Dandelion - Dyslexicon (Sony, 1995)

Of all the Nirvana clones of the nineties, Dandelion really may have been the next best thing to Nirvana themselves. Unfortunately for them, "Dyslexicon" was coming out right around the time that grunge's popularity was on the decline.  After forming in Philadelphia in 1989, Dandelion received acclaim from CMJ for their demo, "Silver". This led to the band being signed to Ruffhouse records, an imprint of Sony/Columbia Records, then home to hip-hop acts like Cypress Hill. Ruffhouse released the band's debut "I Think I'm Gonna Be Sick" in 1993 and its followup, "Dyslexicon" in 1995. 

To be fair, Nirvana is not the only reference point for Dandelion's sound, as they had some slightly more psychedelic and sludgy tendencies.  Despite having their music featured on MTV shows like The Real World and Beavis & Butthead, Dandelion didn't achieve much more than constant comparisons to Nirvana.  They decided to disband in 1996, only a year after "Dyslexicon" was released.  Members went on to play in Laguardia (who released one Brad Wood produced record on Universal in 2003), as well as The Cobbs, The Hells, (and the similarly named) The Hell Yeahs. Today, Dandelion members Mike Morpurgo and Dante Cimino are passing along their experience at the Paul Green School of Rock, a rock music program for kids. 

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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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Certain Distant Suns - Happy on the Inside (1994, Giant)

Yet another Chicago band, Certain Distant Suns were kings of the Windy City scene for a brief moment in the early 90s. Formed in 1989 by Justin Mroz and Lance Stewart, they spent their first couple years as a band gigging around Chicago as a duo backed only by electronics. By 1992 they had added enough members to become a full band and self-released their first EP, "Huge", with the "Dogrocket" EP following in 1993. On the strength of these EP's college radio airplay and sizable following within Chicago, the band signed with Warner Music Group imprint label, Giant Records, who re-released the two EP's as a full length album, "Happy on the Inside", in 1994.

"Happy on the Inside" is an interesting blend of the swirling guitars of shoegaze bands like Ride or My Bloody Valentine with the sample-heavy, danceable elements of Jesus Jones or "Screamadelica"-era Primal Scream; the songs feature samples from techno, hip hop, and even a choir of chanting monks. Despite counting largely British influences, Mroz's vocals are a distinctly American semi-drawl. The band released one more record, "Boss Nova", in 1996 before disbanding.  Guitarist Kerry Finerty would later spend some time as a member of another Chicago band, electro-rock act Kill Hannah.

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Triple Fast Action - Broadcaster (1996, Capitol)

Triple Fast Action, also known as triplefastaction or tripl3fastaction, was formed in 1993 by Wes Kidd and Brian St. Clair out of the ashes of their former project, the hardcore punk band Rights of the Accused. For Triple Fast Action, the duo enlisted Kevin Tihista and Ronnie Schneider and ditched their hardcore stylings in favor of a more power-pop oriented sound, while retaining the energy of their punk roots. The band signed to Capitol records for their debut album, "Broadcaster", released in 1996.

TFA came from the same mid-90s Chicago scene previously discussed in the Fig Dish post, and share many sonic qualities with their Chicagoan peers like Local H, Hum, Loud Lucy, and of course, Fig Dish.  Frontman Wes Kidd even performed occasionally as a live guitarist with the mighty Local H. Kidd was also doubling as a producer around the time of Broadcaster's release, serving as the co-producer on Jimmy Eat World's "Static Prevails" with Mark Trombino. According to a Wikipedia entry, Dave Grohl listened repeatedly to "Broadcaster" during the recording of the second Foo Fighters record, "The Colour and the Shape", and apparently lists a Rights of the Accused show as his first concert experience. Since learning this I have formulated a theory that the Foo's "Everlong" may have been directly inspired by TFA's "Rest My Head", in terms of their similar drop-d tunings and chord progressions - I'd love to know if anyone agrees or maybe thinks I'm just crazy.  

After "Broadcaster", the band jumped the major label ship and made the switch to the indie Deep Elm records, perhaps best known for its "Emo Diaries" compilation series and releases from the likes of Planes Mistaken for Stars and The Appleseed Cast. After releasing their sophomore record "Cattlemen Don't" through Deep Elm in 1997, the band decided to throw in the towel. These days Wes Kidd is on the management side of things, acting as manager for Cheap Trick and The Damnwells, while Kevin Tihista is pursuing a solo career and Brian St. Clair has joined Local H. 

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Here is a short clip featuring Triplefastaction playing "Superstar" live, as well as interviews with the band and commentary from Metro-owner Joe Shanahan, Veruca Salt's Nina Gordon and others discussing the conflict between bands like Triple Fast Action or Fig Dish and their unsupportive major labels (essentially the very idea behind this blog):