lazarus
Blue Crack Supplier
First saw them back in the early 90s when they were slowly rising in the Chicago music scene, opened up for Liz Phair a couple times IIRC. I was very impressed by their catchy hooks, the harmonies of the two front women, and the legit shredding courtesy of Louise Post.
Their debut, American Thighs didn't come out until I had left for college in Boston, so I wasn't able to celebrate in the hometown, but I was damned impressed by the album. The popper sensibilities of Nina Gordon's songs were a great foil for Post's more aggressive tracks, and vice versa.
Anyway, they only managed to put out an EP and one more full-length before a feud between the two women ended the original line-up (rumor was that it was over Dave Grohl, who Post dated for a while). The heavier version of the band headed by Post wasn't as much to my liking, and they only put out 2 more albums before going on hiatus.
Somewhat miraculously, the girls patched things up a couple years ago, and their long-awaited new album is here. Basically, if you liked the old stuff, you're going to have a great time.
Streaming on NPR this weekend:
First Listen: Veruca Salt, 'Ghost Notes' : NPR
Will be back when I've had more time to digest this, but it's really nice to have them back and sounding on point, like 18 years just vanished.