Word: veruca
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Dates: during 1994-1994
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Joyful rock 'n' roll on Veruca Salt's debut...
...Chicago-based alternative-rock quartet Veruca Salt is named after a character in the children's book Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, a spoiled brat who is thrown down a garbage chute by 99 angry squirrels. It's a provocative name because there are a lot of whiny alternative bands that deserve to be disposed of the same...
...Veruca Salt isn't one of them. On the group's debut CD, American Thighs, singer-guitarist Nina Gordon, singer-guitarist Louise Post, bassist Steve Lack and drummer Jim Shapiro make music that is both disturbingly dysfunctional and thoroughly enjoyable. The band's lyrics are downbeat, fuzzy and weird while the tunes are upbeat and full of melodic guitar bravado. On the energetic Celebrate You, Post sings, "And in the dream/ You held a gun/ You killed off all who hurt you," accompanied by bright, jangling guitars. On All Hail Me, when Post cries, "I killed your baby...
...again." The song closes with a thunderous guitar solo that evokes the frustration and jubilation of being in one's 20s -- sort of like MTV's The Real World packed into a couple dozen screeching notes. It's moments like the one at the end of 25 that separate Veruca Salt from bands that deserve the squirrel treatment. The members allow themselves to be caught up in the joy of playing rock 'n' roll, and they take their listeners along...
More coed bands are poised to break out. Veruca Salt, a terrifically promising rock group from Chicago, will release its first album next month. "Hopefully, we're helping dispel the myth that all 'girl bands' sound alike," singer-guitarist Louise Post said at a recent concert. The Fugees, an appealing reggae-rap trio, have a single that's climbing the Billboard charts. Madder Rose is touring to support its ravishing new CD, Panic On. Even vocalist Jenny Berggren of the cuddly Swedish pop band Ace of Base says she is "definitely going to do more" on her band's next...