Forgotten Bands of Grunge - Tad

As with almost every music scene, for every band that bursts out of a city, there were five bands toiling away with little or no recognition. It's a combination of talent and catching lightning in a bottle, a random factor that influences the music tastes of the time, that makes a band famous. It was Nirvana's combination of slugdy 70s rock, punk sensibilities and distortion that made them famous. And it was Eddie Vedder's voice, good looks and his bands sense of melody that made Pearl Jam starts. But what about bands like Tad?

Tad was one of the many incestuous bands that roared out of the Seattle grunge era. Featuring members from historical Seatlle bands like Bundle of Hiss and Skin Yard, Tad was fronted by vocalist and guitarist Tad Doyle. They formed in 1988, just as the Seattle scene was starting to explode. They served as Nirvana's opening act on their Bleach tour, and shared space on the legendary Sub Pop label with Nirvana. Tad had more in common with Nirvana in their love of 70s sludge metal and melodic punk, though they were much heavier than Nirvana. I always loved the band's early tagline, "Tad puts the sheet back into metal."

Tad's first album was 1988's God's Balls, was produced by Jack Endino, who produced a lot of early grunge albums. It was a crunchy and loud effort that flew under the radar. It featured the wonderfully sludgy "Sex God Missy", which also appeared on the scene-setting Sub Pop compliation Sub Pop 200:

 http://youtu.be/ryDelBsVSDY



Their second album, 1990's Salt Lick, produced by the legendary Steve Albini, began to get the band noticed. By 1991, the band had a solid, melodic, heavy sound, and they produced 8-Way Santa, which included the track "Jack Pepsi", which is a good encapsulating of the band's sound: Heavy, abrasive and decidedly redneck.

http://youtu.be/il066mCId1s



As grunge began to go mainstream, Tad found themselves unlikely major label signees, signing to Warner sublabel Giant, and putting out 1993's Inhaler. They served as Soundgarden's opener during this time. While the album failed to turn the band into stars, it had several well received songs, including "Leafy Incline", heavy and melodic at the same time:

http://youtu.be/f97blSGbM_4



They were dropped from Giant due to poor record sales, then released Live Alien Broadcasts in 1995, then followed up with Infrared Riding Hood for Elektra Records. The album was melodic and sludgy, typical for the band:


http://youtu.be/4focJ9et2sY



Grunge was well past it's expiriation date by the mid 90s. Tad released a single or two before finally breaking up in 1998. Tad Doyle went on to form Hog Molly in the early 200s.