When I first became aware of Hoarse, all I knew about them was that they included an ex-member of the band Sponge, so I was surprised when I heard a band that to me sounded more akin to Revelation records melodic post-hardcore bands like Farside, Shades Apart, Quicksand, etc. than the radio rock of Sponge. As it would turn out, Hoarse's principal songwriter, John Speck (who lists punk bands like Dag Nasty and The Descendents as influences), formed the band in 1994 with bassist Robby Graham - a year before Sponge's breakthrough Rotting Pinata album. Drummer Jimmy Paluzzi left Sponge to join Hoarse the following year, giving the band the blessing and the curse of the "ex-Sponge" tag. Hoarse was quickly snatched up by RCA records, who released their debut, Happens Twice, in 1997.
As the story so often goes, Hoarse had major conflicts with their record label, who apparently were unhappy enough with the album's original version to actually send the band an Everclear CD with a note that read: "this is what I want to hear". In the end, Happens Twice simply didn't sound very much like Everclear or whatever else was selling at the time, and strained relations with the label led to the band calling it quits a mere six months after the album's release. A few years later, Speck and Paluzzi regrouped as The Fags, a retro power pop style band who too had a brief major label run, this time with Sire records. Speck is currently revisiting his punk rock roots with new a band, The HiFi Handgrenades.
As the story so often goes, Hoarse had major conflicts with their record label, who apparently were unhappy enough with the album's original version to actually send the band an Everclear CD with a note that read: "this is what I want to hear". In the end, Happens Twice simply didn't sound very much like Everclear or whatever else was selling at the time, and strained relations with the label led to the band calling it quits a mere six months after the album's release. A few years later, Speck and Paluzzi regrouped as The Fags, a retro power pop style band who too had a brief major label run, this time with Sire records. Speck is currently revisiting his punk rock roots with new a band, The HiFi Handgrenades. Listen @ iLike
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4 comments:
wow, totally forgot about this one. not sure how you even find/remember these.
anyways, do you happen to have anything from?
agnes gooch
pink noise test
cold water flat
big back forty
treadmill trackstar
all one-and-done major-label artists i'm have a tough time finding any music from
thanks
Thanks to your blog I tracked down Hoarse's album and loved it. It's more punkier and "rougher" than most of the bands that you've listed so for, which is what I like about them. Would you know of any other bands like them?
Check out a podcast review of Happens Twice by Hoarse on Dig Me Out at digmeoutpodcast.com, a weekly podcast dedicate to reviewing lost and forgotten rock of the 90s.
This recording never gave justice to the energy of these guys live. They were way more punk rock than this release would indicate. Saw them a bunch of times in Detroit in the late 90s.
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