hipster classic? That's what we hope to discover this week as we dig into the funny, the miserable, and the beguiling of this collection.
In Our 1990s Ep. 36: Radiohead - Pablo Honey | Material Issue - International Pop Overthrow
This week it's the real Brits vs. the fake Brits. Radiohead and Material Issue both had somewhat unassuming debuts (the massive worldwide success of "Creep" aside), but one would go on to become the most famous and critically-acclaimed rock band in the world while the other would go on to record "Kim the Waitress."
In Our 1990s Ep 35: MF DOOM - Operation: Doomsday | Concrete Blonde - Bloodletting
In honor of the passing of the great MF DOOM, we rank his first solo album (and sadly the only one we'll get to talk about here) Operation: Doomsday. Then we move on to the world of accidental goth rock with Concrete Blonde's biggest, most vampiric record, Bloodletting.
In Our 1990s Ep. 34: The Cure - Wild Mood Swings | Rammstein - Sehnsucht
As one career goes into decline (at least for a while), another starts to bloom. Wild Mood Swings was the Cure's disappointing (to everyone but Robert Smith, apparently) followup to their masterpiece, Wish. Meanwhile in Germany, Rammstein was starting to blossom from an industrial metal band heavily influenced by KMFDM into artists with their own distinct voice.
In Our 1990s Ep. 33: Alice In Chains - Facelift | Pulp - Separations
Do you want to go in the box? Alice In Chains sounds like the want to go in the box. Pulp, on the other hand, breaks out of the C86 box and into the land of disco and Petula Clark.
In Our 1990s Ep. 32: Blur - Leisure | Moonpools & Caterpillars - Lucky Dumpling
After our week off, we return with an album that took trends and made them sound somewhat timeless, and an album that took somewhat timeless sounds and made them nearly unlistenable with obnoxious vocals. The '90s!
In Our 1990s Ep. 31: The La's - The La's | Bjork - Debut
The La's were one of the biggest one-hit wonders of the '90s, but did their one and only album contain even greater things than "There She Goes"? We also revisit Bjork's solo (technically not) debut and discover that this was trip-hop before we knew what that was.
See the full rankings here.
In Our 1990s Ep. 30: They Might Be Giants - Flood | Johnny Cash - American Recordings
It's a brand new podcast for 2020! If we really wanted to try, we could probably come up with a "Particle Man" joke about the Man In Black, but we already ranked these albums—what more do you want from us?!
See the full rankings here.
In Our 1990s Ep. 29: Pavement - Slanted and Enchanted | David Bowie - Earthling
Unprecedented events go down this week as we discuss Pavement's landmark indie rock album Slanted and Enchanted and David Bowie's better-than-you-remember foray into drum and bass, Earthling.
See the full rankings here.
In Our 1990s Ep. 28: The Reverend Horton Heat - Smoke 'em If You Got 'em | The Lemonheads - Lovey
Not going to lie, the world has made it a little tough to get new podcasts out lately, but please accept this belated look at songs about steaks and the stoves we cook them on.
See the full rankings: bit.ly/InOur1990s
Official Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2tH3ujR23fnqH2OlZPOxXR?si=C8SgrQiATbOhumy-H9wCIA
In Our 1990s Ep. 27: The Sisters Of Mercy - Vision Thing | The Cardigans - Emmerdale
It's Halloween, so we kick off with some spooky goth (butt) rock, the Sisters Of Mercy's final album Vision Thing. Then we break the theme entirely with the Cardigans' debut Emmerdale which...well, it has a discofied cover of "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath," so it counts, right?
See the full rankings: bit.ly/InOur1990s
Official Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2tH3ujR23fnqH2OlZPOxXR?si=C8SgrQiATbOhumy-H9wCIA
In Our 1990s Ep. 26: Marilyn Manson - Portrait Of An American Family | Messiah - Twenty First Century Jesus
It's time for cake and sawtooth waves, as we delve into Marilyn Manson's ostensibly shocking debut album, and the Messiah's ecstasy-fueled hardcore beats.
See the full rankings: bit.ly/InOur1990s
Official Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2tH3ujR23fnqH2OlZPOxXR?si=C8SgrQiATbOhumy-H9wCIA