New Bad Things

Last updated
New Bad Things
Origin Portland, Oregon, United States
Genres Indie rock
Years active1990s
Labels Candy Ass, Punk in my Vitamins, Kill Rock Stars, Freewheel
Past membersMatthew "Hattie" Hein
Luke Hollywood
"Prince" Mattie Gaunt
Dave French
Jasin Fell
Lars
Denk

New Bad Things (later No Bad Things) were a Portland, Oregon, indie rock band active during the 1990s. They recorded for Candy Ass Records, Rainforest Records, Lissy's Records, Pop Secret, Punk in my Vitamins Records, Kill Rock Stars, and Freewheel Records.

Portland, Oregon City in Oregon, United States

Portland is the largest and most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon and the seat of Multnomah County. It is a major port in the Willamette Valley region of the Pacific Northwest, at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers. As of 2018, Portland had an estimated population of 653,115, making it the 25th most populated city in the United States, and the second-most populous in the Pacific Northwest. Approximately 2.4 million people live in the Portland metropolitan statistical area (MSA), making it the 25th most populous in the United States. Its Combined Statistical Area (CSA) ranks 19th-largest with a population of around 3.2 million. Approximately 60% of Oregon's population resides within the Portland metropolitan area.

Oregon State of the United States of America

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region on the West Coast of the United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. The parallel 42° north delineates the southern boundary with California and Nevada.

Indie rock is a genre of rock music that originated in the United States and United Kingdom in the 1970s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produced and was initially used interchangeably with alternative rock. As grunge and punk revival bands in the US and Britpop bands in the UK broke into the mainstream in the 1990s, it came to be used to identify those acts that retained an outsider and underground perspective. In the 2000s, as a result of changes in the music industry and the growing importance of the Internet, some indie rock acts began to enjoy commercial success, leading to questions about its meaningfulness as a term.

Contents

History

The band formed in 1992 for a one-off opening set at a Sebadoh concert in Portland, and initially comprised Matthew "Hattie" Hein, Luke Hollywood, "Prince" Mattie Gaunt, Jasin Fell and Dave French. [1] Their first single was "I Suck" (backed with "Concrete" and "Knott St."), which was picked up by BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel, and reached number sixteen in the 1993 Festive 50. [2] They recorded their debut album, Freewheel! in 1992, released on the local indie label Candy Ass Records. [1] The album was described as having a "sloppy charm", and drew comparisons with the likes of Beat Happening. [3] Second album Society followed in 1994, released on the United Kingdom label Lissy's. Ennui Go was released in 1997, by which time the band's sound was more pop-oriented, [4] and in the same year Hein left to pursue a solo career. [1] An album of previously-unreleased and rare tracks, C-sides, was released in 1999, containing tracks ranging chronologically from their earliest recordings to their latest. [5] Later band members included: Christine Denkewalter, Lars Holmstrom, Eric von Borstel and Andrew Leavitt. The band toured Europe twice and recorded John Peel sessions for Radio One in the UK each time. [2] The band name changed to No Bad Things in 2001. [6]

Sebadoh band

Sebadoh is an American indie rock band formed in 1988 in Northampton, Massachusetts, by Eric Gaffney and Dinosaur Jr. bass player Lou Barlow. Along with such bands as Pavement and Guided by Voices, Sebadoh helped pioneer lo-fi music, a style of indie rock characterized by low-fidelity recording techniques, often on four-track machines. The band's early output, such as The Freed Man and Weed Forestin', as well as Sebadoh III (1991), was typical of this style. Following the release of Bubble & Scrape in 1993, Gaffney left the band. His replacement, Bob Fay, appeared on Bakesale (1994), but was fired before the sessions for the band's major label release The Sebadoh (1999).

BBC Radio 1 British national radio station

BBC Radio 1 is one of the BBC's two flagship radio stations, specialising in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7 pm, including electronica, dance, hip hop, rock and indie. The choice of music and presenting style is entirely that of programme hosts, however those who present in the daytime have to rotate a number of songs a specific number of times per week. It was launched in 1967 to meet the demand for music generated by pirate radio stations, when the average age of the UK population was 27. The BBC claim that they target the 15–29 age group, and the average age of its UK audience since 2009 is 30. BBC Radio 1 started 24-hour broadcasting on 1 May 1991.

Disc jockey person who plays recorded music for an audience

A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays existing recorded music for a live audience. Most common types of DJs include radio DJ, club DJ who performs at a nightclub or music festival and turntablist who uses record players, usually turntables, to manipulate sounds on phonograph records. Originally, the disc in disc jockey referred to gramophone records, but now DJ is used as an all-encompassing term to describe someone who mixes recorded music from any source, including cassettes, CDs or digital audio files on a CDJ or laptop. The title 'DJ' is commonly used by DJs in front of their real names or adopted pseudonyms or stage names. In recent years it has become common for DJs to be featured as the credited artist on tracks they produced despite having a guest vocalist that performs the entire song: like for example Uptown Funk.

Members also recorded as: Matthew Hein (solo), Wallpaper (David French), Awesome (Luke Hollywood with guest appearances from other NBT alumni), Gashdig, Popewyrm, Incinerators & Diamond Tuck (Jasin Fell), Denk (solo), The Loach Clips (Lars), and Prince Mattie Gaunt (solo). Leavitt later joined The Fairways. [7]

New Bad Things feature in the documentary film X-Ray Visions: a Look Inside Portland's Legendary X-Ray Café. [8]

The bands' songs have been covered by Hefner ("Goethe's Letter to Vic Chesnutt"), The Delgados ("The Dirge") and Tullycraft ("Misgiving").

Hefner were a British indie rock band formed in east London in 1995. They were active from about 1996 until 2002; since then they have played together only once, for a tribute to the DJ John Peel, who was a strong supporter of theirs.

The Delgados Scottish indie rock band

The Delgados were a Scottish indie rock band from Motherwell, North Lanarkshire. The band was composed of Alun Woodward, Emma Pollock, Stewart Henderson (bass), and Paul Savage (drums).

Tullycraft

Tullycraft is an American indie pop band from Seattle, Washington, United States, who formed in 1995. They have been associated with the genre of twee pop; in fact, they are considered to be one of the true pioneers of the American twee pop movement. They are known for their DIY ethic, only releasing albums on independently owned and operated record labels.

Album discography

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References

  1. 1 2 3 DePasquale, Ron "New Bad Things Biography", Allmusic , Macrovision Corporation
  2. 1 2 Details of New Bad Things Peel sessions at the BBC's Keeping It Peel website, BBC
  3. ↑ Abebe, Nitsuh "Freewheel! Review", Allmusic , Macrovision Corporation
  4. ↑ Abebe, Nitsuh "Ennui Go Review", Allmusic , Macrovision Corporation
  5. ↑ Cramer, Stephen "C-Sides Review", Allmusic , Macrovision Corporation
  6. ↑ "Up & Coming", Portland Mercury , January 18, 2001
  7. ↑ Strachota, Dan (2000) "Playing Through - Are the Fairways destined to be overlooked in their own country?", SF Weekly , September 6, 2000
  8. ↑ Chandler, John (2008) "X-Ray Visions (review)", Portland Monthly Magazine, August 2008
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