Dark, grimy, very 90s alt rock with juuuust enough gestures towards the band's electro-industrial past -- a sample here, a drum machine here, a serrated guitar tone there -- to associate them with bands like NIN and their legions of followers. This record was, I'm guessing, an attempt to capitalize on their having landed a song on the extremely popular soundtrack to The Crow, but they just didn't have much mainstream appeal, and called it quits midway through recording the follow-up. I honestly can't even tell if Gilt is any good or it's just nostalgia that keeps me coming back year after year.
Also, I don't know what is wrong with me, but I've been on a dubious old favorites kick, and before this, I wrote a fucking diatribe (I'm serious, it's without a doubt the longest post I've ever written for this blog) on the first Psychotica record, an album and also-ran band that literally no one has cared about in over two decades. That post probably ain't gonna see the light of the day -- we have top men working on it right now. [Edit: I posted it, and I wasn't lying about how fucking long it was.] I even briefly considered doing a post on Extra Fancy, who are one of those alt rock bands who kinda sound like noise rock by default simply because they're utterly incapable of writing an effective melody. Somebody send help.
Track listing:
1. Richest Junkie Still Alive
2. Kiss Destroyer
3. Suicide King
4. Animal Mass
5. The Soft Collision
6. Solar Temple
7. Tryst
8. Casual Users
9. Twofold Godhead
10. Last
11. Serpico
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I saw Psychotica on tour with Jack Off Jill and 3 Ton Gate back in Montreal in maybe '97 and actually went out and bought their album afterwards. Every once and awhile I'll listen to Ding Dong Dead to remind me of simpler times.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I'm not the only one still trying to figure out if this album was any good ha ha. For my money, Concentration was an absoluty underrated early 90's record and defs their best
ReplyDeleteGreat post ane, for me, an apt start of Spooky Season. Ultra-90s industrial-adjacent alt rock is as synonymous with Fall/Halloween as Bauhaus or The Misfits.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it's just me but it seems like industrial and industrial metal is full of bands like this. Dropped an album or 2 in the 90s and disappeared. Still love that era though.
ReplyDeleteI have a hard time disliking anything Sylvia Massy had a hand in.
ReplyDeleteYou wouldn't happen to have the 1991 self-titled Machines of Loving Grace album would you? I'd very much like to see that posted. I've been on a 90's kick, trying to find music I overlooked in the past. Thank you for this one.
ReplyDeleteI honestly don't think I like the self-titled enough to do a post on it. I don't hate it, I'll give it a spin every now and then but it's just kinda lightweight imo. But if you wanna cop it and hear it for yourself, here's a link:
Deletehttps://mega.nz/file/QzwCiAwY#8k8OdwlCavvLuocEAIhWdBNxqRf2_ZfeqAYFo4f9KZU