I went out to my favorite local farm brewery a couple of weeks ago, the excellent Death Ridge Brewery in case you happen to find yourself in Virginia. It was the owner’s birthday so they had a couple of full-blown rock n roll cover bands slated to play throughout the day. The first band played all covers from the 1990’s. They were called Saving Napster (a clever name for a 90’s cover band I suppose). I listen to a ton of new music and an even bigger ton of old music, but I rarely find myself playing any Nirvana, Green Day, Weezer or even Oasis, all of which were on the set-list that day. And I have always hated Pearl Jam. So, I sat in this brewery having a great time playing name that tune with my wife and thinking that maybe I need to make a 1990’s playlist just for the hell of it. So I did. It’s full of stuff like Marvelous 3, Eve 6, Sparklehorse and R.E.M. (I like the album Monster.) I have lots of music from the 1990’s, some of which I love, but a lot of which did not stand the test of time, for me at least.
This got me thinking, did any of these bands, let alone songs, stand the test of time? Are any of these bands still relevant? So I started digging into my personal music library to see if anyone I like from the 1990’s is still cranking out some good stuff three decades later. It didn’t take too long to figure out that the list would not be long.
Let me get one thing out of the way right now. One of my favorite bands of the 1990’s that is still killing it is Watershed. With this piece, my plan was to absolutely avoid focusing on them because, well because my last post was dedicated purely to Watershed, and most Pencil Storm readers are fans already. Having said that however, they really are on a very short list. Joe and Colin may very well have been in their infant stages in the 1980’s, but their Watershed ep came out in 1990, so they are truly a 90’s band.
The bands I have come up with that I thought were great in the 1990’s and are still great today are actually plentiful. But here’s the rub, and the main point that I want to make: ALL THE BEST 1990’S ERA BANDS STARTED IN THE 1980’S. THEY’RE 80’S BANDS!!!
When I scribbled down the bands that I wanted to celebrate from the 1990’s I thought, “this will be great.” But then almost every band I thought of had actually started in the 80’s. Consider these:
1. SOUL ASYLUM
Alright, now we’re talking about some true survivors. Sure, it’s really just one true survivor, Dave Pirner, but he carries on the Soul Asylum name in fine fashion. I have seen Soul Asylum live within the last several years and they were outstanding. They have released records in 1990, 1992, 1995, 1998, 2006, 2012, 2016 and 2020. I like every single one of them. That’s pretty damn good if you ask me. The 1990 record And the Horse They Rode In On was the first one I ever heard, but the thing is, they have records going all the way back to 1984. They are not a band born in the 1990’s.
“Stand Up and Be Strong” from 2012
2. EVERCLEAR
Similarly to Soul Asylum, Everclear is really just Art Alexakis carrying on the name, but I have also seen this band play recently and they still rock. They released albums in 1993,1995,1997, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2011, 2012 and 2015. The 2015 release “Black is the New Black” is actually one of my favorites by them. So, this band actually qualifies for the list I set out to create-- they were born in the 1990’s.
“American Monster” Live from 2015
3. SOCIAL DISTORTION
Any fan of this band knows well that they came out of the hardcore punk scene in the 1980’s. But their amazing records were 1990’s releases. The self-titled record with “Ball and Chain” and so many other great songs was released in 1990. Subsequent releases in 1992, 1996 and 2004 were stellar as well. Alas, Mike Ness and the boys have slowed to a glacial crawl in output since then, releasing only 2011’s “Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes.” However, they tour extensively and I have seen them multiple times over the last decade. They are another band that thrived in the 1990’s but got started much earlier.
“Machine Gun Blues” from 2011
4. CRACKER
Hey, here’s another one that actually qualifies as a true 1990’s band. Cracker’s self-titled debut from 1990 was an instant classic. They followed with consistently decent efforts in 1993, 1996, and 1998. In the early 2000’s I feel that they lost their way (leaning heavily country), but 2009 and 2014 brought some decent releases. This is a band that continues to tour and plays an excellent and rocking live show. Often, lead man Dave Lowery will open Cracker shows with his other project, Camper Van Beethoven. Definitely still rocking in this decade. This is a good one for the list – born in 1990 (again, when I say “born,” I mean “released their first record”).
“Show Me How This Thing Works” from 2009
5. PAUL WESTERBERG
Here’s an interesting choice. Obviously, Paul Westerberg was knocking it out of the park in the 1980’s as front man of The Replacements. But his solo career actually did begin in the 1990’s. It got kicked off with the song “Dyslexic Heart” from the soundtrack of the movie “Singles” in 1992. That movie is the epitome of the 1990’s, isn’t it? His full length “14 Songs” followed in 1993 and subsequent albums came out in 1996 and 1999. There were records in 2002, 2003 and 2004, and a project with Juliana Hatfield (The I Don’t Cares) in 2016. Now that I look at this, Paul isn’t really doing much currently but I’m still going to say he’s a survivor. I love his solo stuff, but if you’re not paying attention, Tommy Stinson has one upped him over the years. There’s a lot of good output from him, but he has spread it over a number of various projects (Perfect, Bash & Pop, solo).
“As Far As I Know” lyric video from his 2004 release called “Folker”
I’m going to stop here, because I’ve managed to actually confuse myself and muddle my own points. When I started, Soul Asylum was my main inspiration, but when I began checking dates for various releases, the entire construct fell apart. All the bands I wanted to recognize seem to have started in the 80’s, Soul Asylum being case in point. Oasis hung on for a while, but they’re long gone (Look for them to reform & tour when the Gallagher brothers need an infusion of cash). Weezer seem to be doing great, but I don’t love them and they’ve been reduced to covering Toto, for Chrissakes. Collective Soul is still around as well, but they are a little bland at this point in their career.
So help me out. Let’s have a little participatory journalism: I’m going to throw it out to you – Pencil Stormers – who are YOUR votes for 1990’s bands that can still claim to be making great music in the 21st century?