Premature Admiration
“It’s the best problem to have,” admits Minty Fresh Records capo Jim Powers, but it’s a problem all the same. Six weeks before the release of their debut album, Veruca Salt are getting airplay (for their single “Seether”) on some of the biggest modern rock stations in the country: LA’s venerable KROQ, Chicago’s Q101, and other outlets in Seattle, New Jersey, and Boston. The label is gratified by the attention, but worried. “We’d like a lot of airplay when the record comes out, rather than a lot now and then trailing off when the record is in the stores,” says Powers. The Chicago band, led by Nina Gordon and Louise Post, has also scored a dizzying amount of press attention: it’s had its photo in the New York Times, been dubbed “a terrifically promising young rock band” in an otherwise fairly insipid story on coed rock bands in Time; and garnered a “band to watch” minifeature in Rolling Stone. England loves them too: the hook-filled, guitar-laden “Seether” was dubbed single of the week in New Musical Express and has hit number one on Melody Maker’s indie single charts. The album, American Thighs, Minty Fresh’s first full-length product, was produced by Brad Wood at Wicker Park’s Idful Studios and is set for release September 27.
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Schmitsville
Liz Phair is slated for the cover of an upcoming Rolling Stone…. Donny Osmond saw the Jesus Lizard at Lounge Ax last weekend–and even helped a body-surfing David Yow pass over the crowd….Who cares about the 40 new minutes of concert footage in Michael Wadleigh’s documentary Woodstock? What’s important is (a) a fully remixed sound track and (b) the opportunity to see it on the Music Box’s big screen. It shows nightly at 8 through Thursday… Blackout Records, 3729 N. Southport, celebrates its second anniversary with a free show Saturday afternoon. The Coctails play at 3 PM, M.O.T.O. at 4:30, and Number One Cup at 6. Call 296-0744 for details….If you get the Reader early, you might still catch Material Issue’s Jim Ellison and Mike Zelenko spinning records at Delilah’s, 2771 N. Lincoln, Thursday the 11th after 10 PM.
