If you liked Salad...
...then we would like to recommend the following bands:
Belly
Belly got together in 1992 and gathered a cult following after releasing singles such as Feed the Tree and Superconnected. Tanya Donnelly (also of The Breeders and Throwing Muses) is blessed with a voice which can span Sinead o'Connor, Kate Bush and anywhere between. The band split in 1996 but Donnelly continued her career with a number of excellent solo albums.
The Breeders
Pixie Kim Deal and Belly's Tanya Donnelly formed The Breeders as a side project, releasing their debut album, Pod in 1990. When Donnelly left to form Belly, Kim recruited her sister Kelley to the band. They went on to release the marvellous Last Splash which featured the alt-rock hit Cannonball. The band have split and reformed in various guises over the last decade, their most recent album Title TK released in 2003.
Echobelly
Fronted by Sonya Aurora Madden, Echobelly formed in 1992 and received critical acclaim for their debut album, 1994's Everyone's Got One. Their sound was often define as a fusion of The Smiths and Blondie, but Madan's unique style gave Echobelly a sound unlike any band before them. Later albums (On, Lustra and Gravity Pulls) failed to achieve the same success as EGO, but are definitely worth picking up if you have the chance.
Elastica
Elastica formed in 1993 and rose to stardom playing short sets of short songs. They were clearly influenced by Punk / New Wave bands including Wire, The Stranglers and Blondie, yet their music struck an unusual chord against the mainstream Britpop sound of the mid '90s. The band received a great deal of press, partly due to lead singer Justine Frishman's relationships with Suede's Brett Anderson and Blur's Damon Albarn.
P J Harvey
Never afraid to say sing what's on her mind, Polly Jean carved a unique niche for herself in the musical landscape. Her vocals go from soft and gentle to grating and discordant in a split-second. Harvey's earlier albums (Dry, Rid of Me) were heavy with her Pixies influence clear for all to hear, but her later work is also notable for unusual arrangements and interesting tunes.
Pixies
Pixies are one of most oft-cited influences. Their innovative song structures are said to have changed the face of modern music. Lead singer and songwriter Black Francis howled and shrieked like a man posessed over Joey Santiago's distorted guitars, Kim Deal's thumping bass and David Lovering's relentless drumming. Their lyrics at first centered around sex, death and religion, but later broadened to include historical figures and life outside planet earth. If you haven't explored their back catalogue, then stop reading this site, get down to your local independant music shop and buy Surfer Rosa / Come on Pilgrim - NOW! Pixies reformed in 2004 for a world tour and there are rumours that new material is in the works.
Pulp
Jarvis Cocker's twisted tales of unusual relationships and folk took a long while to catch on. The band released their first album in 1983, but didn't reach the mass market until 1994's His 'n' Hers LP. The following year, their popularity took another leap with the release of Common People which became one of the best known anthems of the 1990s.
Salt
Swedish trio, Salt formed in 1992 and released their debut LP, Auscultate in 1995. Their sound was dark and heavy with distorted guitars and Pixies-esque heavy basslines. Singer/songwriter Nina Ramsby's vocals could be compared to P J Harvey's. Salt never received much praise in the music press, but if you happen across one of their albums, it would be well worth a purchase.
Veruca Salt
Taking their name from a character in Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Nina Gordon and Louise Post formed Veruca Salt in 1994. Their debult single Seether and album American Thighs propelled the band to some success, but many proclaimed them too derivative to reach much further. Gordon left in 1998 to pursue a solo career. Her new songs are more folk than rock, but perhaps better suit her vocal style. She recently recorded an interesting acoustic cover of NWA's Straight Outta Compton! Post formed a new band, keeping the Veruca Salt name in 2000 and released a new album, Resolver.
