I'll start with the Samples because I'm a bit worried about them. They've announced that they're going to have some personnel changes and some other changes to settle some debts or something like that. Sean Kelly clearly has no business sense whatsoever, and that may explain why their releases are so spotty. Their last release is a THREE-CD set that has a couple of decent songs but is otherwise devoted to drunken experiments from the tour bus. If they had just released normal CDs with their new stuff like other bands, they might have had a decent career. They have a lot of great songs, and they're fantastic live. I'm finding that Big Country did plenty of decent stuff years after their MTV heyday. Garbage continues to do great work but has been forgotten now that "alternative" has gone the Limp Bizkit route. And apparently Throwing Muses are back together now. Any others that don't get the airplay or respect they deserve?
"But you're not as confused as Nigel, are you?" "it's not your JOB to be as confused as he is..." underrated bands. good idea! i'm sure we all have our local favorites (mine would be the hang ups, here in mpls/st paul), but as for people who have more of a "national footprint" (oh, god: there's no hope for me....i've slipped into "marketing-speak!"), i'd rate freedy johnston, a masterful songwriter. and though the Mighty Mighty BossToneS do have a cult following, i'd still put them on the pedestal...best live show i've ever seen, period. obligatory nod to guided by voices, too!! as for the muses, i saw kristin hersh a few years back. she put on a really nice set! gotta respectfully disagree with you on big country, though. "the crossing" is fantastic, but that peter-wolf-puddle-of-bile they turned out in the early 90's ("peace in our time" ?) was just awful...
Gov't Mule - Straight up, no-nonense power trio (Til bassist Allen Woody passed on in 2000, they have added various bass players and keyboard players since). Top notch musicianship. Guitarist/Singer Warren Haynes has been playing in three bands since 2001 (Gov't Mule, Phil Lesh and Friends and a second stint in the Allman Brothers Band). They've become a name heard somewhat more regularly in the mainstream music press, thanks to their Deep End Vol 1 & 2 albums that featured guess bassists like Roger Glover (Deep Purple), Phil Lesh (The Dead), Chris Squire (Yes), Jack Bruce (Cream), and the late John Entwhisle (The Who). Just straight ahead blues drenched rock n roll, no bs. And they're as good a live band that I've ever seen.
Apparently someone from the Samples recently joined my friend's band out in Colorado. I want to say it's the bassist -- not sure. I think the band is called Driven (or some similar). I saw them most recently at State Theatre in Fairfax. We mostly laughed at them. I'd seen them twice previously at 9:30 Club and really enjoyed it, but something was missing at State Theatre. I definitely felt like I was watching a band on its way down, down, down, and out of the picture entirely. It was fun listening to them in college though. Chicks dug it.
I thought I read something not so long ago insinuating that Kristin Hersh was in the long line of musicians with, um, mental issues. I don't know where that came from or what the relevance is, exactly. Seeing pictures of her in the Throwing Muses heyday, I used to think she had this real cool, magnetic look to her. But then that was almost 10 years ago.
16 Horsepower - a quartet of folks (2 from Denver, 2 from Paris.) Easily one of the coolest bands I've ever heard. They are truly one of the most undescribable bands I've ever heard. Sackcloth n' Ashes or Low Estate or Secret South are great places to start. Starflyer 59 - A great band from California that changes their sound on every album. Check out Gold Americana or The Fashion Focus for starters.
and, let's be honest, michael: we were probably drunk then! can't comment, because i admittedly know zero about hersh personally. just liked her set on that particular night. very nice voice, good rapport with audience...money well-spent. -sigh!- only 8 days 'til youssou n'dour!!! sometimes, life DOESN'T suck!!!!
where are you seeing Youssou? I like him, but don't like many of his recent albums...they're too slickly produced for my tastes...I like the days of Immigres.
i don't disagree, nico. although i'd rate his cover of dylan's "chimes of freedom" pretty dang high up there ('wommat,' 1994)!! and, for me, "set" (1990) is just about the 1990's best record, apart from "the la's" (nod to michael k). youssou cancelled his N Amer tour, thanks to der kommissar bush's reign of...errmmm..."liberation." ain't we got fascist fun?
I'm supposed to see the Afro Cuban All Stars in a few weeks. I hope they don't cancel. They cancelled their tour to the states after 9/11 and these are the make up dates for those cancellations!
Re: Re: Underrated bands Dang -- you and I were at the same show. I was pretty impressed, though I hadn't seen them before I couldn't compare them to shows past. I'd agree, though, that there was a certain air of desperation to it. I loved the show, but at the same time, it was a little distressing seeing this really talented band wrestling with sound problems in a small venue. And they were hawking their three-CD set, which was a puzzling career move to say the least.
Re: Re: Re: Underrated bands As we were driving up, we joked that "Every Samples concert is a CD release party." Sure enough, it was. Too bad you couldn't make the 9:30 shows. They were really dynamite.
Mindless Self Indulgence is a great band. They don't really get a lot of exposure from, well, anyone, really. The fact that they're touring with ICP doesn't help things much. They're a fake rap/rock/techno group. Really, how can you go wrong with a band whose lead singer is named Little Jimmy Urine? Oh, Siouxsie Sioux rocks like nobody's business! Cursive should be the most critically acclaimed band of '03 (they're that good). Yo La Tengo ALWAYS rocks the house at South by Southwest. Good bands, all! Vive le AFC! OPArsenal
Re: Re: Underrated bands oh yeah. you throw on 'did you ever look so nice' followed by 'two princes' and you had the chicks partying with their guard down!