Undoubtedly, 1996 was the year of Weird Alternative. Representing the final period before underground rock’s post-grunge bubble totally burst, the hits of 1996 shook out like loose change. Veteran oddballs like Luscious Jackson and Butthole Surfers scored unlikely crossovers, while future cult favorites like Eels and Nada Surf enjoyed their sole brushes with the mainstream. The success of No Doubt, 311, and Sublime presaged ska’s stupefying breakout the following year, while the Prodigy and the Chemical Brothers primed big beat as the sound of the future (for about 18 months). Weezer, Stone Temple Pilots, and Pearl Jam all flopped gloriously trying to follow up ’94 blockbusters, while Oasis and Smashing Pumpkins threatened to expand their ’95 success into total world domination. It was utter chaos, and it was hilariously beautiful.
Like the similarly freewheeling MTV sequel channel that launched in ’96, alt-rock was destined to crash. Tellingly, the Alternative Nation music-video program was canceled in ’97, the same year that Puff Daddy and Will Smith brought hip-hop to unprecedented commercial heights, and Hanson, the Spice Girls, and Backstreet Boys kicked off the teen-pop explosion that would carry the music industry’s boom years into the 21st century. But if there were relatively few survivors from ’96 alt-rock, that just makes the year all the more special in retrospect, as the only time in history when even Primitive Radio Gods were allowed to become contemporary radio gods. Come get all mixed up with us one more time.
92. Sloan, “The Good in Everyone”
Even as alt-rock scaled the Hot 100, power-pop acts couldn’t find a foothold — not even a band with four top-notch songwriters, well on their way to icon status in their native Canada. After two Geffen efforts that failed to land, Sloan gathered their breath and dropped One Chord to Another on their own Murderecords label. “The Good in Everyone” is the first blast: a dense defensive pose studded with handclaps and a strangled solo. On the verses, Andrew Scott provides massive cymbal sustain; Patrick Pentland sings the title like he’s got his hands over his ears.
--taken from: SPIN
No comments:
Post a Comment