Top Grunge-Pop Artists on Rhapsody Online

Foo Fighters

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:38:11 -0800

The Foo Fighters were the first and most successful success to emerge from the ashes of Nirvana, but the band's roots were in the years of personal recordings made by leader Dave Grohl. The former Nirvana drummer had played guitar and written songs since he was a Washington, D.C., teenager, while also playing drums in several hardcore bands. At age 17, Grohl became the drummer for the veteran punk act Scream. In 1990 he joined Nirvana, but continued to work on his own material during breaks from the road and studio. After finishing Nirvana's Nevermind, Grohl returned to D.C. to record several tracks, which were released on the cassette-only Pocketwatch. Plans for another cassette release were shelved with Kurt Cobain's 1994 suicide.

Later that year Grohl entered a studio with friend and producer Barrett Jones to record what would become the first Foo Fighters album. Grohl played all the instruments himself (with the exception of the song "X-Static," which featured guitar by Greg Dulli of the Afghan Whigs). Though he had written and sung just one Nirvana song (the B-side "Marigold"), Grohl demonstrated a flair for pop hooks and driving guitar rock. (The name Foo Fighters came from what American World War II pilots called unidentified fireballs spotted over Germany.) Grohl signed with Capitol and formed a band in time for a 1995 tour, recruiting bassist Nate Mendel and drummer William Goldsmith from the freshly-broken-up Sunny Day Real Estate. Pat Smear, the former Germs guitarist who had joined Nirvana for its final tour, also joined.

Foo Fighters (Number 23) was released in 1995 and spawned the Modern Rock hits "This Is a Call," "I'll Stick Around," and "Big Me." Goldsmith quit during the making of The Colour and the Shape (Number Ten, 1997), the first Foo Fighters album recorded as a band, and was replaced by Taylor Hawkins (Alanis Morissette). The album contained the Modern Rock hits "Monkey Wrench," "My Hero," and "Everlong." Smear quit and was briefly replaced by Franz Stahl (Scream) and then Chris Shiflett (No Use for a Name, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes), solidifying the lineup to date. Grohl relocated to Virginia and recorded There Is Nothing Left to Lose (Number 10, 1999) in his basement; the album included "Learn to Fly" (Number 13, 2000).

In 2001 the group began recording its fourth album in Los Angeles, but stopped before finishing. Grohl took a break from band-leading by getting behind the drums again for Queens of the Stone Age's superb 2002 album Songs for the Deaf. Refreshed, Grohl gathered the Foos back together and re-recorded almost the entire album at his Virginia home studio, released as One by One (Number Three, 2002). The album further consolidated the band's place as the well-loved elder statesmen of alt-rock.

In 2004, Grohl released Probot, the self-titled side project featuring a number of vocalists from heavy metal legends, among them Lemmy Kilmister (Motorhead), Snake (Voivod), King Diamond, and Max Cavalera (Sepultura, Soulfly). Later the same year, the Foos publicly backed John Kerry's presidential campaign, an endeavor Grohl said inspired the title of In Your Honor (Number Two, 2005), a double-CD featuring an acoustic disc and an electric one. It featured the hit "Best of You" (Number 18, 2005), later covered, to Grohl's great delight and surprise, by Prince during his bravura halftime appearance at the 2007 Super Bowl. (Foo Fighters had covered Prince's "Darling Nikki" on the B-side of the 2003 single "Have It All" and performed it live and on the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards with guest star Cee-Lo.) After a stopgap live disc, Skin and Bones (Number 21, 2006), Foo Fighters worked together again with Gil Norton, who'd produced The Colour and the Shape, and recorded the well received Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace (Number Three, 2007).

Weezer

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 10:00:45 -0800

Since coming together in Los Angeles in 1992, the members of Weezer have lived an especially capricious existence: In the course of a decade, they went from dorky alt-rock outsiders to absentee cult figures to arena-filling megastars. The band's original lineup — lead singer and songwriter Rivers Cuomo, bassist Matt Sharp, drummer Patrick Wilson and guitarist Brian Bell — looked uncomfortable from the get-go, posing for the cover of their 1994 self-titled debut as though they were waiting to be noogied. Produced by ex-Cars frontman Ric Ocasek, Weezer (Number 16), which came to be known as the Blue Album, could not have sounded more antithetic to the grunge-rock and pop-punk that was dominating modern-rock radio at the time; Cuomo was neither as cynical as Kurt Cobain nor as charmingly infantile as Billie Joe Armstrong, and the unapologetic riffs made it clear that he was more influenced by the likes of Heaven Tonight than Raw Power. Songs like "Undone - The Sweater Song" (Number 57, 1994) and "The World Has Turned and Left Me Here" sound like handwritten notes found at the bottom of a locker — the early musings of a colossally self-aware nerd. And while the album's best-known song, "Buddy Holly" (Number 2 Modern Rock, 1994) was bolstered by Spike Jonze's nostalgia-tripping Happy Days video, its success was due less to the Fonz and more to the song's chimerical young-and-in-love chorus: "Wooh-e-oooh, I like just like Buddy Holly/Oh-oh, and you're Mary Tyler Moore." Weezer would sell more than 3 million copies, and a 2004 reissued edition includes several worthy B-sides.

Cuomo had originally intended for Weezer's follow-up to be a sci-fi rock opera called Songs from the Black Hole, but after recording a series of tracks by himself, he shelved the project in favor of Pinkerton (Number 19, 1996). Though it's since become a fan favorite and a bellwether for he late-'90s emo boom, Pinkerton was initially seen as a downer: Cuomo had undergone a painful leg operation after the Blue Album, and the new LP was packed with brutally honest songs about falling in love with lesbians and teenage fans living oceans away; the opening track, tellingly, was "Tired of Sex," and songs like "El Scorcho" (Number 19 Modern Rock, 1996), and "The Good Life" (Number 32 Modern Rock, 1996) were rife with frustration. The album takes its name from a character in Madame Butterfly, and the record is peppered with references to the opera. After a tour in support of the album — which failed to reach platinum — Sharp left the band to spend more time with his new-wave side project, the Rentals, while Cuomo dropped out of view altogether, prompting rumors that he had begun a Brian Wilson-like retreat from society (Cuomo left Harvard but returned again, earning his English degree in June 2006). Between 1997 and 2000, the band released only a handful of songs, including a cover of "Velouria" for a Pixies tribute album. But the band retained an ardent following on the Internet, as evidenced by the numerous threads about Pinkerton, which was quickly becoming a cult favorite.

In 2000, the band reformed for a string of shows on the Warped Tour, where Sharp was replaced by bassist Mikey Welsh, a former member of Juliana Hatfield's backing band. The live dates were a success, prompting a sold-out mini-tour and a new album, titled Weezer (2001), which debuted at Number 4 on the Billboard charts and retuned the band to its power-chord grandeur. With Ocasek returning as producer, the so-called "Green album" gave the band two of the biggest hits of its career: "Hash Pipe" (Number Two Modern Rock), and "Island in the Sun" (Number 11 Modern Rock), a lulling ballad that later wound up being covered for a tropical-resort ad. A few months after the Green Album's release, Welsh experienced a psychotic breakdown, and was replaced by bassist Scott Shriner.

Almost exactly a year after the release of the Green Album, Weezer delivered Maladroit (Number Three, 2002). Due in part to Cuomo's abundant songwriting output, many of the self-financed Maladroit tracks had already appeared in demo form on the band's Website, and the songs' early release spurred a public battle between the band and its label, Interscope Records. But neither the controversy — nor the inclusion of singles "Dope Nose" (Number 8 Modern Rock) and "Keep Fishin'" (Number 15 Modern Rock) — could prevent Maladroit, an album that paid homage to several of Cuomo's metal influences, from becoming a commercial misfire.

Weezer teamed with Rick Rubin for 2005's Make Believe (Number Two), an album that gave the band its biggest single to date: the Grammy-nominated "Beverly Hills" (Number 10, 2005) a sarcastic anti-fame rant that was misinterpreted by some as an ode to luxury branding. Longtime fans lamented that the Weezer responsible for Pinkerton was long gone, but "Beverly Hills" and the piano-plunking anthem "Perfect Situation" (Number 51, 2006) helped Make Believe sell more than a million copies in the U.S., and prompted an arena tour with the Foo Fighters.

In 2007, Cuomo released Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo (Number 163), a collection of demos that included songs originally intended for the long-jettisoned Songs from the Black Hole album. Weezer's sixth album, once again produced by Rick Rubin — and once again titled Weezer — was released June 3rd, 2008. The Red Album, as it's known, spawned the single "Pork and Beans," which came with a clever video featuring many YouTube stars. The band is reportedly prepping another album produced by Jacknife Lee for 2009.

Goo Goo Dolls

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 10:00:44 -0800

Often compared to the Replacements and Cheap Trick, the Goo Goo Dolls' tattered, anthemic beginnings were documented on Metal Blade Records -- home to such other "alt rockers" as D.R.I., GWAR, and Fates Warning. Perennial headbangers, their noisy forays embraced the excesses of Sonic Youth and Oh My Gawd!-era Flaming Lips as much as they harnessed the raw punk energy of the Replacements. The 'Mats references don't really start to make sense until the fourth and fifth albums, when their songwriting developed past three chords-and-some-noise songs to eventually include string sections and over-rehearsed dynamics (see Superstar Car Wash). Their sixth album, A Boy Named Goo, offered the megahit "Name," a song so sweetly infectious and clean it seemed to deny any previous knowledge of metal. Now comfortably marketed to the 'burbs rather than the seedy, beer-soaked parts of town they once ruled, a VH-1 Behind the Music special about the band would probably seem more like an episode of the X-Files than a documentary. The band followed-up their breakthrough album with 1998's Dizzy Up the Girl, scoring the Goo Goo Dolls another round of chart hits with "Slide" and "Iris," a monster power ballad written for the City of Angels soundtrack. A result of the band's over-the-top success was that frontman Johnny Rzeznik ended up spending a great deal of time in Los Angeles; eventually moving there. In 2002, they released the rather glossy Gutterflower marking the first hiccup for the band. Rzeznik, who was having trouble adjusting to living in Los Angeles and fame in general, found himself divorced, uninspired by his new surroundings and with relative commercial bomb on his hands. In July, 2004, the Goo Goo Dolls played a Fourth of July concert for their fans. The free concert was held in the band's hometown of Buffalo, New York, and captured the magic of the band perfectly -- even the unseasonable rain couldn't dampen the enthusiasm of the crowd that day. Fittingly, the Goos released Live in Buffalo shortly thereafter. The experience restored Rzeznik's spirits and once again, the singer found himself packing his belongings and moving across country. In the transition, the band's label released What I Learned About Ego, Opinion, Art & Commerce, a somewhat wishy-washy compilation of remixes and early tracks. Once back in Buffalo, the beleagured singer's creative juices started flowing once again. He and bandmate Robbie Takac rekindled their songwriting partnership, which had fallen by the wayside after SuperstarCarWash was released. The result was 2006's return to form, Let Love In, an inspired effort produced by Glen Ballard. - Linda Ryan

Silversun Pickups

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 09:26:53 -0700

With their distorted vocals, winding guitars drenched in warm, crubling effect pedals and raw-riffing rock power, the Silversun Pickups rightfully garner many a comparison to alt-rock '90s heroes the Smashing Pumpkins (minus Billy Corgan's nasally croon, though). But that's merely what you'll hear on the surface of their sound. Beneath that veneer, the washed out guitar textures and barbed, melodic harmonies recall early Breeders and latter-day Nirvana. But the Pickups also have a tendency to lean hard on poppier West Coast indie rock songwriting sensibilities a la Earlimart. A product of L.A.'s incestuous music scene, founder Brian Aubert has said that the sum of his band's parts can be blamed on what he calls the "tumbleweed effect" -- it blows along and influences stick to it. He also says that the band was ushered onto the live stage before they were ready to play, which forced it to either crash-land or flap their wings and learn to fly. Listening to their 2006 debut long player Carnavas and follow-up Swoon reveals that they were able to pull off the latter. - Eric Shea

Stone Temple Pilots

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 10:00:48 -0800

Though plagued by unaccepting critics over their career, Stone Temple Pilots have continued to win fans, selling more than 20 million albums and grabbing a Grammy in the process. Among the early harbingers of grunge, STP draw from influences such as Led Zeppelin and Black Flag to create their own influential sound. - Jessy Terry

Collective Soul

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 10:01:14 -0800

Collective Soul is a thinking man's AOR band combining the grit of post-Seattle rock with melodic vocals and occasionally Hip-Hop-flavored percussion. They've enjoyed no small amount of success with the 25-30 age group interested in serious "alternative" music and continue to release world-conscious music in the passionate vein of Zooropa-era U2. Frontman and main contributor Ed Roland shows a strong Natalie Merchant influence, especially when he dances. - Mike McGuirk

Third Eye Blind

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 10:09:48 -0800

One of the leaders in the slew of modern bands releasing lyrically-driven, post-Nirvana rock that incorporates a variety of styles to create one of their own. Third Eye Blind's combination of rock guitars, Beatles harmonies and emotionally charged vocals has been scoring hits since they burst on the scene in 1997 with "Semi-Charmed Life." They fall in the same category as Foo Fighters and Everclear, with smart, post-grunge pop that appeals to adult audiences as well as college-aged kids. Since the 1990s, their material has shown off a more muscle-bound unit than before. - Mike McGuirk

Sick Puppies

Wed, 4 Nov 2009 12:13:53 -0800

In their home country of Australia, Sick Puppies hit the big time a long time ago. Singer/guitarist Shimon Moore and bassist Emma Anzai met in 1997 in their high school music room, bonded over Silverchair, and formed a band with drummer Chris Mileski. In the decade that followed, the Puppies added an album and some EPs, several national tours, and a hotly downloaded cover of Destiny's Child "Say My Name" to their resume.

Stateside, however, Sick Puppies are another YouTube success story. To save up money for the band's planned attack on the American market, Moore got a job at a Sydney mall, where he befriended and videoed a man named Juan Mann, who stood outside the mall every day with a sign reading "Free Hugs." When Mann's grandmother died, Moore edited that footage into a short video that chronicled Mann's Free Hugs Campaign, set it to the Puppies' "Nothing Really Matters," and sent it to Mann as a sympathy card. Moved, Mann posted the video to YouTube. By the end of 2006, "Free Hugs" had reached 11 million views, was featured on Oprah and CNN, and helped the Puppies (now with Mark Goodwin on drums) snag a deal with Virgin to release 2007's Dressed Up as Life. - Rachel Devitt

Gin Blossoms

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:55:01 -0800

Jangly and catchy, the Gin Blossoms skyrocketed out of the Phoenix bar scene in the early '90s with the one-two combination of "Hey Jealousy" and "Found Out About You," which you may have missed if you were either away from Earth during those years or have only recently regained your hearing. Their collage of college-friendly sounds combined rootsy grit with grungy modern rock to dominate the airwaves for over a year. - Jessy Terry

Bush

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:50:58 -0800

When Nirvana closed up shop in 1994, Britain's Bush was quick to seize an opportunity in a suddenly vacant market. Singer/guitarist Gavin Rossdale's howl echoes that of the late Kurt Cobain, yet something about Bush's craft screams "We Are the Champions," instead of "Loser." And they certainly were, on our side of the Atlantic, anyway. Their debut, 1994's Sixteen Stone, became a huge smash, beginning with the MTV-approved lead single, "Everything Zen." Despite their Steve Albini-produced second album, the critics hated them, accusing them of being pre-fab Nirvana also-rans. But the fans loved Bush, attending the band's sold-out tours by the thousands and supporting three more studio albums, plus a greatest-hits collection, an album of remixes and 2005's Zen X Four, which compiled their top videos and acoustic and live versions of their career hits. Lead guitarist Nigel Pulsford left to spend more time with his family in 2002, and the rest of the band decided to take a break to pursue other projects. Pretty boy Rossdale has, naturally, kept busiest, forming the band Institute in 2004, settling into family life with wife Gwen Stefani and working on a solo album. - Rachel Devitt

Everclear

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 10:25:37 -0800

Portland's Everclear is the most successful of the post-grungesters when it comes to being a household name. Formed in Portland in 1991, Everclear hit the turbo boost button and made short work of any possible contemporaries in 1995 with Sparkle and Fade. Not that the key ingredients are anything fancy: grinding, crunchy guitars littered with catchy punk-pop riffs and an occasional flirtation with the blues. Their stranglehold on the charts exists because singer/guitarist Art Alexakis' gritty vocals and personal, emotionally charged lyrics take center stage to the music. Is it grunge? Is it pop? Never mind. The band's stock lies in their empathetic storytelling. To wit: "Father of Mine" recounts Alexakis' anger at being deserted by his father, and "Fire Maple Song" deals with the loss of his brother to heroin (not to mention the singer's own battle with drug addiction). On this cut, Everclear serve up "unloved, American style," with a muscular take on the Smiths' classic mope anthem. - Kali Holloway

Better Than Ezra

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:38:16 -0800

Better Than Ezra entered the marketplace at the tail end of the grunge explosion, combining Seattle rock's emotional intensity with jangle pop accessibility and strong CBS-format savvy. Quickly tiring of formulaic guitar songs, Better Than Ezra's later records reveal their ability to evolve, as they incorporate elements of electronica and post-Radiohead sonic innovation. - Mike McGuirk

Yellowcard

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 09:38:24 -0800

Yellowcard's fortunes took a turn for the better when the Jacksonville, Fla., band headed off to Southern California in 2000. With their lineup solidified, Yellowcard released two independent EPs that richly captured their catchy emo-meets-punk-pop sound. Sharp songwriting and their idiosyncratic use of a violin helped set them apart from other similar-sounding bands. Capitol Records was intrigued enough by the offbeat combination to sign them in 2003. Their success continued with the release of Ocean Avenue in 2004, which spawned a series of hit singles and went double platinum. As their fortunes rose, internal tensions erupted, with original guitarist Ben Harper departing the band to focus on his indie label, Takeover Records. He was replaced by Ryan Mendez, previously in the punk band Staring Back. - Michele K-Tel

Presidents of the United States of America

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:22:59 -0800

Besides the Presidents' numerous platinum-selling singles, the Seattle band is best known for its cover of Ian Hunter's "Cleveland Rocks," which is used as the theme song for the Drew Carey Show. Expect more of the same ultra-catchy, self-effacing, slightly goofy songwriting in their albums: the guitars buzz with pure Seattle howl before breaking into a jangly pop jag. It's bouncy, simple and fun, but definitely not dumb. - Mark Murrmann

Filter

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 11:50:43 -0800

Although Filter haven't abandoned the Industrial Metal formula that broke them big -- the combination of aggression and catchy riffs continues with songs such as "Welcome to the Fold" -- they offer quite a bit of diversity in their music. "Take A Picture" is dreamy and poppy, opening with acoustic guitars playing a progression that's positively folksy. - Will Lerner

Marcy Playground

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:55:03 -0800

Marcy Playground emerged in the late '90s with the omnipresent radio hit, "Sex and Candy," which seemed to strike a chord with its darkly witty lyrics and palatable quirkiness. Lumped in with the group of critically maligned artists deemed as "Post Grunge," Marcy Playground have shown more creativity than the watered-down edginess of other Buzz Bin candidates. Showing more than a passing interest in songwriting, frontman John Wozniak manages to express his "I'm an outsider" vibe with well-placed minor keys and radio-friendly orchestration. - Jon Pruett

Silverchair

Mon, 2 Nov 2009 10:53:04 -0800

Silverchair was a mid-nineties platinum-selling teen-alternative trio from Australia that looked like a younger Nirvana and sounded like a prepubescent Pearl Jam. The band's first single, the menacing, angsty "Tomorrow," shot to the Modern Rock Top Ten in the midst of grunge-mania in 1995, thrusting the fifteen-year-old band members into the discombobulating world of rock stardom with little safety net. By the early 2000s Silverchair had morphed into a more mature experimental pop-rock band employing the eccentric arrangements of Van Dyke Parks.

Singer and guitarist Daniel Johns was twelve when he formed the Innocent Criminals with his Newcastle, Australia, drummer buddy Ben Gillies and bassist Chris Joannou. The trio had been playing youth shows around the city when, in 1994, they won a demo competition with "Tomorrow." Their popularity attracted the attention of Sony Music, which signed the newly christened Silverchair to a three-album deal. After "Tomorrow" spent six weeks at Number One in Australia, the band re-recorded the song and video for a U.S. release in 1995. It was such a huge hit on Modern Rock radio that the band's label rushed out a debut album, Frogstomp (Number Nine, 1995), recorded in just nine days. Critics dissected the band, calling them derivative and ridiculing the adolescent songwriting. By then, the members were all of fifteen years old. Silverchair gained a loyal fan base, though, becoming the biggest Aussie act since INXS, with Frogstomp selling 2.5 million copies worldwide.

Responding to all the scrutiny, Silverchair followed up with Freak Show (Number 12, 1997), in which Johns, in the track "Cemetery," announced in his self-deprecating, Kurt Cobain best, "I need a change/Not to imitate/But to irritate/All the ones who hate." The music still owed much to the so-called Seattle Sound, but "Cemetery" and other songs hinted at changes to come in the unusual string arrangements of Jane Scarpantoni, known for her work with R.E.M., the Lounge Lizards and Throwing Muses' Kristin Hersh. Freak Show didn't sell nearly as well as Frogstomp, but it produced another Top Ten Modern Rock single, "Abuse Me" (Number 4).

The band members had graduated high school by the time of Neon Ballroom (Number 50, 1999), which continued Silverchair's experiments with orchestration in songs like the epic "Emotion Sickness." While the band's stateside fans were losing interest in the former teenaged grungesters, Silverchair had become superstars in their native Australia, as well as in Canada and South America, where Neon Ballroom became their biggest-selling album. The band members' personal lives became fodder for the tabloids, especially singer Johns' eating disorder, which he addresses in Neon Ballroom's "Ana's Song (Open Fire)" (Number 12, 1999).

Silverchair switched to Atlantic Records and took a three-year break before releasing 2002's Diorama, a radical departure from the band's earlier albums. Nearing his mid-twenties, Daniels' voice had both strengthened and softened, and the musical arrangements expanded to include multi-part songs with sweeping, Brian Wilson-like harmonies and melodies, partly courtesy of longtime Wilson orchestrator Van Dyke Parks. The album, with nary a hint of grunge, was embraced by critics but barely registered on the U.S. charts and produced no stateside singles. The band took an even longer hiatus between Diorama and 2007's Young Modern, which continued the band's collaboration with Parks (the title of the album comes from Parks' nickname for Johns). Critics again hailed Silverchair's growth, but like its predecessor the album tanked in U.S. It hardly hurt the band; back home in Australia, Young Modern was Silverchair's fifth consecutive album to debut at Number One, surpassing two of the country's other biggest acts, Midnight Oil and INXS.

Tonic

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 11:27:38 -0800

Picking up where forerunners such as Blind Melon left off, Tonic's twang-friendly Post-Grunge has transfixed listeners since their 1996 debut. Rife with thick guitar hooks, snappy arrangements, and singer Emerson Harts melodic, impassioned voice, you get helplessly catchy, engaging songs. Added bits of lap steel and mandolin lend a rootsy flavor, resulting in a mix comparable to that of such like-minded contemporaries as Matchbox 20, Sister Hazel and the Wallflowers. - Nicholas Baker

Seven Mary Three

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:04:55 -0700

With perhaps the best song about unwanted weight gain ever written to their credit, Seven Mary Three is certain to live on in CBS-formatted suspension long after they decide to call it quits -- whenever that may be. Best known for the 1995 Grunge Pop fave "Cumbersome," the bottom-heavy trio continues to put out records, alternating between a big guitar, Pearl Jam-lite formula and gritty, introspective acoustica. - Mike McGuirk

Plumb

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 11:11:39 -0700

With danceable beats, noisy guitars and hooky choruses, Plumb bears a certain resemblance to Garbage. Spiritually minded lyrics are layered in alternately subtle and overt metaphors. These songs could easily appeal to secular modern rock fans. - Will Lerner

The Verve Pipe

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 10:00:42 -0800

The Verve Pipe came to the public eye via the 1996 alternative radio hit "The Freshmen." Its brooding frailty caught the listener's ear, vaguely evoking feelings of loss, and images of boarding school. Mournful guitar pickings, singer/guitarist Brian Vander Ark's doleful whispering, and a faint military snare beat made the band champions du jour of the (adolescent) downtrodden. Understandably eager to shirk the one-trick pony tag, the Verve Pipe enlisted the help of producer Michael Beinhorn (Marilyn Manson, Hole) and mixer Jack Joseph Puig (Remy Zero) for a more upbeat shimmer on their 1999 self-titled CD. Singsong cadences, big fuzzy guitars, playful vocal harmonies, and space age background noises are all here for your listening pleasure. - Eric Shea

OK Go

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:55:12 -0800

OK Go are four guys from Chicago who write songs that don't seem to have much deep meaning yet are jam-packed with whiz kid hooks. They might appear as a fun-loving college band without serious intentions, but that's not exactly true. They were signed to a major label right after forming in 1998. They've had hit singles played on the radio ("Get Over It" from their debut) but to their credit, they don't engage in pretentious rock star posing (except for their recent tongue-in-cheek pimped out fashion sense) going so far as to make fun of themselves by learning a complicated 1980s-era dance routine (choreographed by a band member's sister) for the sake of their live show. This resulted in a fall-on-the-floor hysterical music video for "A Million Ways," which was recorded in a suburban backyard. It was never intended for public release, but like the Tommy Lee and Pamela video, it caught on in an online whirl, and they were forced to release it as their next single. But despite all signs indicating that they are carefree funsters, OK Go are also NPR-loving brainiacs and perfectionists who compose scores for underground indie flicks and worked closely with producer Tore (Franz Ferdinand) Johansson on their sophomore album recording scores of songs, only to abandon many of them when they didn't seem worthy of release. OK Go just make it look like they're effortlessly churning out power pop when in truth they work hard and relentlessly -- even moving to Los Angeles to help further their prodigious career goals. - Michele K-Tel

Refreshments

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:23:44 -0800

Dishwalla

Wed, 4 Nov 2009 12:13:50 -0800

Dishwalla came from the coastside college town of Santa Barbara, Calif. just a couple hour's drive from Los Angeles. The band made a name for themselves playing their noisy Post-Grunge in venues between the two cities, and eventually got noticed by A&M records. Things were looking good for Dishwalla when their eponymous debut was released in 1995, but it came and went without incident. It would take "Counting Blue Cars" from their follow-up album to hit, thanks in part to radio's positive reaction to the single, which, according to Billboard magazine, was Modern Rock radio's most played song in 1996. The band's fuzzy, bottom-heavy Grunge Pop has the guitar crunch and pop hooks that has become a staple of the format. 1998's And You Think You Know What Life's About saw the band stretch their legs a bit, and try new ideas. The album failed to light any fires. Time will tell if Dishwalla will go down in history as yet another one-hit-wonder. But certainly, for a time in the mid 1990's, they were in their zenith. - Linda Ryan

Default

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 10:01:33 -0800

Default are a Vancouver group with a strong Nickelback connection who've made quite an impression on commercial rock radio. Nickelback's Chad Kroeger produced the band's debut and had a hand in the songwriting, as well, but that doesn't mean Default are merely riding the Coattail Express. The boys are definitely able to kick up a riff-ravaged classic rock storm of their own. In the land of radio-friendly alt-rock, Default are kings. - Jon Pruett

The Calling

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 10:09:53 -0800

This Los Angeles group specializes in epic, roots-oriented, alternative radio hits for the new millennium. With an earnest and inspirational tone, the group details its struggle with big issues. Mega-ballads such as "Wherever You Will Go" provided much sing-a-long fodder in 2001. - Jon Pruett

Nine Days

Tue, 12 May 2009 11:19:41 -0700

This Long Island quintet won WLIR's Best Unsigned Band and WBAB's Homegrown Talent Search, and it's easy to hear why. Nine Days add grunged-out guitars to their otherwise sanitized pop for a sound that's mostly clean, but still a bit messy around the edges. And with that sort of non-offensive, mass-appeal sound, it's no wonder songs such as "Absolutely (Story of a Girl)" have topped the Top-40 and Adult Alternative charts. - Linda Ryan

Mae

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 10:25:17 -0800

Mae is an emo/post-grunge hybrid with artsy tendencies. Signed to Tooth & Nail Records, the band released its first album, Destination: Beautiful, in 2003. The group plays emotionally-charged music that has a darkish side but is ultimately very positive, never straying too far from the more sedate pieces they appear most comfortable with. - Mike McGuirk

Crazy Town

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 09:34:56 -0700

Veruca Salt

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:04:14 -0700

The well-nigh incessant rotation of Veruca Salt's massive hits was a burden on many a radio listener back in 1994. But perhaps all the critical hostility directed at this band was something of a backlash to the still-recent success of Nirvana and resultant transition of Grunge from an underground phenomenon to the sort of thing played over the speaker system at K-Mart. But today their music is easier to take. Their Cheap Trick-meets-Pistols formula, no longer bogged down by any perceived sellout baggage, is lean and mean, with the added bonus of sounding best when turned up very loud. The fact of their talent with Punk-damaged AOR hooks cannot be disputed, and the bad-ass Chrissie Hynde tone of their vocals is fun now that nobody cares about the credibility of Grunge anymore. After a long hiatus, Veruca Salt have returned with an even tougher sound that appears to pick up where L7 left off. - Eric Shea

Stroke 9

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:09:54 -0800

With guitars that chime and ring as loudly as they buzz, San Francisco's Stroke 9 master the often imitated overdriven, guitar pop sound. High-profile appearances in movies such as EdTV and albums loaded with radio-friendly pop hooks should ensure Stroke 9 a healthy career. - Linda Ryan

American Hi-Fi

Wed, 4 Nov 2009 12:13:51 -0800

American Hi-Fi had a running start on their career since drummer Stacy Jones had already logged in time with two pillars of the 1990s alternative Zeitgeist, Letters to Cleo and Veruca Salt. When Salt singer Nina Gordon asked Jones to help her record her solo album, he jumped at the chance. But helping her give birth to Tonight and the Rest of My Life, only whetted Jones's appetite to form his own band. He looked around for some like-minded musicians, and began making plans on exactly how to turn his love for the Pixies, the Lemonheads, Buffalo Tom and Julian Hatfield into something he could be proud of -- and hopefully also land on the radio.

Oddly, Jones, a crack skin-beater, decided he wanted to play guitar and sing in his band, despite the fact he had only just taught himself how to play the instrument in the back of the bus on tour for Veruca Salt's second album. On a break from the road, Jones convinced his best friends -- bassist Drew Parsons, drummer Brian Nolan, and guitarist Jamie Arentzen -- to meet him at Letters to Cleo's old rehearsal space to jam on some Cheap Trick covers. The results were so good that they played until they came up with a set of pop gems full of cheeky attitude and big guitar hooks. Jones gave a demo to Bob Rock, who was producing Gordon's solo album. Rock was so charmed he agreed to record the band's self-titled debut at his Maui studios. Call it beginner's luck, but "Flavor of the Weak" gave the new band their first radio hit in 2001. Live In Tokyo followed the next year; then American Hi-Fi engaged Nick Cave's favorite producer, Nick Launay, for their third offering, The Art of Losing, which showed a harder, more aggressive side that merged the pop lyricism of the Jam with the fire of the Clash. There wasn't a clear hit on this sophomore effort, and the band's label, Island Records, decided to drop them in what Jones claims was a decision that the future of music was with emo bands.

A move to Los Angeles led to another stylistic change, as the band set up camp at a studio in Korea Town that used to belong to Hole's Eric Erlandson and hired producer-of-the moment, Butch Walker, to man the boards. The result, Hearts on Parade, was more anthemic and seamless than anything they'd done before: its songs of longing, heartache and redemption finally captured some of that Pixie magic that inflamed Jones at the onset, and also drew on the frenetic speed of Blur and the tetchy anger of Joe Jackson. With the LP released in Japan, the band embarked on a tour with producer Walker in the hopes that a U.S. label would be captivated by their new sound. One was. Maverick signed them up, releasing Parade in April 2005. - Jaan Uhelszki

Saving Jane

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 11:03:36 -0800

Chad Kroeger

Sat, 3 Oct 2009 10:44:49 -0700

Michael Johns

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 12:21:07 -0700

The Posies

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 11:46:51 -0800

Keeping the Power Pop flame alive in the 1990s, Seattle's Posies sound like an updated, even poppier version of Big Star. Supreme melodic instinct and insanely catchy songs have made them critical faves for years. - Charles Hodgkins

Len

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 11:52:08 -0700

The Flys

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 11:55:34 -0700

Dramatic Hollywood alterna-rawk band with a singer who tries his hand at rapping every now and again. Radio-friendly songs feature catchy melodies and diamond-edged hooks. - Eric Shea

Oleander

Wed, 4 Nov 2009 12:13:51 -0800

Plowing the fertile fields of post-Nirvana alterna-crunch, Oleander stand above the pack with a fine Kurt impression and massive guitars. Scoring a hit with "Down When I'm Loaded," Oleander have made it to the major label big time and plan to stay there with loud and angry music that treads the uncertain ground between Bush's cold melodicism and the metallic power-noise of Indie Grungers Local H. - Mike McGuirk

Lucky Boys Confusion

Fri, 22 May 2009 17:08:08 -0700

Suburban Chicago band plays something they call "reggae-punk-hop." This means they watch MTV a lot and spit back the hooks of three current hit videos at once. Big, poppy songs with just enough groove to seem cool.

k's choice

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 10:09:32 -0800

Belgian outfit kick out a range of alt-rock, from Grunge-inspired tunes to more ambient work that verges on Trip-Hop. Aesthetic bonus: one more pack of cigarettes and the lead singer's voice would drop two octaves. - Sarah Bardeen

Wheatus

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 10:25:34 -0800

Wheatus play fun alternative pop songs with erupting, Godzilla-sized guitars that stomp through down-tempo chords. Much like Weezer, their songs are loaded with self-deprecating irony and pop culture references. Their song "Teenage Dirtbag" was featured in the movie Loser. - Mark Murrmann

Ace Young

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 20:31:20 -0700

Ace Young spent his time wisely on American Idol. He impressed the judges enough to survive a good chunk of the fifth season relatively unscathed. He befriended his fellow contestants (especially pal Chris Daughtry). And with his earthy good looks, long rock star locks and easygoing attitude, he charmed the pants (panties?) off the fans, who helped him make it to the sixth week of the finals. The Colorado boy grew up singing at shopping mall gigs and Denver Nuggets games and auditioned for Idol Denver in 2006 wearing a stocking cap. Post-Idol, things slowed down a bit and Young bided his time doing charity work (and writing a hit song for his buddy Daughtry) until 2008, when he finally released his eponymous debut, a collection of funk-influenced dance pop. - Rachel Devitt

Harvey Danger

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 12:40:23 -0700

The Seattle four-piece that delivered the infectious "Flagpole Sitta" in '98 continue to craft sugar-sweet Post-Grunge tunes destined for repeat radio play. Sporting unforgettable hooks, creamy guitars and big-fisted drumming, this is irresistibly singable rock. A smirky song about working on Christmas Day is the standout. - Mike McGuirk

Soulwax

Sat, 6 Jun 2009 08:29:29 -0700

Smart, techno-influenced rock with robotic rhythms and big guitars kicking the door down and opening things up for Beatles-heavy harmonies. An eclectic blend of grunge guitars and angular electronic fronted by a Trent Reznor-esque, sex-damaged, futuro-screamer. And it rocks. - Mike McGuirk

Dan Wilson

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 09:50:00 -0700

Grammy-winner and creator of the quintessential "last call" anthem, Dan Wilson is one of Minneapolis' most assiduous songwriters, producers and collaborators. Lead singer of the band Semisonic and former member of cult rockers Trip Shakespeare, Wilson began work on his solo album, Free Life, in 2002. Delayed by legal constraints among Rick Rubin's American Recordings label, the album took five years to release. Over that period, Wilson kept a demanding schedule that included collaborations with artists like Nickel Creek, Rachael Yamagata, Jewel, Jason Mraz and Mike Doughty. He also joined forces with the Dixie Chicks, co-writing six songs on their Grammy-sweeping 2006 album, Taking the Long Way. His efforts earned him a Grammy for Song of the Year with "Not Ready to Make Nice." Between projects, Wilson gathered local musicians and friends, including Sheryl Crow and Mason Jennings, to contribute to Free Life, an album that combines his distinct poetic simplicity with the softer rock sensibility of his on-again, off-again band, Semisonic. - Stephanie Benson

The Rentals

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 20:36:17 -0700

After the collapse of Weezer, bassist Matt Sharp came up big with this sugary blend of New Wave and Grunge-Pop that topped the charts in 1995 with the single "Friends of P." Expect unforgettable hooks, noisy guitars and the occasional stringed instrument. - Mike McGuirk

Start Trouble

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 12:07:57 -0700

Feeder

Fri, 6 Nov 2009 12:47:23 -0800

Feeder delivers polished, slick rebellion that you might find yourself lapping up with either guilt or relish. Even though their noisy pop music oftentimes seems over-produced (and isn't particularly original), songwriter Grant Nichols writes tight, catchy songs with strong melody lines. - Will Lerner

Courtney Love

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 11:03:44 -0700

To her credit, Courtney Love's band Hole was well on its way to making its own mark on the grunge scene when her superstar husband's death made her a household name. In the years since Kurt Cobain's passing, Love has become a difficult figure to pin down. As many love her as hate her, and even as she begins to win over the public with one of her many projects, some sort of bad publicity never fails to rise up and fan the flames ignited by her detractors. Looking past the media blitz that is her life, Live Through This, the record she made as a member of Hole, stands as one of the best grunge albums of its time. It's powered by Love's knack for sketching the misery suffered by damaged, "outsider"-type women and her ability to inform yells and screams with harrowing amounts of genuine rage. Her solo debut, America's Sweetheart, came out in early 2004. - Mike McGuirk