Bewitched

Bewitched started as a joke; while on tour, Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore told the English music press that the group’s former drummer, Bob Bert, had put together an exciting new band when, in fact, Bert had done nothing of the sort. Still, Paul Smith of London’s Blast First Records read the story and offered to…

Fretblanket

William Copley’s angry, raw-throated vocals and Clive Powell’s grunge-guitar attack mark Fretblanket as one of the first British groups to reflect the worldwide influence of Nirvana’s Nevermind. But Junkfuel, with its rampaging hardcore rhythms and pop hooks, owes at least as much to Jawbreaker and the Descendents, and Powell’s lyrics showcase a bright new talent…

Chocolate USA

Basking in the same warm lo-fi aesthetic as Sebadoh, Chocolate USA specializes in romantic reveries and catchy pop songs, sung in the voice of an innocent but precocious adolescent and backed by an orchestral array of cheap acoustic and toy instruments. Chocolate USA is primarily the vehicle of singer/guitarist/bassist Julian Koster, who formed the group…

Loud Lucy

The major-label feeding frenzy that descended on Chicago in the wake of the Smashing Pumpkins, Liz Phair and Veruca Salt catapulted this young trio into the mainstream after only a few live gigs and a single 7-inch on a DIY label. Loud Lucy singer/guitarist/songwriter Christian Lane struggles valiantly to establish some sort of identity on…

aMINIATURE

In the early ’90s, with no warning, San Diego began spewing out an endless supply of high-octane punk bands, most of them following in the footsteps of either Rocket From the Crypt (sloppy, slightly retro garage-rock) or Drive Like Jehu (rhythmically complex prog-punk). From the start, aMINIATURE set its own agenda, with a rhythm section…

Madder Rose

Madder Rose was the quintessential Lower East Side rock band, complete with sullen 30-something post-graduates of the Manhattan club scene, fuzzed-out guitars, even the obligatory aura of decadence. Guitarist Mary Lorson’s vocals key the allure — breathy and childlike, she combines the sultry hippie appeal of Natalie Merchant with the winsome, hipper charms of Juliana…

Big Wheel

Peter Searcy’s gritty vocals helped make Louisville, Kentucky’s Squirrel Bait the rage of indie rock in the mid-’80s, when most of the band was still in high school. Big Wheel teamed him with the all-too-collegiate trio of guitarist Glenn Taylor, drummer Scott Langford and bassist Mike Bradon. (The band photo on the CD sleeve shows…

Blisters

These chronic underachievers form one of the longest-lived and least-appreciated pop-punk outfits to ever come out of New Jersey. Beginning in 1987 with a string of singles and compilation cuts, the group established itself as a favorite in the Garden State’s punk-rock underground by seamlessly blending Ramones-influenced three-chord rock’n’roll with Replacements-ish garage-punk. Chief among the…

EMF

One of the archetypal pan-flashes of the early ’90s, England’s small-town-reared EMF — the name is an acronym for Ecstasy MotherFuckers, a tribute to the recreational drug of choice among the British rave crowd at the time — combined teen-idol looks with the faddishly popular dance beats of Stone Roses and Happy Mondays. “Unbelievable,” the…

Jawbox

Formed in 1989 by ex-Government Issue bassist J. (Jay) Robbins, Jawbox went a long way toward stretching the boundaries of the formulaic call-and-response thrash of the DC/Dischord sound. With Robbins as singer, guitarist and songwriter, Grippe (recorded as a three-piece) is a rich, varied, polyrhythmic tour de force that still bears repeated listening. Every lyric…

Jawbreaker

Although identified as a product of Berkeley’s East Bay punk scene, Jawbreaker first came together in the late ’80s in New York City, where its three members were attending New York University. Jawbreaker’s 1990 debut, Unfun, was recorded over a week-long school break. With its rollercoaster riffs, lurching rhythms and guitarist Blake Schwarzenbach’s sore-throat vocals,…

Screeching Weasel

As bored teenagers growing up on the outskirts of Chicago, the first incarnation of Screeching Weasel (1986) jerry-rigged a simple, raw punk sound out of borrowed parts, meshing the snotty suburban attitude of New Jersey’s Adrenalin O.D. to the high-speed sonic assault of the early Ramones. The band also borrowed the Ramones’ convention of adopting…

Bollweevils

Chicago’s Bollweevils betray their roots with a grinding, buzzsaw guitar sound, very much in the city’s hardcore tradition of Naked Raygun and the Effigies. Add cascading bass riffs, rapid-fire drums, a snotty lead vocalist and plenty of speed, and this energetic and entertaining punk band can hold its own in any mosh pit in America.…

Senseless Things

Young, fresh-faced and refreshingly unaffected, the Senseless Things bounded out of the London suburb of Twickenham in the late ’80s. Mark Keds’ willowy lead vocals, Ben Harding’s aggressive but melodic guitar work and Cass Browne’s energetic scattershot drumming (bassist Morgan Nicholls completes the quartet) provided an entertaining one-two punch, borrowing from poppy UK punk bands…

Bracket

It’s almost impossible not to think of Bracket as a minor-league Green Day. The two bands have an undeniable similarity in style and sound — the same catchy melodies, power-chord guitars and bratty vocals-and Bracket’s signing came hard on the heels of Green Day’s multi-platinum Dookie. The quartet from the northern California town of Forestville…

Contributors

These folks either wrote reviews that appear on the site or wrote for Trouser Press magazine. If anyone listed below cares to E-mail us with a link you’d like added, just let us know. And ditto if anyone is AWOL from this list. Grant AldenDavid AntrobusJem AswadTroy J. AugustoMichael AzerradCary BakerMichael BakerEmily BeckerSeth BenderJohn BergstromArt…