| These Are the New Good Times | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Studio album by | |
| Released | May 9, 2006 |
| Recorded | September 2004 – November 2005 |
| Genre | Indie rock, Americana |
| Length | 45:50 |
| Label | Bloodshot Records [1] |
| Producer | Steve Fisk |
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    |
Snake in the Radio is the first album by Mark Pickerel and His Praying Hands. [2] [3] It was released in 2006 by Bloodshot Records. [4] [5]
The album was recorded between September 2004 and November 2005.
AllMusic wrote: "Pickerel's voice has the shaky intensity of an unholy combination of Roy Orbison and Chris Isaak, while the ramshackle production, overseen by grunge legend Steve Fisk, provides an appropriately unsettling musical backdrop." [6] The Riverfront Times wrote that "if you need a soundtrack for savoring that late-night, as-yet-indefinite pensive mood, this is just the thing." [7] PopMatters wrote: "Call it maturity, wanderlust, the need to maintain artistic relevance, or the realization that much of grunge was roots rock with more guitar distortion, but this Americana-by-way-of-Seattle storyline (for lack of a better description) has been an enjoyable development." [8] Seattle Weekly wrote the songs "could be the soundtrack to a David Lynch flick set in a Bakersfield honky tonk." [9]
Grunge is an alternative rock genre and subculture that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American Pacific Northwest state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby towns. Grunge fuses elements of punk rock and heavy metal, but without punk's structure and speed. The genre featured the distorted electric guitar sound used in both genres, although some bands performed with more emphasis on one or the other. Like these genres, grunge typically uses electric guitar, bass guitar, drums and vocals. Grunge also incorporates influences from indie rock bands such as Sonic Youth. Lyrics are typically angst-filled and introspective, often addressing themes such as social alienation, self-doubt, abuse, neglect, betrayal, social and emotional isolation, psychological trauma and a desire for freedom.
Screaming Trees were an American rock band formed in Ellensburg, Washington in 1985, by vocalist Mark Lanegan, guitarist Gary Lee Conner, bass player Van Conner and drummer Mark Pickerel. Pickerel had been replaced by Barrett Martin by the time the band reached its most successful period. Although widely associated with grunge, the band's sound incorporated hard rock and psychedelic elements. The band released seven studio albums, five EPs, and three compilations.
Mudhoney is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1988, following the demise of Green River. Its members are singer and rhythm guitarist Mark Arm, lead guitarist Steve Turner, bassist Guy Maddison and drummer Dan Peters. Original bassist Matt Lukin left the band in 1999.
Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge is the second studio album by the grunge band Mudhoney. It was recorded in 1991, at a time when the band was thinking of signing to a major record label, but decided to release the album on Sub Pop. The album shipped 50,000 copies on its original release. It is credited with helping to keep Sub Pop in business.
Steve Fisk is an American, Washington-based audio engineer, record producer and musician. As a musician, he has been in bands such as the instrumental alternative/indie rock band Pell Mell and the electronic band Pigeonhed. He has long been associated with the Pacific Northwest music scenes, including grunge and the Sub Pop indie record label.
Mark William Lanegan is an American singer, songwriter, author and musician. He released more than 10 studio albums and was the lead singer for Screaming Trees. He was also a member of Queens of the Stone Age. Lanegan is known for his baritone voice, which has been described as being "as scratchy as a three-day beard yet as supple and pliable as moccasin leather."
Hype! (1996) is a documentary directed by Doug Pray about the popularity of grunge rock in the early to mid-1990s United States. It incorporates interviews and rare concert footage to trace the development of the grunge scene from its early beginning in neighborhood basements to its emergence as an explosive pop culture phenomenon. Hype! attempts to dispel some of the myths of the genre promulgated by media hype by depicting the grunge subculture from the point of view of people who were active in the scene. The film generally portrays this mythos in a satirical way while acknowledging that it was media hype that helped propel some of these obscure bands to fame.
Jonathan Denis Langford is a Welsh musician and artist based in Chicago, Illinois, United States.
"Touch Me I'm Sick" is a song by the American alternative rock band Mudhoney. It was recorded in April 1988 at Seattle's Reciprocal Recording studio with producer Jack Endino. "Touch Me I'm Sick" was released as Mudhoney's debut single by independent record label Sub Pop on August 1, 1988. The song's lyrics, which feature dark humor, are a sarcastic take on issues such as disease and violent sex.
The Winding Sheet is the debut studio album by alternative rock artist Mark Lanegan. It was released on May 1, 1990 on Sub Pop. The album was Lanegan's first solo work, and is notable in its departure from the characteristic sound of Screaming Trees, the band he fronted from 1985 until 2000.
Mark Pickerel is an American musician best known as the original drummer for the alternative rock band Screaming Trees. He is also an active session musician and has released several solo albums as a singer/guitarist.
Robert "Robbie" Fulks is an American alternative country singer-songwriter, instrumentalist and long-time Chicago, Illinois resident. He has released 13 albums over a career spanning more than 30 years. His 2016 record Upland Stories was nominated for a Grammy for Best Folk Album and the song "Alabama at Night" was nominated for a Grammy for Best American Roots Song.
Van Conner is an American rock musician. In 1984, he co-founded the band Screaming Trees with his brother Gary Lee Conner and close friends Mark Lanegan and Mark Pickerel. On 25 June 2000, Screaming Trees announced their official breakup. Conner would start a low key band under the name Gardener which released its only album in the 1990s under the name New Dawning Time. Conner has had brief appearances as a session musician with other known bands such as Queens of the Stone Age and helping Mark Lanegan on his solo album I'll Take Care of You.
Guy Bernard Maddison is an Australian punk and grunge musician. From 1986 to 1989 he worked as a member of noise rock group Lubricated Goat and appeared on their album, Paddock of Love. He was a member of Bloodloss (1993–97), a blues-punk band, alongside Mark Arm on vocals. From 2001 Maddison is the bass guitarist of the United States-based grunge band, Mudhoney, and has worked on their studio albums, Since We've Become Translucent (2002), Under a Billion Suns (2006), The Lucky Ones (2008), Vanishing Point (2013), and Digital Garbage (2018).
Truly is an American rock band formed in the wake of the grunge era. It featured singer-guitarist Robert Roth, bassist Hiro Yamamoto, and drummer Mark Pickerel. Yamamoto and Pickerel were founding members respectively of Soundgarden and Screaming Trees. While not a commercially successful group like some of their Seattle contemporaries, the band lasted a decade with two studio albums to their name.
The Blacks were an insurgent country band from Chicago, IL. They released two albums through Bloodshot Records.
The Dark Fantastic was an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1997. They began as a solo project of Mark Pickerel while he was still a member of Truly. Following the disbanding of Truly, Pickerel turned his project into a band, enlisting guitarist Jesse Roberts and bassist Mike Elkins in 1997. They released their self-titled debut album in 1999 and their second album entitled Goodbye Crooked Scar in 2001, both through Up Records, before disbanding.
Margrethe "Maggie" Björklund is a Danish guitarist and singer-songwriter who composes, plays, and sings music in the folk and alternative country genres. She began her career playing electric guitar in the female band The Darleens and briefly for the experimental pop band Miss B Haven. Björklund then started playing pedal steel guitar as a studio musician and has released two solo recordings.
The Tripwires are a Seattle, Washington–based rock supergroup made up of well known local musicians Dan Peters, John Ramberg, and brothers Jim and Johnny Sangster, all of whom have been members of bands that include The Minus 5, Screaming Trees, and The Young Fresh Fellows.
Johnny Sangster is an American musician, record producer, and recording engineer.
