Criminally Underappreciated 90's Guitar Bands
It was hard to be a good guitar band in the 90s. Following The Pixies, Slint, Talk Talk, My Bloody Valentine, Nirvana and Primal Scream, the most popular guitar rock got blandly conservative (Stone Temple Pilots, Oasis), while other artists avoided guitars entirely (Bjork, Tricky, Portishead, Stereolab, Laika, The Orb, Orbital). Some were successful (Radiohead, Flaming Lips), or at least got top billing as critical favorites (Pavement, Fugazi, Sleater-Kinney, Uncle Tupelo) but most started promisingly in the early 90s only to struggle in obscurity near the end of the decade, usually breaking up. Some of the bands below probably didn't expect to become stars and simply ran a natural lifespan for an indie band. Either way, a Swervedriver/Screaming Tree/Your Favorite Band reunion tour doesn't sound like a bad idea.
The Afghan Whigs – 5 (Congregation '91, Gentlemen '93, Black Love '96)
The Blue Aeroplanes – 4 (Swagger '90, Beatsongs '91, Life Model '94, Rough Music '95)
The Boo Radleys – 6 (Everything's Alright Forever '92, Giant Steps '93, Wake Up! '95)
Built To Spill – 4 (There's Nothing Wrong With Love '93, Perfect From Now On '97, Keep It Like A Secret '99)
Buffalo Tom – 5 (Birdbrain '90, Let Me Come Over '92, Big Red Letter Day '93)
Los Fabulosos Cadillacs – 4 (Rey Azucar '94, Los Fabulosos Calaveras '97)
Café Tacvba – 4 (S/T '92, Re '94, Reves/Yosoy '99)
Catherine Wheel – 4 (Ferment '92, Chrome '93, Happy Days '95, Adam and Eve '97)
Eleventh Dream Day – 4 (Lived To Tell '91, El Moodio '93, Ursa Major '94, Eight '97)
Gallon Drunk – 5 (You, the Night & the Music '92, From the Heart of the Town '93, In The Long Still Night '96)
The Grifters – 5 (One Sock Missing '93, Crappin' You Negative '94, Full Blown Possessio '97)
Guided By Voices – 7 (Propeller '92, Bee Thousand '94)
The Jesus Lizard – 6 (Head '90, Goat '91, Liar '92)
Low – 4 (I Could Live In Hope '94, Long Division '95, The Curtain Hits The Cast '96, Secret Name '99)
Luna – 5 (Lunapark '92, Bewitched '94, Penthouse '95)
Mano Negra – 5 (King Of Bongo '92, Patchanka '92, Casa Babylon '94)
Mercury Rev – 4 (Yerself Is Steam '91, Boces '93, See You On The Other Side '95, Deserter's Songs '98)
Polvo – 4 (Cor-Crane Secret '92, Today's Active Lifestyles '93, Exploded Drawing '96, Shapes '97)
Red Red Meat – 4 (S/T '93, Jimmywine Majestic '94, There's A Star Above the Manger Tonight '97)
Rocket From the Crypt – 5 (Circa: Now! '92, Hot Charity '95, Scream Dracula, Scream! '95)
Ride – 4 (Nowhere '90, Going Blank Again '92, Carnival of Light '94, Tarantula '96)
Royal Trux – 7 (Twin Infinitives '90, Cats & Dogs '93, Thank You '95, Accelerator '98)
Screaming Trees – 3 (Uncle Anesthesia '91, Sweet Oblivion '92, Dust '96)
The Sea And Cake – 4 (S/T '94, Nassau '95, The Biz '95, The Fawn '97)
Seam – 4 (Headsparks '92, The Problem With Me '93, Are You Driving Me Crazy? '95, Pace Is Glacial '98)
Silkworm – 6 (In The West '94, Libertine '94, Firewater '96)
Six Finger Satellite – 4 (The Pigeon Is The Most Popular Bird '93, Severe Exposure '95, Paranormalized '96, Law Of Ruins '98)
Sloan – 5 (Twice Removed '94, One Chord To Another '96, Between the Bridges '99)
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion – 6 (Extra Width '93, Orange '94, Now I Got Worry '96)
Souled American – 4 (Around The Horn '90, Sonny '92, Frozen '94, Notes Campfire '96)
Teenage Fanclub – 5 (Bandwagonesque '91, Thirteen '93, Grand Prix '95)
Swervedriver – 4 (Raise '91, Mezcal Head '93, Ejector Seat Reservation '95, 99th Dream '97)
Unwound – 5 (New Plastic Ideas '94, The Future of What '95, Repetition '96)
The Walkabouts – 6 (Satisfied Mind '93, Devil's Road '96, Nighttown '97)
Walt Mink – 4 (Miss Happiness '92, Bareback Ride '93, El Producto '95, Colossus '97)
The Wedding Present – 3 (Seamonsters '91, Watusi '94, Saturnalia '96)
Yo La Tengo – 5 (Fakebook '90, Painful '93, I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One '97)
