I Love The New Wave 90s: Possum Dixon
Posted by: steve | From: July 15, 2004
Little disclaimer: we are in the middle of the busiest week of the year probably for us here at GBoAT because of festivals and concerts and new jobs and best friends moving away and being on vacation. Therefore, we will not have an entry for Saturday, but we will be back at full strength next week (with some great stuff from the likes of Marianna Ritchey and Marisa Meltzer). Thanks for the patience. GBoAT is just starting.
Oh man, another day 90's alternative rock band to heap praise upon. I'm sure one day I'll be heaping praise on Marcy's Playground and Seven Mary Three. To quote Zac, "I heard somewhere" that most people's favorite music of all time is the music that they liked from age 14 to 18, and therefore you fine people are inundated day after day with bands that I was into during this period. Personal biases aside the 90s were an amazing and unique period for music. Never was there such a time where so many pre-existing bands who were creating music locally and independently were sought after, signed by major labels, and played on the radio. Possum Dixon was from Los Angeles and they were just dudes with jobs, who started a band, and recorded music. There were no agents no managers, no booking companies, until they got signed and then there's were swarms of them.
The project of Rob Zabrecky, Robert O'Sullivan, and Celso Chavez was a energy filled art pop group with driving keyboards and guitars. Showing strong new wave and Modern Lovers influences the band always put on super live shows. Possum Dixon brought a film noir aesthetic to it's album artwork and to it's lyrics. The band's lyrics also leaned towards broken hearted angst and job talk making for a more complete picture and lyrical depth.
Possum Dixon self released and EP and a tape before they were signed to Interscope records in 1993. Later that year their eponymous major label debut was released. It was an incredibly uptempo affair that featured a number of the songs that were on their earlier self-releases. With sometimes goofy sounding vocals and simple song structurers the songs were kept afloat with their strong energy and catchiness. The band's second album for Interscope, 1996's Star Maps, was a much more complex, moodier affair. They pulled the energy back a few notches giving the songs much more space, allowing them to develop and show their strength. Star Maps was Possum Dixon's highest moment. One more album followed in 1998, minus keyboardist Robert O'Sullivan, New Sheets was produced by Ric Ocasek and it's easy to tell. New Sheets is much simpler and more power pop than Star Maps and it feels a bit uninspired. Possum Dixon's day was done like so many other band's signed during the roaring 90s they were dropped by their label due to underwhelming album sales and they called it a day. Right now thinking about Possum Dixon and all the other 90's bands that got signed and that had just the tiniest taste of success is depressing me. These bands were doing their own thing, making music for the right reasons, and then preyed upon by trend exploiting record labels. Sure, they had it good for a while but it's just sorta sad. Possum Dixon brought it. They brought it real good, but they were just one of hundreds of forgotten bands of the alternative 90s but they will always be The Greatest Band of All Time.
Their debut was the best, in my opinion. I highly suggest you grab a copy if you don't already have it. It's the one with the gun on the photo. www.bostonjames.com
Posted by: Mike Hunt at June 14, 2006 11:39 PM
What a bummer, I got the first and last album and I loved them. I listen to "New Sheets" all the time and always wondered what happened to them. Sadly I read, a lot of years too late I might add, that the band disolved.
Possum Dixon was a great moment of my late adolescence.
Posted by: Diego at June 24, 2006 8:20 PM
Too bad Cnadian artists like Blue Peter and the Spoons didn't last into the 90's. Don't walk past by Blue Peter could well be the greatest one-hit wonder of all time
Posted by: Mike Kozseluha at October 2, 2006 8:01 PM
Wait, hold up, who is this band. I'm sorry, but "the greatest band of all time" title has already been given to The Beatles for over 40 years. So this band and the others on the list, who out of the several names I only know of one
(which is Sublime) are obviously unknown to the public, meaning they shouldn't be given the privilage of even being near the title "the greatest band of all time" let alone on the list. I mean come on, you guys are forgetting the rock 'n' roll gods! The Beatles, (aren't in order after this) The Rollilng Stones, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Who, The Greatful Dead, The Ramones, The Doors, Cream, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Beach Boys, The Mamas & Papas, The Killers, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, The Animals, Simon and Garfunkel, The Hollies, The Fratellis, Queen, Nirvana, The Jimi Hendrix Expierienec, Def Leppard, The Yard Birds, The Band, Crosby Stills & Nash, Coldplay, Foghat, Aerosmith, AC/DC, Guns 'n' Roses, ect... Honestly, I could go on forever, so go out into the world my friends and expierience good music for the first time. And also, what this survey is asking is the greatest band of all time, do you think that a 100 hundred years from now (unless people like you are still alive) that people are going to remember bands like Possum Dixon or The Papercuts? No, but they will remember bands like the ones I just named, the ones that defined rock, whether or not you want to acknowledge that or not. Not only is this survey about respect, but it's about the legacy of their music.
Posted by: Taylor at June 4, 2007 10:47 PM
Wait, hold up, who is this band. I'm sorry, but "the greatest band of all time" title has already been given to The Beatles for over 40 years. So this band and the others on the list, who out of the several names I only know of one
(which is Sublime) are obviously unknown to the public, meaning they shouldn't be given the privilage of even being near the title "the greatest band of all time" let alone on the list. I mean come on, you guys are forgetting the rock 'n' roll gods! The Beatles, (aren't in order after this) The Rollilng Stones, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Who, The Greatful Dead, The Ramones, The Doors, Cream, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Beach Boys, The Mamas & Papas, The Killers, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, The Animals, Simon and Garfunkel, The Hollies, The Fratellis, Queen, Nirvana, The Jimi Hendrix Expierienec, Def Leppard, The Yard Birds, The Band, Crosby Stills & Nash, Coldplay, Foghat, Aerosmith, AC/DC, Guns 'n' Roses, ect... Honestly, I could go on forever, so go out into the world my friends and expierience good music for the first time. And also, what this survey is asking is the greatest band of all time, do you think that a 100 hundred years from now (unless people like you are still alive) that people are going to remember bands like Possum Dixon or The Papercuts? No, but they will remember bands like the ones I just named, the ones that defined rock, whether or not you want to acknowledge that or not. Not only is this survey about respect, but it's about the legacy of their music.
Posted by: Taylor at June 4, 2007 10:48 PM
Post a comment:
Possum Dixon WAS a great moment in the '90s, eh? Tracks like "Nerves", "In Buildings", "Invisible", and "Watch the Girl Destroy Me" still retain the freshness they had upon the first listening. I've got them on my iPod at work, and people still ask what's playing whenever a Possum Dixon track comes on.
Posted by: g8s at November 4, 2005 8:00 PM