Tuesday, July 6, 2010

1990: "Not a Lot to Save", Gruntruck

A sadly forgotten grunge band as (potentially) mainstream as Alice in Chains or Soundgarden, Gruntruck sported a couple of Skin Yard castoffs (Ben McMillan - vocals, guitar; Scott McCullum - drums) and guitarist Tom Niemayer of local splatterpunks The Accused. Gruntruck came front loaded with a shitload of promise, opening for the likes of Pantera and AiC before signing a long term deal with metal heavyweight Roadrunner Records, but success never panned out for the band, and after starting off the 1990s with a pair of well produced albums, the band spent the middle part of the decade battling to get out of their fruitless contract with Roadrunner.

In 1996, Gruntruck finally became free again and released one last three song EP through an indie label, but in the ensuing years their momentum had been lost, their second wave grunge sound had become antiquated, and the band amicably went their separate ways. Frontman Ben McMillan died in 2008, most likely dooming this once mighty group's legacy to a grunge footnote. Too bad.

No comments:

Post a Comment