Dayton or Cincinnati: Which Town Had the Best Scene in the 1990s?

[Local Waxlover]

Reading through all of the concerns posted on this board about the current local market for original music made me think back to the thriving scenes we had during the 1990s. Some incredible bands came out of both cities last decade, and many other great ones almost made it.

Which city had the stronger scene? It's a good argument.

Dayton, of course, spawned the Big Three of Guided by Voices, Brainiac, and The Breeders, bands that were among the most critically acclaimed of the decade. Living in Cincinnati, I probably don't recall the near misses as well as I should, but names like Cage, Jayne Sachs, the Oxymorons, Mink, and The Mulchmen come to mind.

In the other corner, another Big Three emerged from Cincinnati in the 1990s: The Afghan Whigs, Ass Ponys, and Over-the-Rhine. Our "almosts" included the Wolverton Brothers, Radiolaria, the Tigerlilies, Throneberry, Fugue, and the psychodots.

What do you say for the 1990s--Dayton or Cincinnati?

[robotx5]

Dayton where it at!
Hell ya
See i kinda favor dayton music.
Dayton is super bad ass.
We rock the rock freaky style.
I cant get enuff

[theunlikelabel]

Dayton = 1990's
Cincinnati = 2000's

[joe t]

you guys are looking past the obvious:
N. Kentucky- 2000's

[theunlikelabel]

Originally posted by joe t
you guys are looking past the obvious:
N. Kentucky- 2000's

hahaha

I always group you cats with us. Can I please? I'd love to mix Hilltop Distillery, Morals Galore, and the Sundresses with Chalk, view-finder, Readymaid, etc....

LEt's group up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[onest2.0]

Does anyone know where the group Lazy was from and what they sounded like?

I would agree that Dayton wins for the 90's. Its still early to call the winner for 2000's but I think Cincinnati's got the edge. It would be nice to see a non-garage rock band get some notoriety though.

[bond]

i believe lazy was a cincinnati group, but they may have had some ties to dayton as well.

before my time, but i've got a couple of their discs - very cool stuff, edgy girl-boy indie rock. their roadrunner release is pretty easy to find. you can actually get a split 7" of theirs over at deary me (http://www.dearymerecords.com/Catalog.htm) for *a dollar* now.

[theunlikelabel]

Lazy = Cincinnati

They were GREAT. They did a great split single with Brainiac on Simple Solutions out of Dayton.

[Burger Queen]

give Dayton a little more time. there's a lot of good music here.

[joe t]

LEt's group up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ok, but just for a little while.

[foolsgold]

Originally posted by onest2.0
Does anyone know where the group Lazy was from and what they sounded like?

I saw "Some Assmebly Required" in the cheapie bins (up by the cash register) at Everybodys.

A good disc.

However, I'd really like to track down a single they released which featured a song called "Grape Juice Plus" on it. Anyone have this/know where I can get it?"

[robotx5]

Jeremy Fredericks was in lazy and i know that dude is from dayton.

[redbobsled]

Originally posted by foolsgold


I saw "Some Assmebly Required" in the cheapie bins (up by the cash register) at Everybodys.

A good disc.

However, I'd really like to track down a single they released which featured a song called "Grape Juice Plus" on it. Anyone have this/know where I can get it?"

I LOVE that song. In college we used to drive the 3 hours to Cincinnati or the 1 hour to Columbus to go hear Lazy play pretty frequently, and that song was always the best one they did live. I too have looked and looked for that single, but no luck yet. I'm pretty sure it's a Cupid Car Club cover, and I got ahold of that original version in college at my college radio station....but the Lazy version is more fun.

And Lazy is definitely from Cincinnati, not Dayton. One of my friends from high school was good friends with the original band lineup. They did, however, change their lineup around the time their second full-length album came out, and maybe some of those people were from Dayton? But I liked their first album a whole lot better.

[theunlikelabel]

Originally posted by robotx5
Jeremy Fredericks was in lazy and i know that dude is from dayton.

What did he play? I don't remember him being in Lazy at all. Steve Schmoll on Guitar, Megan on Drums and Suzanne on Bass is the lineup that I remember. Then they had another bass player and I forget her name...

[marshallnesta]

Originally posted by Burger Queen
give Dayton a little more time. there's a lot of good music here.
really? breaking pangaea is good, and simply waitng is o.k...but those are all that come to mind for me...who exactly didja have in mind?

[robotx5]

i will try to back it up.

http://www.geocities.com/mysteryaddicts/haunting.htm
"Jeremy Fredericks (Let's Crash,
Lazy, Cigarhead),"

http://www.bigbeef.com/beefstuf/crash.htm
" including Jeremy Frederick (Lazy), "

or the web is lying to me..... Dam you Web!

[marstorock]

Kari Murphy was the last bassist. She's now in Shesus.

[theunlikelabel]

Originally posted by robotx5
i will try to back it up.

http://www.geocities.com/mysteryaddicts/haunting.htm
"Jeremy Fredericks (Let's Crash,
Lazy, Cigarhead),"

http://www.bigbeef.com/beefstuf/crash.htm
" including Jeremy Frederick (Lazy), "

or the web is lying to me..... Dam you Web!

Must have been towards the end. LET'S CRASH ROCKED! So did CIGARHEAD!

[joe t]

Yes Cigarhead was awesome!!!!
I still have the split 7" w/ them and Morsel (another one of my favorites.) great single!!!

[theunlikelabel]

Originally posted by joe t
Yes Cigarhead was awesome!!!!
I still have the split 7" w/ them and Morsel (another one of my favorites.) great single!!!

MORSEL ROCKED! I have the same record. BAD ASS!

Morsel blew a friend of mine's PA in 1994 or 5. hehe

[joe t]

Morsel is, and will always be, one of my favorite bands of all time!!!

[zippy]

hell yeah!
morsel was the shit! anybody have any of their recordings or know where i could get some of them?

weren't they from detroit or somewhere north of ohio though??

[joe t]

I have just about everything Morsel put out except for their remix album and some compilations. they put out a new one in 2002. i have two 7"s and four cd's. They were from Ann Arbor, Michigan.

it's hard to find their albums. you can order them from their site or from their label Small Stone. but "Noise Floor" was an amazing album, it's now out of print. they put it out in 1994 on Choke and it was recorded by Steve Albini.

Morsel should have been huge! they didn't get the recognition they deserved and they still haven't. they were a hard working band too, they toured everywhere. they're rockstars in my book!

[zippy]

yeah, i'd have to agree.. i wish i would have bought their cd's back when i saw them.. i have to say singing through a flute that's run thru a leslie is one of the coolest ideas ever.

[joe t]

Miriam also used to play a circular saw.

[gracie law]

we are forgetting columbus!

monster truck 5
new bomb turks
hairy patt band
cant remember

i think dayton had the edge back in the day.

i mean, brainiac! come on, cinti had nothing on that level then.

we are also forgetting roundhead, milkmine

i love morsel!!

i had a huge crush on myriam!
my old band played with them and the laughing hyenas at sudsy's,
and we played with them and hairy patt and monster truck five in columbus(the best beel jak show ever!)

but honestly, having been sort of entrenched in that scene, as well as being a part of the baby one, i think cinti bands NOW have both scenes beat.

maybe im just biased or something, but really, we have at least 10 bands in cinti right now that are good enough to tour and get national attention.thats a lot, considering the size and local support of our city.

im not even including the bands from here that are already getting attention like greenehornes, pearlene and thee shams. as well as shesus, and the wolvertons.

plenty of good music around right now.

[bond]

Originally posted by gracie law
but honestly, having been sort of entrenched in that scene, as well as being a part of the baby one, i think cinti bands NOW have both scenes beat.

maybe im just biased or something, but really, we have at least 10 bands in cinti right now that are good enough to tour and get national attention.thats a lot, considering the size and local support of our city.

im not even including the bands from here that are already getting attention like greenehornes, pearlene and thee shams. as well as shesus, and the wolvertons.

plenty of good music around right now.

i'll give this a resounding 'hell yeh!'..

if those ten bands stay together for another year or two, release and promote good lps, and start touring, it'll be ridiculous. there's not a comparable indie scene in the midwest, talent-wise.. now it's just a matter of keeping it together long enough for other people to find out.

[theunlikelabel]

Originally posted by gracie law
we are forgetting columbus!

monster truck 5
new bomb turks
hairy patt band
cant remember



Moviola
Pretty Mighty Mighty
Gaunt

[SamfromJFK]

Originally posted by theunlikelabel


Moviola
Pretty Mighty Mighty
Gaunt


I know no one will be into these bands, but I've gotta add...


Red Wanting Blue - Solid stage show, solid look, nice sound

OAR - Previously known as "The most powerful unsigned musicians in the United States". Now simply "The most powerful baby band in the United States". People are B-A-N-K-I-N-G on this record.

MC P Didimous - My favorite Asian rapper


S

[drexel dave]

why is everyone here forgetting the late great Roger Troutman?

He probably wasn't pale enough.

[robotx5]

on that note bootsy is from Cincinnaiti. I love bootsy.

but dayton has shesus ... now i know they are from dayton.
why do you guys keep trying to take our bands?



http://www.shesus.com/info/index.htm

"Springing from the post-industrial wasteland of Dayton, Ohio which has inexplicably produced some of the best artists of the last ten years, Shesus stands poised to continue that tradition. With a line-up that consists of ex-members of, GBV, Lazy, Brainiac, O-Matic, The Method and Robthebank, their original brand of new wave rock has been creating quite a buzz throughout the Midwest, East Coast and out West. "

[drexel dave]

yup, the whole "genre" thing has ruined American culture by and large.

Keep singing bass, keep singing!

[marshallnesta]

what about zapp...? they were from dayton, right?

[drexel dave]

yes, it was Zapp and Roger (Troutman), who was the brains of it all. He was shot by his brother off of Salem Ave. in Dayton about two years ago. It was the day the funk died in Dayton. I'm still sad over it. He was a genius. The whole west side scene of the 70s from Dayton puts all of the Indie stuff to SHAME in scale of the number of great bands to be honest.

Wasn't it Mick Jagger who said if his band could be like any other, it would be the Ohio Players?

Love and gravey,

drexel davey - http://www.drexellent.com

[marshallnesta]

i'm not being an ass, i'm just ignorant on the subject...exactly what were ( all or most of) those groups from dayton in the 70's? bw, i remember when he died. his niece got a call on her cell phone in the middle of class and flipped the fuck out.

[drexel dave]

we need the funk. Gotta' have that funk.

[MC casketeer]

more d8n funk...

http://www.daytonfunk.com/images/slave/sl_1.jpg

we gots it!

[Burger Queen]

Originally posted by marshallnesta

really? breaking pangaea is good, and simply waitng is o.k...but those are all that come to mind for me...who exactly didja have in mind? Never heard of either of those bands. But I am sure they are good.

How about the Poor Devils? Days Without End? Shrug?

there are a lot of up and coming bands that people aren't going to see.

[marshallnesta]

wasn't sure if shrug was ours or not. these 'nati kids have been claiming some dayton acts...what about those cover bands that police play in ( the DARE bands)? they play shows for elementary schoolers, and all the in between song talk is about not doing drugs and staying in school. do those bands count?

[marshallnesta]

wasn't sure if shrug was ours or not. these 'nati kids have been claiming some dayton acts...what about those cover bands that police play in ( the DARE bands)? they play shows for elementary schoolers, and all the in between song talk is about not doing drugs and staying in school. do those bands count

[robotx5]

yep we got srug.

[DaysWithoutEnd]

Thanks for the mention, BurgerQueen.

I interviewed Shesus for daytonbands.com and heather told me they relocated to Cincy, so they're kind of a toss-up.

The Poor Devils are amazing.

[MissKitty]

I love The Lab Partners. Daystar is phenomenal and although you'd never know from the stellar production, it was recorded in Dennis & Katie's basement! Also, I don't think anyone has mentioned John Shough yet--his Ultra Vega is a great album and I am anxiously anticipating the new release.

Other good Dayton bands I can think of are Morella's Forest (who relocated to the east coast if memory serves me correctly), Ohio Silver, The Mulchmen, Ohio Casket (rip), Kentucky Overflow, The Esoterics, Real Lulu, Cage, The Oxymorons, Enon and of course Drexel! (hey Dave, I saw you guys at Canal a while back and you ROCKED!)
I miss seeing The Highwaymen and GBV playing double bills, and I miss seeing The Obvious tear it up too.

Props to Moviola from Columbus too. Why has no one mentioned House band Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments? Also, The Haynes Boys made me very happy when they were still together. Tim Easton is still giving it plenty though--a great bunch of releases from him, even though he did relocate. :rolleyes:

Oh, and I second Shesus. "Loves You, Loves You Not" is a GREAT album. It's been in my cd player nonstop for weeks now.

[MC casketeer]

Originally posted by MissKitty
Other good Dayton bands I can think of are Morella's Forest (who relocated to the east coast if memory serves me correctly), Ohio Silver, The Mulchmen, Ohio Casket (rip) , Kentucky Overflow, The Esoterics , Real Lulu, Cage, The Oxymorons, Enon and of course Drexel! (hey Dave, I saw you guys at Canal a while back and you ROCKED!)
[/B]

Wow, you mentioned both of my defunct bands, thankyee. If you get a chance you should come and see our new band Abracadaver!(ex ohio casket). We're playing with Neil Hagerty of Royal Trux on Thursday June 12th @ Elbo's in d8n, should be a rocker.

http://www.dragcity.com/bands/hagerty.html

[MissKitty]

I've seen Neil before (in Cinti) but I'm hoping to make this show too. You were in both Ohio Casket and Esoterics? Small world dude! I used to work with both PJ and Gary.

[drexel dave]

MC Casketeer is one of the rockinest drummers around, with a unique style of his own.

[MC casketeer]

Originally posted by MissKitty
I've seen Neil before (in Cinti) but I'm hoping to make this show too. You were in both Ohio Casket and Esoterics? Small world dude! I used to work with both PJ and Gary.

Cool, Dingleberry's I'm guessing? PJ is still up in that hizzowss.


Originally posted by drexel dave
MC Casketeer is one of the rockinest drummers around, with a unique style of his own.


HUSH YOUR MOUTH!
BUT HE'S TALKIN' BOUT DA CYLINDA!
OH, I CAN DIG IT!

[theunlikelabel]

My old band, Charston Entry, played a few show with you kids in the Esoterics. One in Oxford by Miami University with the Tigerlillies and Pretty Mighty Mighty in 1994 rings a bell, but I can't remember the other show(s) off hand (at Rebo's maybe???). It's good to hear that you're still playing. I'll have to come out to check out your new bands tunes.

[MC casketeer]

Originally posted by theunlikelabel
My old band, Charston Entry, played a few show with you kids in the Esoterics. One in Oxford by Miami University with the Tigerlillies and Pretty Mighty Mighty in 1994 rings a bell, but I can't remember the other show(s) off hand (at Rebo's maybe???). It's good to hear that you're still playing. I'll have to come out to check out your new bands tunes.

Yeah, I remember your bands name. I think that Oxford show was at the Honeycomb Hideout. Those shows were pretty fun. I was about 15 years old at the time and wasted so all I can remember is calling the singer from Milkmine Eddie Vedder all night. Abracadaver! will have to come down to the nati sometime.

[kroe]

What about the obvious Afghan Whigs / Twilight Singers / Staggerring Statistics contingency? They certainly count as Cincy contributions who made/are making a mark on the national/international scene.

Other (former/current) Cincy bands who rocked:
Fat Dog - remember them?
Fairmount Girls
Ditchweed
Radiolaria
Campfire Crush
Thistle
Beel Jack (I think they were mentioned earlier in this thread...great guys)

[weeone]

Louisville.

[DirtyD98]

i mean, brainiac! come on, cinti had nothing on that level then.

I have to respectfully disagree....I mean c'mon...

the Whigs are the greatest thing to come out of ohio in a long long long time....

[jefrey]

I have to respectfully disagree....I mean c'mon...

the Whigs are the greatest thing to come out of ohio in a long long long time....
The whigs couldn't wipe their ass with Braniac :p

[weeone]

The whigs couldn't wipe their ass with Braniac :p

What does that even mean ? And sheeeesh have some respect for the dead.

[Handy Smurf]

kroe wins the award for "most randomly resurrected thread of the day"

[kroe]

WHOA now...

I love both bands...I hope I didn't start a debate by mentioning the Whigs in my last post.

I think both bands are/were equally as innovative in different ways. different styles, you know...

I know for certain Brainiac would have achieved much more in the way of international noteriety and (dare I say) fame had they not been met with Timmy's untimely death. Their recorded stuff was nothing short of brilliant. and their live shows were amazing to say the least.

The Whigs have always been a powerhouse of sound. Even their less-then-stellar CD 1969 had high points that other bands wish they could achieve in their entire career. Lives Whigs performances have always been marked with segments of Vegas camp, covers, and rock. Always great whenever I've seen them.

I thinks it's a stalemate in my humble opinion.

[kroe]

kroe wins the award for "most randomly resurrected thread of the day"

Ha ha...not so sure if that's a good thing...

as a new member, still trying to "catch up"

(plus it's kind of a slow day at work ;) )

[The Hegemo]

I saw "Some Assmebly Required" in the cheapie bins (up by the cash register) at Everybodys.

A good disc.

However, I'd really like to track down a single they released which featured a song called "Grape Juice Plus" on it. Anyone have this/know where I can get it?"

Well, since this thread has been randomly resurrected, I can randomly answer two year old questions... "Grape Juice Plus" was on a 10" vinyl release, Revolutions Per Minute. I have it at home, but bought it many years ago, so can't offer any advice on where to find a copy now.

[chicodaman]

what about moth and middlemarch for cincy? both those bands put on rockin' shows!!!

[jefrey]

I was just Kiddin anyway. Cinci's put out some of the best, Rob Fetters, Adrian Belew, Whigs, Over the Rhine, the list goes on and on. Daytons had it's fair share over the years too. I just think it boils down to the number of people in and around the city. I'm glad I only live an hour a way, that way, I get the best of both worlds. :)