Calling All Guitar Pop
I'm looking for really good guitar pop from the 1990s, and I'm welcoming all suggestions. Perhaps it's because some of it was the soundtrack to my early years of high school — a period notable only for the terrors puberty wreaked on me and the pop music that accompanied those changes. Or it could be a longing for a time when a different kind of music could make the charts. Or maybe it's because I'm at that quarterlife crisis stage where I'm digging through the past we all thought we put down. Whatever it is, I'm looking for as many good guitar-based pop-rock artists or bands that I can find.
Here's a rough idea:
Gin Blossoms
Matthew Sweet
Freedy Johnston
Eytan Mirsky
Counting Crows
Fastball
Fountains of Wayne
The Format
Rhett Miller's solo work
"Nineteen," "Oppenheimer," and anything from Satellite Rides by Old 97's
The Refreshments
Weezer's first album
The pop(ish) stuff from Wilco's Being There, e.g., "Monday"
Does that make sense? I'm looking for any good alternative/pop-rock/pop/rock band you want to throw my way. The bands and artists I've mentioned aren't exhaustive, but more of a general idea of where I want to go. Basically, if you can conceivably imagine Liv Tyler and Rory Cochrane dancing to it on a rooftop, I want to hear it. Nothing is too dumb or cheesy to mention; believe me, you can't embarrass the guy who used to drive around town at 16 while earnestly singing along to every word of Cracked Rear View. Also, I'd like to keep the list somewhat restricted to groups or performers who started their careers or were most prominent during the 1990s. For nostalgia's sake. Okay: Go.
Comments: 62
None of these are legitimately good, but they may satiate the Gin Blossoms fix and they were all, at some point, ordered by yours truly via the Columbia House Record Club, and they were barely worth the cent they cost: Vertical Horizon, Deep Blue Something, Dog's Eye View (decent), and Dishwalla. I've also got a sweet spot for Oasis.
Now you've made me want to hit iTunes in my own nostalgic frenzy.
Don't forget: Better than Ezra, Nada Surf, and Toad the Wet Sprocket.
And since you've completely captured my heart by giving a shout-out to the Refreshments, I'll also mention that their lead singer and drummer have been making music as Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers for a while now ... fun stuff.
Jen: Yeah, I've had mixed feelings about RCPM ever since No More Beautiful World, which was terrible. But I've got all the albums, and have even been to the Mexico show in Puerto Penasco. I just wish Roger Clyne didn't want to be Jimmy Buffett.
*cracks knuckles in that way writers do before sitting down at a typewriter*
These won't all be guitar pop, but pick and choose - there's at least a dozen you'll be all "I remember that song!" to.
1. "A Long December" by Counting Crows
2. "Angry Johnny" by Poe
3. "Black Hole Sun" by Soundgarden
4. "Bound for the Floor" by Local H
5. "Breakfast at Tiffany's" by Deep Blue Something
6. "Brick" by Ben Folds Five
7. "Brimful of Asha" by Cornershop
8. "Building a Mystery" by Sarah McLachlan
9. "Circles" by Soul Coughing
10. "Closer to Free" by The BoDeans
11. "Counting Blue Cars" by Dishwalla
12. "Cumbersome" by Seven Mary Three
13. "Don't Look Back in Anger" by Oasis
14. "Dreams" by The Cranberries
15. "Everlong" by Foo Fighters
16. "Everything Falls Apart" by Dog's Eye View
17. "Far Behind" by Candlebox
18. "Fire Water Burn" by The Bloodhound Gang
19. "Flagpole Sitta" by Harvey Danger
20. "Good" by Better Than Ezra
21. "Got You (Where I Want You)" by The Flys
22. "Heartspark Dollarsign" by Everclear
23. "Here in Your Bedroom" by Goldfinger
24. "How's It Going to Be" by Third Eye Blind
25. "Hunger Strike" by Temple of the Dog
26. "If I Had $1,000,000" by Barenaked Ladies
27. "If You Could Only See" by Tonic
28. "In the Meantime" by Spacehog
29. "Inside Out" by Eve 6
30. "Interstate Love Song" by Stone Temple Pilots
31. "Jane Says" by Jane's Addiction
32. "Jumper" by Third Eye Blind
33. "Just Like Heaven" by The Cure
34. "Karma Police" by Radiohead
35. "Little Black Backpack" by Stroke 9
36. "Machinehead" by Bush
37. "Mighty K.C." by For Squirrels
38. "Molly (Sixteen Candles)" by Sponge
39. "Naked Eye" by Luscious Jackson
40. "No Rain" by Blind Melon
41. "Not an Addict" by K's Choice
42. "Novocaine for the Soul" by Eels
43. "One of Us" by Joan Osborne
44. "Open Up Your Eyes" by Tonic
45. "Photograph" by The Verve Pipe
46. "Plowed" by Sponge
47. "Possum Kingdom" by Toadies
48. "Push It" by Garbage
49. "Rooster" by Alice in Chains
50. "Royal Oil" by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
51. "Save Yourself" by Stabbing Westward
52. "Sell Out" by Reel Big Fish
53. "She Don't Use Jelly" by The Flaming Lips
54. "Shimmer" by Fuel
55. "Shine" by Collective Soul
56. "Sink to the Bottom" by Fountains of Wayne
57. "Song 2" by Blur
58. "Song for the Dumped" by Ben Folds Five
59. "Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Mony in My Hand" by Primitive Radio Gods
60. "Sucked Out" by Superdrag
61. "Super Bon Bon" by Soul Coughing
62. "Tahitian Moon" by Porno for Pyros
63. "The Impression That I Get" by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
64. "The Way" by Fastball
65. "Touch, Peel and Stand" by Days of the New
66. "Two Princes" by Spin Doctors
67. "Water's Edge" by Seven Mary Three
68. "You Get What You Give" by The New Radicals
69. "Your Woman" by White Town
After that list, my post is a wee anemic, but I'll add hometown heroes, Cracker, to the list.
Del Amitri would be my suggestion. They are a bit too melancholy for some, but had a couple of big hits in the 90's with "Roll to Me" and "Always the Last to Know". Though those two songs are not even close to their best work.
i think rob just sewed it up!
Oooh, I second That Dog's "Retreat from the Sun" -- and on that note, The Rentals "Return of the Rentals" is fantastic as well. (There is nary a pop anthem that tops "Waiting" from that album...) Also, you can't go wrong with The Lemonheads. Or Juliana Hatfield. Or The Breeders.
That's off the top of my head. I might be back!
Oh wait, I see you've already got The Lemonheads in rotation. So uh, good choice!
I third the recommendation of That Dog's Retreat from the Sun (SO underrated) and second the recommendation of Del Amitri (their record Some Other Sucker's Parade is probably in a dollar bin right now waiting for you).
My big recommendation is Material Issue. A power-pop trio out of Chicago, their stuff is simply unreal. Their first record was maybe late eighties, but their later releases were firmly in the nineties. They had a minor hit with a song called "Kim the Waitress" off their Freak City Soundtrack release, which may be their third, or maybe second, album.
Their first, International Pop Overthrow, is a towering achievement in the annals of short clever songs about girls.
how about a little eve 6?
Some of these have already been mentioned: Letters to Cleo, The Heights, Matchbox 20, Everclear, Third Eye Blind
SLOAN
YUMMY FUR
GUIDED BY VOICES
APPLES IN STEREO
CUB
SISSY BAR
ELF POWER
VERBENA
Feeder's hit single in the states was "High" placed appropriately on the Can't Hardly Wait soundtrack. But seriously, the entire album, 'Polythene' is definitely worth a listen.
Dovetail Joint's "Level on the Inside" is in the same vein of Vertigo Horizon.
Some of Moist's pop tunes def needs to be on this list. And the singer David Usher's solo albums are also good.
Transistor had a few tunes on the Jawbreaker soundtrack, so I bought the entire album. I got pretty lucky there. Still listen to it when I'm feelin nostalgic for the nineties.
Stretch Princess had a throwaway hit on the Teaching Mrs. Tingle soundtrack. Fave tracks from their self-titled album are "Shoes" and "Free" (which is sorta a ballad but could easily be used in some scene of Empire Records).
It's beginning to look like I was a sucker for any soundtrack from the nineties. But really I just watched almost anything and remembered songs I liked.
I could go all day with more, but I'm at work and away from my cd collection.
KLEENEX GIRL WONDER
BUNNYGRUNT
Standing Outside a Broken Phonebooth...by Primitive Radio Gods.
Wash it Away by Black Lab
Drawer by Summercamp
Lonelyland by Bob Schneider (whole cd pls)
Morningwood (the band, not the event)
She's a Star by James
Definitely get the first one. Really.
Definitely Blur, don't stop at Song 2, Parklife is probably one of the best albums of the 90s. Also, The Bends (Bends?) by Radiohead and I have to mention my hometown guys: Collective Soul. Ooh! And Duncan Sheik! Poor guy doesn't get any respect.
By the way, Dog's Eye View has popped up a few times on here. Their cd "Daisy" is pretty solid. DEV is really just Peter Stuart plus a backup band.
Stuart is friends with Adam Duritz and Bob Schneider and he plays with them sometimes. He also helped Jason Mraz learn to write songs.
He has a solo cd called propeller that's pretty good, if you are into being kind of depressed all the time.
The wallflowers? One headlight was on steady rotation my frosh year in college..
If we're gonna get all 1995 with it and mention Blur then we certainly can't forget Elastica! "Car song" and "Stutter" are oh-so-awesome. Speaking of awesome, Justine Frischmann had really cool hair back then.
And it may be obvious but when I need some catchy, guitar-heavy, pop music, I know I can always turn to Tom Petty.
Oooh and REM's Monster. That album has "What's the frequency, Kenneth?" (Catchy guitar pop at it's finest) and "Tongue" (Creepy, introspective falsetto at it's...finest?).
AP, I saw Cracker in concert back in 1994 (way to date yourself, Smokin!) in Houston, and they were great. They played with the Spin Doctors, who have always been a guilty pleasure.
And don't forget Belly. I can still listen to King all the way through.
Does anybody else think the girl that sings the theme song from Sealab 2021 sounds like Tanya Donnelly?
Big ups to Constance and TL for mentioning two of my favorites, Elastica and Letters to Cleo.
Justine's hair was pretty awesome, wasn't it?
Smashing Pumpkins - "Today" and "Disarm" and "1979" in particular
No Doubt, Tragic Kingdom
As a Canadian, I may be legally obliged to include some Canadian content:
Moist - Creature, Mercedes Five and Dime
Matthew Good Band - Last of the Ghetto Astronauts, Beautiful Midnight
Breakfast at Tiffany's, by Deep Blue Something. So good! So fabulously mediocre!
Oh and the Martinis! They actually have a song on the Empire Records soundtrack but their other stuff isn't too shabby. I particularly like 'Flier'
Andy Stochansky
Dan, I'm sorry. Sorry for excessively commenting but more importantly, I'm sorry for spelling 'Flyer' the way I did.
P.S. Silverchair!
Wow, even thinking about Silverchair's Frogstomp takes me right back to Elementary School/Junior High.
The Gandharvas bring back fond memories, especially "Watching the Girl" (late nineties).
Everything else I can think of has already been said. Bravo, folks!
The Rembrandts... and not just the "Friends" song... Johnny Have You Seen Her is a good one.
Bon Jovi's Crossroads album... "Bed of Roses" anyone?
Mid '90s Def Leppard: "Have Ever Needed Someone So Bad?"
And then there's this timeless legend...
I'm sure somebody has mentioned this already, but just in case;
James
The Lemonheads
Paul Westerberg's solo work
And let's not forget that everything good the Smashing Pumpkins ever did was in the 90s.
I read "guitar pop" and I'm Gonna Be by The Proclaimers popped in my head.
The problem is that now it won't leave.
I tend towards mid-90's emo (Texas Is The Reason, Sunny Day Real Estate, Mineral,) the kind of emo that was legitimately good, before hot topic and dumbass teenagers ruined it, so some of that might be what you're looking for. But more specifically, I'd advise listening to The Promise Ring's best full-length, Wood/Water. That's about the height of good guitar pop.
Well, the only bands that come to mind are specifically Buffalo, which means they're actually Canadian.
Now, I don't really like The Tragically Hip, but they have a HUGE following here. And "Bobcaygeon" is one of my favorite songs of all time. And "Fireworks", great song.
Ummm, the other two are more of the celtic rock variety, The Lowest of the Low and Great Big Sea. If you're into that sort of thing. The Lowest of the Low (and Ron Hawkins' solo stuff) is pretty good in a very basic way, but I've seen them perform countless times and they're great live.
Also, someone mentioned Del Amitri and my ex was totally into them in the 90s, and they're pretty good I guess. Also, yeah, Sloan was huge here so again, you might like them.
what? no marshall crenshaw?
"The Old Apartment" by Barenaked Ladies. That opening riff is one of the most rousing things I've ever heard.
Also, Tonic; the whole "Lemon Parade" album is awesome.
And while I'm at it, "Pack up the Cats" by Local H is pretty bangin'.
"Feeling strangely fine" by Semisonic has a lot of great songs on it, (besides "closing time"). Dan Wilson's new stuff is good as well.
I wholeheartedly recommend to add The Posies to the list.
My Sharona, the knack
Anything from Lisa Loeb (I Do, Stay,When All the Stars Were Falling)
People have mentioned a few of these, but here are a few...
Built to Spill, Sunny Day Real Estate, The Jesus Lizard, Nada Surf. The Posies.
You might also like The Descendants, a little more punk, but still good.
Hootie and the Blowfish...soooo good.
And I just thought of more...
Edward McCain and
Eagle Eye Cherry (Save Tonight)
Our Lady Peace
The Cranberries
I second Silverchair.
Please don't forget Buffalo Tom, Dan. They're right up your alley. Soul Asylum fits in here, too, especially "Hang Time" and "And the Horse They Rode In On."
Everything's pretty well covered. Might add The Pursuit of Happiness, especially "Love Junk" and "One Sided Story" - actually, they've got a couple of Best-Ofs out there. They did "I'm An Adult Now."
Dramarama for "Everything, Everything" and "Last Cigarette."
The Jesus and Mary Chain
Aah, right in my wheelhouse. My top ten pop albums of the 1990s:
Cake, Fashion Nugget
Fastball, All the Pain Money Can Buy
Green Day, Nimrod
Guided By Voices, Bee Thousand
Kleenex Girl Wonder, Ponyoak
The Loud Family, Plants and Birds and Rocks and Things
Owsley, Owsley
The Posies, Amazing Disgrace
Matthew Sweet, Girlfriend
Sloan, Navy Blues
And I might as well throw in the top 5 from the 80s:
Aztec Camera, High Land Hard Rain
Minutemen, Double Nickels on the Dime
Michael Penn, March
The Replacements, Pleased to Meet Me
Rockpile, Seconds of Pleasure
And my top 10 from the 00s (so far):
Mike Doughty, Haughty Melodic
Fountains of Wayne, Welcome Interstate Managers
The Hold Steady, Separation Sunday
The New Pornographers, Electric Version
Old 97's, Satellite Rides
The Shins, Chutes Too Narrow
Spoon, Gimme Fiction
Weezer, Weezer (The Green Album)
The White Stripes, White Blood Cells
XTC, Wasp Star
Urge Overkill
Dandy Warhols
Cannonball, The Breeders
Album- 13 songs, Fugazi
And I think Pantera actually qualified as popular rotation in the 90's with the Vulgar Display of Power album.
Pavement
Superchunk
Pixies
Just to pour more sand on the beach:
I didn't notice any Chris Whitley refs, but he'd figure into any Ryan Adams/Wilco/Texas alt fan's peripheral hearing.
I had a Very 90s Guitar Summer in Abilene with Better Than Ezra's Friction Baby and Tonic's Lemon Parade, so I second/third those.
But please, check out the Grays, Ro Sham Bo. Jon Brion and Jason Falkner were lovely together, in a special 90s alt guitar way.
I came across Interventions and Lullabies by a band called The Format a few years ago and it's since become my favorite guilty pleasure. You should check it out. Very pop, a little country, indie rock.... good stuff.
One of the first concerts I attended was Bush, Toadies and Hum. I soured on Bush pretty quick and the Toadies have been previously mentioned, so I would put my plug in for Hum. "Stars" has recently been co-opted by Cadillac and "I'd Like Your Hair Long" has always been a favorite of mine.
Your Liv Tyler and Rory Cochrane imagery is obviously Empire Records, but no one mentions Coyote Shivers? The "Sugarhigh" song at the end of the movie is his (and he player Berko) His stuff is pretty stripped down guitar pop, and some of it's pretty hilarious. It's important to note, though, that his original "Sugarhigh" is rather different from the movie version.
You should give "Ahead by a Century" and "38 Years Old", both by The Tragically Hip, a listen.
Bush - "Sixteeen Stone"
Dave Matthews Band - "Under the Table"
Violent Femmes - "Blister in the Sun"
NIN - "Pretty Hate Machine" or "Downward Spiral"
Tool - "Sober"
Hole - "Doll Parts"
I miss the 90's. That was the best music.
The Clarks - Someday, Maybe or Let It Go... both wonderful pop-rock albums.
It's all about Toad the Wet Sprocket. Pale, Fear, Dulcinea, Coil, In Light Syrup -- all really good. Also, check out Glen Phillips' solo stuff (he's the lead singer or TTWS)
I'll chime in to agree on Toad and Glen Phillips - especially "Live at Largo," which is right there on Fairfax and is a great spot to see a show.
Also agree on Jason Falkner - very good, smart guitar pop - and Jellyfish, the band that spawned him, for more of the same.
You must already know everything about Jeff Buckley, but if not consume his stuff in huge gulps.
Has anyone mentioned Brendan Benson's One Mississippi? Hands down, one of the best overlooked gems of the 90s.
Weezer offshoots were my specialty during the 90s.
I'd recommend That Dog's album Retreat from the Sun... anything by Ozma... The Special Goodness... Chopper One...
I'll probably think of more.
Jan 9, 2008 12:06 PM