Music from the 1990s is ever present as I guess every
generation’s music is 15 years or more after it happened. WEND 106.5 The End
never let go of the decade in the first place, but with package tours like the
Summerland Tour hitting Uptown Amphitheatre, the decade of grunge, nu-metal, rap
rock, and Britney Spears is back. I wouldn’t say it’s bigger than ever, but
instead of eyeing it suspiciously in our rearview mirrors music fans are
meeting it with warm nostalgia.
Everclear’s Summerland Tour, which hits town Sunday, and Barenaked
Ladies’ more pop-oriented Last Summer on Earth Tour both return to Uptown
Amphitheatre this summer. Everclear (pictured above) recruited Live, Filter, and
Sponge to round out tomorrow’s lineup. Barenaked Ladies’ bill, which hits
Charlotte July 25, includes Ben Fold Fives and Guster.
NC Music Factory’s Friday Live! series has long stirred `90s
nostalgia with bands like Soul Asylum, Tonic, Fuel,
and Spin Doctors filling complex’s
after work concert series’ calendar. Cowboy Mouth and Cracker close out the
series June 21 and 28, respectively.
I’ve been experiencing my own `90s nostalgia, but it has
little to do with new rock radio and more to do with bands I discovered while
working at The Record Exchange in the mid to late `90s. Some of those acts have
recently released new albums following 2012 entries from Jon Spencer Blues
Explosion, Dinosaur Jr., Soundgarden, Soul Asylum, No Doubt, and Hot Water
Music.
Violinist/singer-songwriter Lisa Germano (pictured above), who started out as
John Mellencamp’s fiddler, was a constant in my college years. She captured
beauty, humor, and depression with intimate, confessional, but quirky piano and
string-laden tunes. I lost track of her after 2003’s “Lullaby for Liquid Pig,”
but I’ve been getting reacquainted with her through her 2013 release “No
Elephants.” It’s as strange as when I left her. It’s not quite as accessible as
the albums she recorded for the 4AD label in the `90s (there were some downright pop moments on “Happiness,”
“Excerpts from a Love Circus,” and “Slide”), but her dreamy vocals and almost
stream-of-consciousness style of writing are still there. Lullaby is an apt
description, but hers are sonic experiments of ethereal dysfunction. They’re
never too dark though and there’s a lot of hope on this one.
England’s 4AD label also released The Breeders’ “Last Splash”
for its 20th anniversary, which is celebrated in a recent “LSXX” box
set - another slice of `90s nostalgia.
When I wasn’t
listening to pretty 4AD records in the `90s I was listening to what I think of
as snooty indie-rock with my co-workers and fast-paced punk rock (which those
same co-workers poo-pooed). Clutch was one that I originally considered a “boyfriend
band.” I got rid of the boyfriend, but kept the band. Clutch never took a
break, but its new album “Earth Rocker” is my favorite thing the bluesy/metallic
hard rock group has made since the `90s. It’s mostly fast, heavy, driving, and
groove-oriented - a very consistent album.
Boyfriends introduced me to countless punk bands that grew
to be favorites (Rancid, Naked Aggression, NOFX, Avail…), but one I found on my
own was Face To Face who plays Amos’ Wednesday. I bought all the group’s albums
until its 2004 breakup. My husband surprised me with tickets to see them in
Asheville after the birth of our second son two years ago. I was wishy washy
about making the drive with a girlfriend of mine. Were our pop-punk show days behind
us? We went anyway and that show was a fabulous reminder of everything I loved
about Face To Face and breakneck poppy punk shows to start with. What’s
interesting about its new album “Three Chords and a Half Truth” is that it
mines new territory 20-plus years into its existence. You can hear more Clash
and Social Distortion in its sound than before. It’s not simply rehashing tried
and true tricks.
Those releases just touch the surface. I feel like it’s a
good time for music from bands new and old. If its bands that had a presence in
the `90s that you’re looking for, several of those are reappearing. Stephen
Merritt’s Future Bible Heroes have a new one. Hardcore band BoySetsFire
releases its first album since 2006 next week. The Goo Goo Dolls, Jimmy Eat
World, SIgur Ros, Donna the Buffalo, and System of a Down’s Serj Tankian (doing
a symphonic record) have new records out in June. If you loved a band in the
`90s, Google them - they’re probably releasing something soon.
(Photo by James Dean from www.lisagermano.com)
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