Think of "Nuggets", the original......now, think of a similar creation, made in, say, the year 2030 with the great singles of the 1990's "alternative rock" (what a nauseating term) movement......it'd be pretty cool, right? The Breeders'"Cannonball"......Filter's "Hey Man Nice Shot"......Flaming Lips'"She Don't Use Jelly"......and of course, the epitomy of the early 1990's one-shot wonder, Veruca Salt's fantastic "Seether".......Veruca Salt were guitarist/vocalists Louise Post and Nina Gordon, drummer Jim Shappiro, and bassist Steve Lack....look, I am NOT going to pretend this was some great overlooked band, but "Seether" is one of the absolute greatest singles of that era, hard rocking, catchy, and with cryptic lyrics (what the fuck is a "seether" anyway?).......one of my favorite singles of the early 1990's, no kidding......all that sweet feedback guitar, "I try to keep her on a short leash, I try to calm her down"....don't know why but it works fine for me, and when someone makes "90's Nuggets", this should be the leadoff track, perhaps.
"Seether" became a minor hit on alternative radio stations ca.1994-5, and was followed up with/included on the debut album "American Thighs"....."Thighs" is a pretty fair album, featuring not only "Seether" but also "All Hail Me" and "Sleeping Where I Want", not a classic by any means but a really pretty fair album......really, the only one they had in them......this expanded edition includes a few bonus cuts, including a goofball rendition of "My Sharona"To capitalize on the surprising success of the album, they released the EP "Blow It Out Your Ass It's Veruca Salt", which is a decent 4-song effort.....album #2, "Eight Arms To Hold You" is, well, not great, save for the clever single "Volcano Girls" with it's smart "Glass Onion" reference......and, for me, this is where Veruca Salt and I part ways. Nina Gordon and Louise Post had some sort of falling out, leading to Post leaving the band and releasing the quite listenable solo effort "Tonight and the Rest of My Life".
The post-Gordon lineup released an album or two, can't say I've ever heard them though....thought what I would post instead would be Gordon's aforementioned album with it's lovely title track and the rocking "Bad Way".....also have a live set from 1994 at The Chocolate Factory, it's pretty damn good as well.....I was reading that the original lineup has reunited and were working on new material, but I just have a feeling, this is one whose moment (and they had one), has passed.......just a hunch and I wish them all the best
AMERICAN THIGHS-01 Get Back/02 All Hail Me/03 Seether/04 Spiderman 79/05 Forsythia/06 Wolf/07 Celebrate You/08 Fly/09 Number One Blind/10 Victrola/11 Twinstar/12 25/13 Sleeping Where I Want BONUS TRACKS-/14 She's a Brain/15 Bodies/16 Aurora/17 My Sharona/18 Sundown
BLOW IT OUT YOUR ASS IT'S VERUCA SALT-01 Shimmer Like a Girl/02 I'm Taking Europe With Me/03 New York Mining Disaster 1996/04 DisinheritEIGHT ARMS TO HOLD YOU-01 Straight/02 Volcano Girls/03 Don't Make Me Prove It/04 Awesome/05 Last Time/06 With David Bowie/07 Benjamin/08 Shutterbug/09 The Morning Sad/10 Sound of the Bell/11 Lonliness Is Worse/12 Stoneface/13 Venus Man Trap/14 Earthcrosser
LIVE AT THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY 1994-01 Pale Green/02 All Hail Me/03 Stoneface/04 Forsythia/05 Straight/06 Sleeper Car/07 Seether/08 Spiderman 79/09 Victrola/10 25/11 Straight/12 She's a Brain/13 All Hail Me/14 Stacey Please
TONIGHT AND THE REST OF MY LIFE (NINA GORDON)-01 Now I Can Die/02 2003/03 Tonight and the Rest of My Life/04 Badway/05 Horses in the City/06 Hold On To Me/07 New Year's Eve/08 Fade to Black/09 Number One Camera/10 Got Me Down/11 Too Slow To Ride/12 Hate Your Way/13 The End of the World
Links In a little while.............