Cake is an American rock band from Sacramento, California, consisting of singer John McCrea, trumpeter Vince DiFiore, guitarist Xan McCurdy, bassist Daniel McCallum, and drummer Todd Roper. The band has been noted for McCrea's sarcastic lyrics and deadpan vocals, and their wide-ranging musical influences, including norteño, country music, mariachi, disco, rock, funk, folk music, and hip hop.
Gish is the debut studio album by American alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins, released on May 28, 1991 through Caroline Records. The album was produced by Butch Vig and frontman Billy Corgan, the latter who has variously described Gish as a "very spiritual album" and "an album about spiritual ascension".
Ben Folds Five is the debut studio album by American alternative rock band Ben Folds Five, released on August 8, 1995. A non-traditional rock album, it featured an innovative indie-pop sound, and excluded lead guitars completely. The album was released on the small independent label Passenger Records, owned by Caroline Records, a subsidiary of Virgin/EMI. Ben Folds Five received positive reviews, and spawned five singles. The record failed to chart, but sparked an intense bidding war eventually won by Sony Music. Several live versions of songs originally released on Ben Folds Five reappeared later as b-sides or on compilations.
Material Issue was an American power pop trio from Chicago, Illinois. The band's trademark is pop songs with themes of love and heartbreak. A number of their song titles used women's first names.
She Hangs Brightly is the debut studio album by American alternative rock band Mazzy Star. It was released on May 21, 1990, by Rough Trade Records and re-released by Capitol Records later in the year.
Shenandoah is an American country music band founded in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, in 1984 by Marty Raybon, Ralph Ezell, Stan Thorn, Jim Seales, and Mike McGuire. Thorn and Ezell left the band in the mid-1990s, with Rocky Thacker taking over on bass guitar; Keyboardist Stan Munsey joined the line up in 1995, until his departure in 2018. The band split up in 1997 after Raybon left. Seales and McGuire reformed the band in 2000 with lead singer Brent Lamb, who was in turn replaced by Curtis Wright and then by Jimmy Yeary. Ezell rejoined in the early 2000s, and after his 2007 death, he was replaced by Mike Folsom. Raybon returned to the band in 2014. That same year, Jamie Michael replaced the retiring Jim Seales on lead guitar.
The Reivers were an American pop band from Austin, Texas. Formed in 1984 as Zeitgeist, they were forced to change their name before releasing their second album in 1987, due to another group claiming prior rights to the name. They chose the name The Reivers from the title of the William Faulkner novel.
Translate Slowly is the 1985 debut album by The Reivers. This album was originally released under the band's original name, Zeitgeist, but was remixed in 1988 and re-released under the band name The Reivers, after another band claimed rights to the name "Zeitgeist."
Dreamy is an album by the indie pop band Beat Happening, released in 1991. The band recorded the tracks in a living room and in a professional recording studio.
Fizzy Fuzzy Big & Buzzy is an album by the American band the Refreshments, released in 1996. Many of the tracks are re-recordings of songs from their debut, Wheelie, which saw a limited release. The album title is an homage to the Who's Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy.
Perspex Island is the ninth studio album by English musician Robyn Hitchcock and his fifth with backing band, The Egyptians, released on Go! Discs in 1991.
Saturday is a 1987 album by The Reivers. It was their major label debut on Capitol Records. Notable tracks include “In Your Eyes,” which is the only song for which the band produced an official video ; and "Wait for Time," which Rolling Stone's Michael Azerrad described as "an amazing moment on an amazing album." Los Angeles Times critic Don Waller called "In Your Eyes" "one of the most disarmingly charming, guitars-chime-like-freedom-flashing non-hit singles of 1988 or any other year." The packaging of the 2002 Dualtone Vintage CD reissue includes a brief essay about the band by TV writer-producer Rob Thomas, who had himself been a musician in Austin. However, the CD reissue packaging does not include the lyrics that had been included with the original Capitol release.
End of the Day is a 1989 album by the Reivers. It was their second album for Capitol Records. Many of the songs on the album deal with themes of home and family, including "Star Telegram", which writer Sarah Vowell called "one of the prettiest evocations of the lovely, lazy side of the American dream, a family unwinding in a Fort Worth back yard"; and "Almost Home," which was later covered by Hootie and the Blowfish. Bill Wyman of the Chicago Sun-Times rated this album as the band's best, "a gently chiming river of an album".
International Pop Overthrow is the debut studio album by Material Issue, released on Mercury Records on February 5, 1991. The album was recorded in multiple recording sessions between 1988 and 1991, with the total recording costs reaching only $5,000. Mercury Records only expected the record to sell about 70,000 copies. However, it initially sold about 180,000 copies, with final sales exceeding 300,000. It reached number 86 on the Billboard 200 album chart. The album was produced by Jeff Murphy, guitarist/vocalist for the band Shoes, at the Shoes' Short Order Recorder studio, in Zion, Illinois.
Dana Kletter is an American musician and writer.
The Bad Livers were an American band from Austin, Texas, United States, whose inventive musical style defied attempts to categorize them according to existing genres. Their influences included bluegrass, folk, punk, and other musical styles. The original lineup, formed in 1990, included Danny Barnes on banjo, guitar and resonator guitar, Mark Rubin on upright bass and tuba, and Ralph White III on fiddle and accordion. Barnes composed the majority of the group's original songs. When White left the group at the end of 1996, he was briefly replaced by Bob Grant on mandolin and guitar. Barnes and Rubin then continued to perform and record as a duo until unofficially dissolving the band in 2000. The band has neither toured nor recorded since then, but Barnes and Rubin have played a few live shows with Grant in 2008, 2009, and 2014.
Suzanna Choffel is an American singer-songwriter and musician who has appeared on national television and in film. Known for her distinct voice and reggae-inspired guitar technique, her music has been described as "a unique sound equal parts Beat poetry, smoky soul grooves and indie-pop eccentricity."
Ralph E. White III is a musician from Austin, Texas who has drawn inspiration from traditional blues, old-time country, rock, African and Cajun music, among other traditions. He principally plays banjo, fiddle, accordion, guitar, kalimba and mbira. He was a founding member of the innovative and influential Austin trio the Bad Livers, formed in 1990 with banjoist and singer/songwriter Danny Barnes and bass and tuba player Mark Rubin. During the early 1990s, "White's sizzling dexterity on fiddle and accordion" was a "cornerstone of their buzz."
Heart and Mind is an album by the American alternative rock band Sister Double Happiness, released in 1991. It was their major label debut.
Welcome is an album by the American band Dharma Bums, released in 1992. Issued via Frontier Records, it was the band's final album. A video was shot for "The Light in You", the album's first single. The band supported the album with European and North American tours. Welcome was a hit on college radio charts.
