Back when grunge ruled the earth, there were some stylistic holdouts who attempted to bridge the gap between 80's alternative and 90's college rock. One of my personal favorites was Failure, a prophetically named band that fizzled out in 1997 after their third album, Fantastic Planet
.That final album did score a minor radio hit, "Stuck On You", a lovely ballad to heroin with a typically overproduced mid-90's video:
Singer/guitarist Ken Andrews went on to release a couple middling solo projects, On
and Year Of The Rabbit
, but he's become more notable as a producer for the likes of Pete Yorn, Tenacious D and BRMC.On the flip side, bassist Greg Edwards has begun to eclipse Failure with his current project, Autolux. After touring with Nine Inch Nails in support of their debut album, Future Perfect
, they've returned with a critically regarded follow up, Transit Transit
.Echoing Pavement, My Bloody Valentine and even L.A. contemporaries Silversun Pickups, Autolux leans toward shoegaze more than anything else:
Extra points for the cute drummer in the Easter dress.
Oh, and one last bonus for you... Failure's 1997 cover of Depeche Mode's "Enjoy The Silence", reported to be a favorite of Andrew Fletcher himself.
1 comment:
I was a fan of that On record Shifting Skin. That is the best version of Enjoy the Silence, and that Depeche Mode tribute album that song is from is great. God Lives Underwater did a great version of Fly on The Windscreen, and Gus Gus owned Monument.
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