Pain Teens: People still talk about this psych-punk/industrial/goth group steered by Bliss Blood and Scott Ayers, with good reason. No less than Sub Pop anointed the Teens' "Death Row Eyes"/"The Smell" its single of the month for April, although it did not hit the streets until May. "It continues the band's morbid fascination with the disturbed and demented side of life," Dixon wrote. The band were also at work on their Trance Syndicate LP Stimulation Festival, released that year.
Peglegasus: One of Houston's top alt-pop bands for a good long spell. In '92 they put out the Angry Neighbor 7-inch "Inlet/Chief?" "'Chief?,' with its spacey, melodic Husker-ish chorus is a keeper - a very cool song," Dixon wrote in April. "Kraftwerk fans take note: With no keyboards in sight, the band plows through a faithful, souped-up cover of 'Autobahn' on the flip."
David Rice: The highly touted singer-songwriter, then 21, debuted with the album Orange Number Eight. "Acoustic-based pop along the lines of Michael Penn and Toad the Wet Sprocket," Dixon wrote. "The CD overflows with beautiful and extremely personal, image-laden lyrics." He went on to release the 1998 album greenelectric on Columbia, do music for film and commercials, and today runs the creative agency Flow Nonfiction in Austin.
The Road Kings: Jesse Dayton's hard-charging rockabilly bad boys were riding high and closing down the honky-tonks such as Telephone Road's Local Charm and Richmond joint the Pig. He still visits often and swears Houston is much cooler than Austin, where he now lives.
Sprawl: SSSSPRRRAWWWWWWLLLLLLLLL. An approximation of Sprawl's ubiquity and importance to the local scene in the early '90s.
Spunk: Axiom regulars Spunk released a four-song seven-inch full of "heavy-duty driving punk that occassionally veers into metal-land," Dixon wrote.
Sugar Shack: What you might expect from a group named after the Archies' most famous song, Sugar Shack, Sugar Shack was a reliable source of power-pop thrills for many years. In '92 they put out Fearless Frata Killer, a three-song 7-inch with "an in-your-face power groove that blows away anything on their first two releases," wrote Dixon.
The Mike Gunn: The legendary Houston stoner-rock gods steered by future Charalambides man Tom Carter released Hemp for Victory in '92. "Sure, it's got that slow, Sabbath-inspired grunge-oid feel with freaky vocals," said Dixon, "but these guys aren't afraid of tossing in a little melody every now and then."
Three Day Stubble: Nerdcore made an early appearance on the local scene. "This three-song single is a full six minutes and 11 seconds of inept, little-kid-style playing, annoying vocals and improvised-sounding songs that barely stay together," Dixon wrote. "Depending on where you're coming from, you'll either think it's pure genius or it'll make you throw up."