Slider - Sudden Fun (1997, A&M)

Slider was formed after the demise of Matt Winegar's previous band, The Spent Poets, in 1993. The Spent Poets released one Beatle-esque album on Geffen records in 1992, which failed to make an impression in the then burgeoning grunge era.  For Slider, Winegar made the switch from multi-instrumentalist to lead singer and principal songwriter. He enlisted drummer Josh Freese for the project, who at that point had served as drummer for The Vandals and Paul Westerberg, but would later go on to drum for Devo, Guns N' Roses, Nine Inch Nails, and countless others.  The band recorded an album, "Fremont", in 1995 for A&M records, who apparently shelved the record until 1997 when a slightly altered version was released, by then renamed "Sudden Fun". 

Whereas The Spent Poets' retro-pop was out of step with the alternative rock of the era, Slider fit right in - sounding something like The Replacements for the post-Nirvana set.  Perhaps they blended in a bit too much, as seemingly no one payed much attention.  The album was produced by David Bianco, who has also produced for Teenage Fanclub and Frank Black (among others), along with Winegar himself, who had assisted in the production of the first Primus album.  As far as I can tell, this would be the last the world would hear from Slider. These days Matthew Winegar is working primarily as a producer, you can check out some of his work (including old Spent Poets and Slider demos) at his MySpace.  As for Josh Freese, its no secret that he has since become one of the most in-demand studio and live drummers in music - and deservedly so.

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