One of the good things about Nirvana's success in 1991 was that the major labels in America hyped -- usually without knowing it -- bands the equal of Nirvana.
The Posies, from Bellingham, Washington (not Seattle), had already released a 1990 album on Geffen Records that went largely ignored except for the magnificent singles "My Big Mouth" and "Golden Blunders" which garnered airplay on my car stereo if nowhere else.
By 1993, the group was being marketed as another grunge band by the same label but it didn't matter as their next album, "Frosting On The Beater," had a harder, purer power pop sheen.
Perhaps some kid out there in the Midwest bought the album thinking it was a new grunge band and ending up being hipped to solid, melodic pop on a par with "Heaven Tonight"-era Cheap Trick? Great!
Along with "Dream All Day" (an alt-rock radio hit), and "Flavor of the Month," "Solar Sister" is one of the standout tracks on the album and one of my favorite Posies songs.
The video is from the 1994 UK Phoenix music festival and it's funny to see cute little Brit girls adopting an American grunge look as they rock out to this song.
I saw The Posies in 2001 -- I have no idea why it took me so long -- and they were pretty darn good except for the acoustic guitar breaks. But, hey, even Cheap Trick is a victim of that kind of "Unplugged" pretension.
The Posies, from Bellingham, Washington (not Seattle), had already released a 1990 album on Geffen Records that went largely ignored except for the magnificent singles "My Big Mouth" and "Golden Blunders" which garnered airplay on my car stereo if nowhere else.
By 1993, the group was being marketed as another grunge band by the same label but it didn't matter as their next album, "Frosting On The Beater," had a harder, purer power pop sheen.
Perhaps some kid out there in the Midwest bought the album thinking it was a new grunge band and ending up being hipped to solid, melodic pop on a par with "Heaven Tonight"-era Cheap Trick? Great!
Along with "Dream All Day" (an alt-rock radio hit), and "Flavor of the Month," "Solar Sister" is one of the standout tracks on the album and one of my favorite Posies songs.
The video is from the 1994 UK Phoenix music festival and it's funny to see cute little Brit girls adopting an American grunge look as they rock out to this song.
I saw The Posies in 2001 -- I have no idea why it took me so long -- and they were pretty darn good except for the acoustic guitar breaks. But, hey, even Cheap Trick is a victim of that kind of "Unplugged" pretension.