7 Indie Bands from the 1990's That You Didn't Know You Liked
A random sampling of '90s bands that never got their due.
Think you know '90s alternative rock? Nirvana? Smashing Pumpkins? Green Day? No, not that mainstream Top 40 crap. No, you know your bands. Mudhoney, My Bloody Valentine, Pavement. Real underground stuff, right?
Wrong! There are countless bands that were every bit as deserving of attention as any of the ones I've named. Hell, some of them even did get a certain level of attention at the time, only to slip through the cracks of time. Either way, you should know about these bands and maybe with any luck I might be able to shine a light on them.
Seam
Led by guitarist and singer Sooyoung Park, they were originally formed in Chapel Hill and their first album featured Superchunk's Mac McCaughan on drums. Then they moved to Chicago, and they released several more albums of moody slowcore/post-hardcore/emo over the course of the '90s. Park's weary vocals and angular guitar work created a sound that bridged the gap between Slint's tension and Bedhead's melancholy. They were fixtures of the Touch and Go Records roster but never got the recognition of their Chicago contemporaries.
"Pins & Needles" (from Headsparks, Homestead Records, 1992)
Swirlies
These guys formed in Boston in 1990 and were one of America's earliest bands to wander into the shoegaze waters. They made some swirling masterpieces that hold up against anything My Bloody Valentine or Slowdive released, mixing feedback-drenched guitars with surprisingly catchy melodies. They were on the Taang! Records roster and built a devoted following in the Northeast, but never broke through nationally despite influencing countless bedroom shoegazers who discovered them years later.
"Didn't Understand" (from What To Do About Them EP, Taang! Records, 1992)
Tsunami
In the early '90s, leaders Jenny Toomey and Kristin Thomson had a whole little indie rock empire going! Not only was their band one of the best that underground American indie rock had to offer, with jangly noise pop with shoegaze and post-punk influences, but they also ran an indie label called Simple Machines. Toomey's later work with the Future of Music Coalition showed she was as committed to supporting indie musicians as she was to being one.
"Left Behind" (from split 7" with Velocity Girl, Sub Pop Records, 1992)
Lungfish
This Baltimore quartet was one of the lesser-known bands signed to Dischord Records, and while they were largely cut from the same post-hardcore cloth as most of their labelmates, their music also had elements of post-rock and even psychedelia as well. Singer Daniel Higgs delivered cryptic, almost shamanic vocals over hypnotic, repetitive grooves that could go on for seven or eight minutes without ever feeling boring. Their 1992 album Talking Songs for Walking is a good entry point - it's like if Fugazi decided to jam with Can. They released eleven albums between 1990 and 2005, building one of the most distinctive catalogs in underground rock.
"Nothing Is Easy" (originally from Necklace of Heads LP, Simple Machines, 1990 / included on CD version of Talking Songs For Walking, Dischord Records, 1992)
The Nightblooms
This Dutch quartet combined singer Esther Sprikkelman's fragile vocals with noisy distorted guitar rock that combined shoegaze and grunge, and released an EP and two albums before disappearing. Their 1992 self-titled debut album should have made them international stars, but they remained largely unknown outside of the Netherlands and Belgium. They split up in 1996, leaving behind a small but devoted cult following who still hunt for their records.
"Blue Marbles" (originally from self-titled LP, Seed Records, 1992)
Swell
This San Francisco band created hypnotic drone-pop with an eclectic mix of influences, including shoegaze, noise rock, folk, psychedelia, and spaghetti Western film scores - imagine Mazzy Star if they'd been obsessed with Ennio Morricone. They accumulated a cult following in Europe but went completely under the radar in the U.S., even within indie rock circles.
"Get High" (originally from self-titled LP, pSycho-sPecific Records, 1990)
Th' Faith Healers
Recommended for fans of noise rock and shoegaze, but this British band was even more experimental than that and were heavily influenced by Krautrock. Their albums Lido and Imaginary Friend threw everything at the wall - motorik rhythms, walls of feedback, hypnotic basslines, and buried vocals that were more texture than lyrics. They were contemporaries of bands like Stereolab and Bark Psychosis, and if they'd stuck around longer they might have been mentioned in the same breath. Instead, they broke up in 1994 after just three EP's and two studio albums, leaving behind a legacy that's been rediscovered by post-rock fans.
"Sparkling Chime" (originally from Imaginary Friend, Too Pure Records, 1994)