Giant Sand

Giant Sand was the primary outlet for the stylistic curveballs and sun-damaged songcraft of Howe Gelb , a Pennsylvania-born singer/guitarist who formed the four-piece Giant Sandworms after relocating to Tucson, Arizona in the mid-'70s. After releasing the EP Will Wallow and Roam After the Ruin in 1980, Gelb fired everyone but bassist Scott Gerber (although founding guitarist Rainer Ptacek returned to the fold many times in the future) and started over as simply Giant Sand , essentially a one-man band backed by a revolving cast of players.

The first Giant Sand LP, 1985's Valley of Rain, earned Gelb comparisons to Neil Young for his reedy vocals and country-flavored, grungy guitar aesthetic; like Young , Gelb also proved to be a restless creative spirit, a notice served by 1986's Ballad of a Thin Line Man, an acoustic effort which featured the harmony vocals of ex-Go-Go (and Gelb 's then-girlfriend) Paula Jean Brown . In 1988, Giant Sand issued a pair of new LPs, the equally diffuse Storm and The Love Songs .

By 1989's raw, improvisational Long Stem Rant , the group consisted only of Gelb and drummer John Convertino , while 1990's Swerve featured guests like Juliana Hatfield and Poi Dog Pondering . 1991's Ramp and 1992's Center of the Universe returned to the ragged desert-rock of their earliest material, but with 1994's Glum (the band's first and only effort for major label Imago), Giant Sand 's music turned unexpectedly moody and restrained. Backyard Barbecue Broadcast , released in 1995, culled material from a pair of live radio sets.

In addition to Giant Sand , Gelb occasionally recorded under the guise of the Band of Blacky Ranchette, an outlet for his country leanings; in 1991, he also issued a solo album, Dreaded Brown Recluse . In addition, longtime drummer Convertino moonlighted in the lounge revival group Friends of Dean Martinez, and frequent collaborator Ptacek often performed as a solo artist prior to his cancer-related death on November 12, 1997. Chore of Enchantment, the first Giant Sand release on noted indie Thrill Jockey, followed in early 2000

wig

Evolving from a garage punk band in the vein of the Replacements, Dinosaur Jr. , and Mudhoney to a literate, pretentious, soul-inflected post-punk quartet, the Afghan Whigs were one of the most critically acclaimed alternative bands of the early '90s. Although the band never broke into the mainstream, they developed a dedicated cult following, primarily because of lead singer/songwriter Greg Dulli 's tortured, angst-ridden tales of broken relationships and self-loathing. The Afghan Whigs were one of the few alternative bands around in the late '90s to acknowledge R&B, attempting to create a fusion of soul and post-punk.

The Afghan Whigs were formed when the members -- vocalist/rhythm guitarist Greg Dulli , bassist John Curley , lead guitarist Rick McCollum, and drummer Steve Earle -- were attending the University of Cincinnati. Dulli , who was raised in Hamilton, OH, was studying film at the university, where he met fellow students McCollum and Earle . Unlike the rest of the band, Curley didn't attend the University of Cincinnati. He arrived in the city to intern as a photographer at the Cincinnati Enquirer, which his father -- who published USA Today -- arranged for him; for the next few years, Curley continued to shoot pictures for the paper, quitting only when the band's schedule became too busy for him to work both jobs. Dulli happened to meet Curley when visiting a friend's apartment building. Eventually, the pair formed the Afghan Whigs in 1986, along with McCollum and Earle .

In 1988, the Afghan Whigs released their debut album, Big Top Halloween , on their independent record label, Ultrasuede. The album received good word-of-mouth in underground music publications and college radio. A copy of the record worked its way to the influential Seattle-based independent record label Sub Pop, and the label arranged for the Whigs to release a one-off single. The single led to a full-blown record contract with Sub Pop. Up in It, their first Sub Pop album, was released in 1990. For the next two years, the Afghan Whigs toured America consistently, occasionally heading over to Europe and England. In 1992, their third album, Congregation , was released to very positive reviews. After its release, the band was courted by a number of major labels. The band released one more record on Sub Pop, an EP of soul and R&B covers called Uptown Avondale , and signed to Elektra Records.

Gentlemen , the band's major-label debut, was released to considerable critical acclaim in the fall of 1993. "Debonair," the first single pulled from the album, received major play from MTV, and all of the reviews were positive. Nevertheless, the band wasn't able to ascend past cult status and all the critical praise even engendered a backlash, most notably in the form of an anti-Whigs fanzine called Fat Greg Dulli. In the summer of 1994, the band released the What Jail Is Like EP to coincide with their American tour. Upon the completion of their international tour in the fall of 1994, the band took an extended break. Steve Earle left the band in the spring of 1995; he was replaced by Paul Buchignani , just before the band entered the studio to record their fifth album. Black Love , their second album for Elektra, was released in the spring of 1996. Again, the album received positive reviews but the band failed to break out of their cult status. 1965 , their first effort for new label Columbia, followed two years later. However, with the bandmembers living in different states, it would prove to be their last; in February of 2001, the band called it quits, citing geographical separation

Pain Teens

Houston's harrowing Pain Teens were one of the earlier bands to fuse the chilly gloom of goth rock with the harsh experimentalism of early industrial music, setting the stage for a hybrid that would become increasingly common as the '90s wore on. The Pain Teens' core was the husband-and-wife team of Bliss Blood and Scott Ayers; Blood played the role of goth chanteuse, while Ayers' murky, ultradistorted guitar work veered from creepy psychedelia to pure avant-garde noise, with occasional hints of Texas blues filtered through the Birthday Party. Also filling the role of electronics manipulator, Ayers' tracks were laden with pounding tribal percussion, tape loops, dialogue samples, and assorted found sounds. Like their main influences (Swans, Throbbing Gristle), or even to a degree their fellow Texans the Butthole Surfers, the Pain Teens' lyrical interests were highly provocative: kinky sex, murder, mental illness, child abuse, religious hypocrisy, and anything else that evoked the dark side of human existence. Much more than her forebears, though, Blood tempered those confrontational shock tactics with a tangible, underlying feminist and social concern. The Pain Teens were quite prolific over their decade-long existence, and although the goth/industrial/noise formula shifted its emphasis from time to time, much of their work was generally of a piece. The Pain Teens were formed in 1985 as a chiefly studio-bound project between Scott Ayers (a veteran of local punk act Naked Amerika) and Bliss Blood. Essentially a Stooges-influenced punk band at first, their sound quickly grew beyond those roots, as documented on a lengthy series of cassette-only releases issued on the band's own Anomie label. After honing their style for a couple of years, the Pain Teens finally started to play live around the area, and developed a provocative stage show that often featured live whippings. Their first official album was a self-titled affair culled from their previous cassette recordings, and released on Anomie in 1988. The follow-up, 1989's Case Histories, also drew its material from the group's cassette catalog, which by 1990 numbered nine separate 90-minute releases. Later in 1990, the Pain Teens signed with Butthole Surfer King Coffey's Trance Syndicate label, and debuted with the album Born in Blood, their first official release to feature all-new material. Bassist Kirk Carr officially joined the band that year as well, since increased touring commitments made a full backing group necessary. Drummer Frank Garymartin came onboard in 1991, and with this fleshed-out lineup, the Pain Teens recorded two more albums, 1992's Stimulation Festival and 1993's Destroy Me, Lover. Carr and Garymartin both departed in 1994, and Blood and Ayers turned out one final effort, the world music-influenced Beast of Dreams, in 1995; they subsequently went their personal and professional ways. Ayers played with Garymartin in Truth Decay, and also in Culturcide with Ralf Armin, the latter of whom had been a guest musician with the Pain Teens from time to time. He also started the trip-hop-flavored solo project the Walking Timebombs. Blood, meanwhile, moved to New York City and performed with several different groups, including Emma Peel and the faux-jazz Moonlighters. As a supporting musician, Garymartin also played behind Helios Creed and Butthole Surfers side project Daddy Longhead