March 28, 2022 by A.S. Van Dorston

Fourth week of the 1992 countdown featuring The Gits, PJ Harvey, Sleep, Walt Mink, Beastie Boys, Snatches of Pink and God.

In a year that many consider slight on classics, one might expect more well-known “canonical” choices in the top ten. Of this batch, only Beastie Boys and PJ Harvey really count for that. Depending on your tastes in genre, it’s possible many readers are not familiar with 4-5 albums of this batch, which goes to show that deep dives in any year can bring up unexpected surprises. While most have consistently been at the top of my list for decades, Snatches of Pink is a last-minute swap for an album by Dog Faced Hermans that I realized was from 1991. I was delighted to find Bent With Pray available for free on Bandcamp, and the excitement of hearing it for the first time in decades may wear off eventually. None of the three albums issued on Caroline are available for streaming on official channels, even though the God album, full of high-profile artists, was reissued by Virgin in 1997. There’s some concern that all masters from that era are lost, but there’s hope in the form of the UK band Revolver, who’s collection of EP’s, Baby’s Angry that came out on Caroline in 1992, was reissued in a deluxe edition in 2009 by Virgin. Hopefully they can give the same treatment to these other artists.

10. God – Possession (Caroline)

Mix Godflesh and Napalm Death with electric Miles Davis, Swans and John Zorn, and you get a frighteningly apocalyptic sound that served as an early template for post-metal. How much ego does it take to name your supergroup God? One in the shape of Kevin Martin, along with members of Henry Cow, Skullflower, A.R.Kane, AMM, Head of David, Slab and Godflesh. Zorn guests on “Return to Hell,” “Hate Meditation” and “Lord, I’m On My Way.” The elements are industrial and noise rock, avant jazz and no wave, but the atmosphere is almost psychedelic doom at times, unlike Zorn’s frenetic Naked City project. It makes other self-proclaimed heaviest of industrial rockers sound like crybabies, except this is so good it transcended 1992, but then slipped between the cracks into the Upside Down, largely forgotten.

9. Snatches Of Pink – Bent With Pray (Caroline)

Rescued from the landfill pile of neglected bands that Caroline failed to properly promote, I remember playing Send in the Clowns (1988) by Chapel Hill’s Snatches of Pink on my radio show and liking it, but losing track of the band. A tense mix of Afghan Whig’s soul-grunge, Drivin n’ Cryin’s moody noir Americana and Black Crowe’s Stones sway, they were perhaps a tricky band to package, but one that rewards deep listening. Michael Rank, Andy McMillan, Sara Romweber released two albums under the name Clarissa in 1996-97 on Mammoth records, then reconvened under the original name in the 2000s to record three more solid albums, also recommended.

8. Beastie Boys – Check Your Head (Grand Royal/Capitol)

Beastie Boys were clearly embarrassed by their early work, trying to convince everyone that “Fight for Your Right to Party” and all their cringeworthy misogynist lyrics were satirical, when they really just kind of sucked. Their only way up was to prove their intelligence and cultural competence, which they did on the dense Dust Brothers samplefest of Paul’s Boutique (1989) and their third full-length, where they picked up their instruments for the first time in nearly a decade and showed they’d been practicing on basement funk jams all along, plus a revisit to their hardcore punk days on “Time for Livin’.” They would not top Paul’s Boutique, but they would establish themselves as one of the defining Gen X bands of the era.

7. Walt Mink – Miss Happiness (Caroline)

Underheard but not underrated: Those who heard the debut of one of the best live bands anywhere had their minds melted. Alas, like many great bands after the post-Nirvana label feeding frenzy in the 90s, their albums were neglected and lost in the digital black void. | Full Review

6. Sleep – Holy Mountain (Earache)

In San Jose, a band called Abestosdeath, consisting of Al Cisneros, Chris Haikus and Matt Pike self-released the 7″ single “Unclean,” and “Dejection” with the label Profane Existence. Greatly influenced by Saint Vitus, the raw, screamy doom already showed potential for something special. Abestosdeath became Sleep, and released Volume One (1991, Tupelo). However, it was still indebted to 80s doom revival bands, and Sleep hadn’t quite fully grown into the stoner behemoth they were destined to become. They took a giant step when they submitted a demo to Earache Records, who released it as-is as Sleep’s Holy Mountain in the UK November 1992, and in the U.S. in March 1993. It was a landmark release in how it created a unique vision of stoner doom that was far more psychedelic and fuzzed out than any of their precursors. With the cannabis leaves on the cover and lyrics like “Look into the rays of the new stoner sun rising,” (“Holy Mountain”) and “Stoner caravan from deep space arrives,” (“From Beyond”), no one can deny that this is quintessential stoner rock alongside Monster Magnet and Kyuss. Even greater things were to come.

5. PJ Harvey – Dry (Too Pure)

I immediately felt a connection with Polly Jean Harvey’s music. About my age, she grew up in Dorset, cutting her teeth on Captain Beefheart records at an early age. Her parents often hosted musicians who stayed over and she absorbed a wide range of music. While in spirit she could be aligned with the feisty spirit of riot grrrl and artists like Babes in Toyland, PJ Harvey was more eccentric and . . . pervy. Dry is a powerful debut, a great start to a long, varied career of one of the all-time greats.

4. The Gits – Frenching the Bully (C/Z)

Before singer Mia Zapata was brutally raped and murdered in 1993, the Gits were one of many great Seattle area bands who didn’t quite draw the attention they deserved. While the the band’s performance of punk blues might seem basic, it is punk. No fancy multi-part arrangements or solos necessary to showcase Zapata’s vocal talents on “Another Shot Of Whiskey,” “While You’re Twisting, I’m Still Breathing,” “Cut My Skin It Makes Me Human,” and “Second Skin,” which can stop you in your tracks and inspire goosebumps. Her gritty voice channels Janis Joplin while conveying emotional power through melody not unlike Stevie Nicks. She could have also been influenced by Kat Arthur of L.A. punkers Legal Weapon, but tripling the power output. It’s perhaps haunting for some to listen to the only album released while Zapata was still alive, but it still holds up regardless. The follow-up Enter: The Conquering Chicken (1994) was not quite complete, but the band were able to pad it with a couple solo performances, and “Seaweed” and “Precious Blood” showed they were still improving. | Gits Documentary