WTF Happened To Them? Denali

While they did perform a few reunion shows last year, Denali called it quits back in April of 2004 after just two albums. Unfortunately for me, by that time I had still only heard the mp3 I've provided below "Hold Your Breath." Everything about the song sucked me in: the guitar work, the dark female vocals, the strong rhythm...

from The Instinct (2003)
Hold Your Breath

"Normal Days" performed March 5, 2004 at The Echo Lounge in Atlanta.

WTF Happened To Them? Cocteau Twins

Cocteaus Twins were a highly prolific Scottish outfit active throughout the 80's and early 90's. Extremely influential to both the Post-Punk and Shoegaze bands that followed them, Cocteau Twins had a sound that was like no other, as well as a consistently evolving and maturing style. Walls of effects-saturated guitars propelled by Elizabeth Fraser's impressive and almost nonsensical vocals (buried in the mix, of course) are pretty much the M.O. here.

After a few releases in the 90's, Cocteau Twins broke up, due to creative differences. No dead members, drug problems, just plain ol' fading away.

"Cico Buff" is a track from their fifth LP, Blue Bell Knoll, released in 1988. I consider this their best release, as later albums are more radio-friendly pop than the more dreamy, ethereal 80's releases. The video is of a live performance of "Pearly-Dewdrops' Drops" from 1984.

Cico Buff

What happened to them? caP'n Jazz

Oh Messy Life

This band has more passion behind it than any other band I've ever listened to. This album is raw, unpolished, young, experimental, but still catchy and impacting. The band's comprised of Tim Kinsella (vocals/Joan of Arc, Owls), Samuel Burick (bass), Mike Kinsella (drums/Joan of Arc, American Football), Victor Villareal (guitar), and Davey von Bohlen (guitar, vocals/Promise Ring). They only released one full-length album, Schmap'n Schmazz (as it's often called), and the band broke up almost immediately after its release. What we're left with is ANALPHABETOLOGY, the anthology of Schmap'n Schmazz and some other live stuff along with other little tracks they released.

This band formed in the end of the first emo wave (Fugazi, Rites of Spring, Nation of Ulysses, etc) in 1989, released Schmap'n Schmazz in 1994, when Sunny Day Real Estate released Diary. What we're left with now is the legacy they left behind in the form of bands like Jimmy Eat World, The Get Up Kids, Dashboard Confessional, and boys dressing like girls and a lot of dark clothing, ugly hair and bad makeup. Even though the bands that spawned in the wake of Cap'n Jazz may be bad, their good features are undeniable. They are amazingly creative and confrontational, yelling, emoting, and gushing lyrics violently and often to where you can barely understand them. This album is loud, introspective and full of the passion and feeling we all feel when growing up.

If you like any modern alternative band you should give this song a listen and you can see the subsequent influence on modern bands. Give it a listen.

What happened to them? My Bloody Valentine

This week, we're going to do a series of "What happened to them" posts where we'll pick artists who used to be huge players in all facets of the music scene but haven't been seen on the main stage in a while. We'll do a little bit of history, talk about what kind of impact they made, and then we'll talk about where the members are now. If you have any requests for artists that you want us to post about, just comment or e-mail us. I'll start off with My Bloody Valentine...

Sometimes

MBV was one of my absolute favorite bands and, coincidentally, influenced a lot of my favorite bands ranging from the Smashing Pumpkins to Sigur Ros. The group formed in 1984 in Dublin with the two founding members being guitarist/vocalist Kevin Shields and drummer Colm Ó Cíosóig. After gigging around Europe, the band finally settled in London and solidified their lineup with the addition of guitarist/vocalist Bilinda Butcher and bassist Debbie Googe. MBV were huge pioneers of the shoegazing genre using guitars as textures and vocals as reverb-based instruments.

I have to admit, I was not very impressed with the group's first LP release, Isn't Anything; however, it was the first release by MBV that was really well-received by critics and firmly established the group as a shoegazing band. It was their second LP release that is almost unanimously considered to be the group's masterpiece: Loveless. Several rumors were spread that the album almost bankrupted the label because of Shield's perfectionist intentions which, consequently, made the price of producing the album skyrocket (it was rumored to have costed upwards of £250,000, but Shields denies this). After listening to Loveless, I can see why. Every single sound is perfectly handcrafted and beautifully placed. I'd venture to say it's one of the top 5 albums of all time in terms of production techniques. Whenever somebody asks me what shoegazing is, I tell them to go get a copy of Loveless.

Unfortunately, Loveless failed to perform well commercially; it never charted in the United States. MBV began work on an album, but halted the production in 1996. Since then, the band hasn't released any material and the group disbanded. The popular reason behind the lack of material is because Shields thought that he could never make anything as beautiful as Loveless ever again. Fortunately for all of the MBV lovers, Shields announced in 2007 that the band was reuniting and plan to finish the album they had put on hold since 1996. The group performed a series of live shows in London and New York and, with any luck, we'll see the new MBV album out by early next year.