Artist: Golden Smog
Genre(s):
Indie
Rock
Discography:
Another Fine Day
Year: 2006
Tracks: 15
Weird Tales
Year: 1998
Tracks: 15
On Golden Smog
Year: 1996
Tracks: 5
Down by the Old Mainstream
Year: 1996
Tracks: 14
A bibulous, side-project covers band that step by step evolved into a kind of roots rock supergroup, Golden Smog was a loosely connected unit comprised, at several times, of members of Soul Asylum, the Replacements, Wilco, the Jayhawks, Run Westy Run, and the Honeydogs. The radical first came together in the Minneapolis area in the later '80s as a country-rock reaction to the punk rocker and hard-core sounds that dominated the Twin Cities' melodic shot at the time; finally Golden Smog became something of a fixing at local clubs, where they played a handful of shows annually. From the attack, the lineup was mercurial, although Run Westy Run singer Kraig Johnson as well as guitarists Dan Murphy (Soul Asylum) and Gary Louris (the Jayhawks) were relative constants. Smog shows were commonly thematically based, in keeping with the banteringly nature of the project; one execution was devoted exclusively to Eagles covers, while some other nonrecreational court to the Rolling Stones and was billed "Her Satanic Majesty's Paycheck."
Reasonably unexpectedly, a five-cut covers EP, On Golden Smog, appeared in 1992. While the closure runway, a interpretation of Thin Lizzy's "Cowboy Song" sung by Soul Asylum roadie Bill Sullivan, followed in the project's original rakish heart, the remainder of the record was considerably more focused, keeping in pedigree with the main musical work of the bandmembers -- world Health Organization, this time out, were essentially Johnson, Murphy, Louris, Jayhawks bassist Marc Perlman, and ex-Replacements drummer Chris Mars, along with Soul Asylum singer Dave Pirner (on a cover of Bad Company's "Shooting Star"). Even more unexpectedly, the side by side Golden Smog movement -- 1996's uncut Down by the Old Mainstream -- was made up largely of original material composed strictly for the project. With a lineup that included Johnson, Murphy, Louris, Perlman, Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy, and Honeydogs drummer Noah Levy (all of whom recorded under pseudonyms as a answer of contractual obligations), the record eagre few reminders of Smog's beer-soaked origins, rather revealing a more ripen and thoughtful band breakage justify of the restraints of their day jobs and having some serious fun in the march. Uncanny Tales followed in 1998, only it wasn't until 2006 that the grouping released Another Fine Day, which, unsurprisingly, ascribable to the total of time that had passed since the last album, sounded minuscule like sooner Golden Smog records. Bloodline on the Slacks was released the following year.
