Loads of good ones in this 38 (?) car pileup. Also, enough here to remind us (or school those that may be younger) how the music industry was wildly throwing everything at the wall, hoping to get the next thing to stick. That bad rock-funk fusion was really the worst, and I say this as a Texan, where I feel like that scene was really really huge, and maybe kind of pioneering ( look at Big Boys, for example—Texans were throwing funk into the mix always). When it was fun, it was fun (mostly not good enough to stand the test of time though), and mostly only worked live. Texas bands like the aforementioned Billy Goat, or Tim Kerr's Bad Mutha Goose, or even Austin idiots Retarded Elf, were great to see as a dumb kid but all the mess like Psychofunkapuss or whatever makes me shudder that I ever owned an floppy velvet top hat. Also, Alice Donut were outstanding, and it's bands like them that still fascinate me about how free and truly weird music was pre-social media. I'm not one of those old dudes who's stuck in a timewarp coffin, I still rabidly devour current music, but so little of it feels truly uniquely bizarre and organically fucked like say, Butthole Surfers, the greatest little band from Texas that isn't ZZ Top.
I'll have to track that down. I think 'Mule' is one of the best overlooked art-damaged records of the early 90s. Great band that I'm glad to have seen live a few times. This list also is fun because it's filling in the gaps on the list of bands I saw during that time, the greatest perk of living in Austin in the 90s, with a venue as crucial as Emo's. Still bummed I didn't see The Mummies then though, and that I had to work the night Boredoms played. I love the Youtube rabbit hole game.
Fellow Texan here. Got a F#*€ Billy Goat hat from the band at their vacant lot 5th street showcase at 1992 SXSW. Great hat! Bad Mutha Goose. Great band great shirts! Got a great funk artist in Atx right now, Aaron…his name is Barfield. Mike Barfield. The titan of Funk.
I came here to say dayum. I never had heard of Truly. Don’t know how that slipped past me back in the day. But I found it and spent lots of time listening to them yesterday.
Billy Goat shows were wild. To bring it back around to the list, Mike Dillon was also in Critters Buggin'. Those early 90s SXSWs were really great, wish they'd never introduced the Interactive side to it, ruined everything.
They were wild, and Atx was a different kind of wild back then. Wild without people shooting people all over 6th street, which is basically a shot bar location venue now instead of the street of small clubs and great music it was for decades. Oh well, everything changes!
I got the hat for free. We were loading in speaker cabs for my friend's band from Houston that were following them in the showcase, under a tent. I was carrying one end of a cabinet and some gal came running by with a handful of hats and said "Here, you need a F--- Billy Goat hat, dude!" and put it on my head. It's a nice hat, I think I mentioned that before. High quality, not your average crappy Chinese gimme cap.
Sorry for taking up your comments, Mr. G. And for this diversion...There was a GREAT Houston band called FAB MOTION whose 1987 sophomore effort, entitled "Howdy, can I bum a smoke" JUST GOT PUT BACK on YouTube a month ago. It was on there years ago then disappeared and a month ago.,..BAM! there it was. Fab Mo toured a van tour around the states on this album then disbanded. I heartily recommend "Death on the Telephone", "Love is the Key", and "Truth Again".
One of the best songwriters you've never heard. The playing is great as well, particularly the drummer and bassist. And hey, one of their influences thanked on the album was Robert Anton Wilson so that's something!
Some of those songs made it hard to drive down memory lane. Just occasionally, when listening to music I liked decades ago, I wonder..."what made me think that was so cool then...cuz it ain't that great now. It's just more rock schlock". Fortunately, I have a diverse taste in music, so most was well-remembered and even stirred recalling some great memories, like the Bad Mutha Goose shows at the ancient Houston underground (really underground, like under a building in Market Square downtown) downtown club Power Tools in the late 1980s. I need to look for some BMG vids on the tube.
I also gotta say, Mr. G, that I had to digest this article and then read it a few more times and make some sticky notes and then discussed with the lead guitarist of a band I've written songs with since 1989. He too, is a HUGE alt rock fan (I hate labels, it's only rock and roll, all of it) and got as excited as I did over several Truly songs I found.
I'm not a critic, but I gotta say this article comes REAL close to some of your work I consider to be a pinnacle of music writing...The Deconstruction Book and the Janes Addiction Bootleg guide. The content caught me by the boo-boo, and the wordsmithing lasso'd me in. This is really great stuff, dude. I know this one article will fuel many new discoveries from me, even though I was REALLY seeking new music to hear in the early 1990's. It's so much easier finding out about music now that we have the internets, and Aaron Gilbreath!!!!!!!!!!!
Another excellent read, Mr. G. This will keep me busy for weeks. Remembering forgotten bands and discovering ones new to me. Extra points for the Eleven Mention. Ima big Jack Irons fan.
I heard last year on the Bandsplain Podcast where they covered the Sundays that the Sundays are still together, still playing music, still recording albums, just not releasing them to the general public. That news ricocheted through my brain and still does. There is new Sundays music, and if they "ever get around to making an album as good as their last, they will." Coh, blimey. Did you ever get to see them live? I saw them on the Blind tour in Carboro, NC at the Cat's Cradle. Thanks for this phenomenal list.
just incredible that the sundays have recorded a lot of music that hasn't met their high standards to release! my lord. what i would do to hear some new sundays music. so wonderful you got to see them play!
They were incredible. Hey been meaning to ask you if you want to read at the next Songbook, most likely in early April. The idea behind Songbook is you would write a piece about a specific song and then the house and audience listens to that song together, that way the audience can make the connections between the piece and the song. Interested? Would love to have you read.
Great, I'll put you down on the roster, then let you know when I have a firm event date. Thanks for wanting to do this. Reading time for each reader is 7-9 minutes.
Loads of good ones in this 38 (?) car pileup. Also, enough here to remind us (or school those that may be younger) how the music industry was wildly throwing everything at the wall, hoping to get the next thing to stick. That bad rock-funk fusion was really the worst, and I say this as a Texan, where I feel like that scene was really really huge, and maybe kind of pioneering ( look at Big Boys, for example—Texans were throwing funk into the mix always). When it was fun, it was fun (mostly not good enough to stand the test of time though), and mostly only worked live. Texas bands like the aforementioned Billy Goat, or Tim Kerr's Bad Mutha Goose, or even Austin idiots Retarded Elf, were great to see as a dumb kid but all the mess like Psychofunkapuss or whatever makes me shudder that I ever owned an floppy velvet top hat. Also, Alice Donut were outstanding, and it's bands like them that still fascinate me about how free and truly weird music was pre-social media. I'm not one of those old dudes who's stuck in a timewarp coffin, I still rabidly devour current music, but so little of it feels truly uniquely bizarre and organically fucked like say, Butthole Surfers, the greatest little band from Texas that isn't ZZ Top.
interesting about texas and funk-rock! never heard that. and agree about alice donut: so truly weird and authentic. i see they have a doc about them.
I'll have to track that down. I think 'Mule' is one of the best overlooked art-damaged records of the early 90s. Great band that I'm glad to have seen live a few times. This list also is fun because it's filling in the gaps on the list of bands I saw during that time, the greatest perk of living in Austin in the 90s, with a venue as crucial as Emo's. Still bummed I didn't see The Mummies then though, and that I had to work the night Boredoms played. I love the Youtube rabbit hole game.
Emos. Fun times!
Fellow Texan here. Got a F#*€ Billy Goat hat from the band at their vacant lot 5th street showcase at 1992 SXSW. Great hat! Bad Mutha Goose. Great band great shirts! Got a great funk artist in Atx right now, Aaron…his name is Barfield. Mike Barfield. The titan of Funk.
I came here to say dayum. I never had heard of Truly. Don’t know how that slipped past me back in the day. But I found it and spent lots of time listening to them yesterday.
Billy Goat shows were wild. To bring it back around to the list, Mike Dillon was also in Critters Buggin'. Those early 90s SXSWs were really great, wish they'd never introduced the Interactive side to it, ruined everything.
They were wild, and Atx was a different kind of wild back then. Wild without people shooting people all over 6th street, which is basically a shot bar location venue now instead of the street of small clubs and great music it was for decades. Oh well, everything changes!
I got the hat for free. We were loading in speaker cabs for my friend's band from Houston that were following them in the showcase, under a tent. I was carrying one end of a cabinet and some gal came running by with a handful of hats and said "Here, you need a F--- Billy Goat hat, dude!" and put it on my head. It's a nice hat, I think I mentioned that before. High quality, not your average crappy Chinese gimme cap.
Sorry for taking up your comments, Mr. G. And for this diversion...There was a GREAT Houston band called FAB MOTION whose 1987 sophomore effort, entitled "Howdy, can I bum a smoke" JUST GOT PUT BACK on YouTube a month ago. It was on there years ago then disappeared and a month ago.,..BAM! there it was. Fab Mo toured a van tour around the states on this album then disbanded. I heartily recommend "Death on the Telephone", "Love is the Key", and "Truth Again".
One of the best songwriters you've never heard. The playing is great as well, particularly the drummer and bassist. And hey, one of their influences thanked on the album was Robert Anton Wilson so that's something!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3s3QflRrrQ
This was a trip. So many memories. Not all of them good.
Some of those songs made it hard to drive down memory lane. Just occasionally, when listening to music I liked decades ago, I wonder..."what made me think that was so cool then...cuz it ain't that great now. It's just more rock schlock". Fortunately, I have a diverse taste in music, so most was well-remembered and even stirred recalling some great memories, like the Bad Mutha Goose shows at the ancient Houston underground (really underground, like under a building in Market Square downtown) downtown club Power Tools in the late 1980s. I need to look for some BMG vids on the tube.
I also gotta say, Mr. G, that I had to digest this article and then read it a few more times and make some sticky notes and then discussed with the lead guitarist of a band I've written songs with since 1989. He too, is a HUGE alt rock fan (I hate labels, it's only rock and roll, all of it) and got as excited as I did over several Truly songs I found.
I'm not a critic, but I gotta say this article comes REAL close to some of your work I consider to be a pinnacle of music writing...The Deconstruction Book and the Janes Addiction Bootleg guide. The content caught me by the boo-boo, and the wordsmithing lasso'd me in. This is really great stuff, dude. I know this one article will fuel many new discoveries from me, even though I was REALLY seeking new music to hear in the early 1990's. It's so much easier finding out about music now that we have the internets, and Aaron Gilbreath!!!!!!!!!!!
love to hear it, Mr GG!
And the above is not to say that the Mall piece recently done REALLY was a good story that again, EVERYONE can relate to, if raised in the USA
Another excellent read, Mr. G. This will keep me busy for weeks. Remembering forgotten bands and discovering ones new to me. Extra points for the Eleven Mention. Ima big Jack Irons fan.
glad you liked it, greg! jack irons is a stellar drummer
I heard last year on the Bandsplain Podcast where they covered the Sundays that the Sundays are still together, still playing music, still recording albums, just not releasing them to the general public. That news ricocheted through my brain and still does. There is new Sundays music, and if they "ever get around to making an album as good as their last, they will." Coh, blimey. Did you ever get to see them live? I saw them on the Blind tour in Carboro, NC at the Cat's Cradle. Thanks for this phenomenal list.
just incredible that the sundays have recorded a lot of music that hasn't met their high standards to release! my lord. what i would do to hear some new sundays music. so wonderful you got to see them play!
They were incredible. Hey been meaning to ask you if you want to read at the next Songbook, most likely in early April. The idea behind Songbook is you would write a piece about a specific song and then the house and audience listens to that song together, that way the audience can make the connections between the piece and the song. Interested? Would love to have you read.
hey adam, i'd love to! i've heard about songbook but haven't been able to make it. thanks for the invite!
Great, I'll put you down on the roster, then let you know when I have a firm event date. Thanks for wanting to do this. Reading time for each reader is 7-9 minutes.