TAD

TAD, one my favorite bands and one of a many great bands that have gone largely unnoticed, existed from 89-99...birthing a total of 4 full length LPs and countless 7"s/LPs. Like most awesome bands, they now lie discarded to side, obscured from view by overrated releases from a bunch of other bands that don't really matter anymore.

Back in their initial years, they played alongside bands like Mudhoney, Soundgarden, Nirvana, among others. When touring with Nirvana in 89 out in Europe...they HEADLINED. People went to the gigs to see TAD, not Kurt Cobain's magical heroin caravan. Kurt Cobain had a falling out with the band in the following years, citing them as (paraphrased) "boneheaded grunge", even when the band had made clear signs of impending musical growth. Sure their final album, Infrared Riding Hood, was a cheesy, over-sentimental, poorly written piece of shit compared to 8-Way Santa and Inhaler, but fuck--it was different; I still enjoy it for what it is. Maybe if people threw a little more love their way back then, we would've gotten at least one more killer record from the band. Go back and listen to their single Kevorkian's Holiday. Listen to Demon's Seed off of Live Alien Broadcasts. That shit fucking rules; it breathes the same energy heard on 8-Way Santa but made it darker, even poppier to a certain extent, which isn't a bad thing at all. Had the band received more support, I have no doubt they would've had an eventual comeback.

TAD was dropped by their label in '93. They were picked up by another on a trial period after the release of Infrared Riding Hood. After terrible reception to the record, they were dropped from their label AGAIN, and left releasing singles with any independent label left that gave a damn. Attribute their demise to this or one too many years of the whole redneck shtick.

Why write about them now? It's 15 years too late for anyone to really start caring. This band embodied the spirit, the grime, and the filth that accreted to become the backbone of that fad that died once fuckheads like silverchair, pearl jam, and whatever over-generalized things, ran it in the ground, and kicked the shit out of it while it laid defenseless in it's toughest of times. This is a post invested in the hope that someone else will pick up the band's records, appreciate them for what they were, and stop over-generalizing something from 20 years ago that has only come to express the musical output of 4 or 5 shit bands in the public paradigm.

and so, I lay in front of you the majority of TAD's body of work:

1989/1990 Salt Lick/God's Balls
1991 - 8-Way Santa
1993 - Inhaler
1994 - Infrared Riding Hood

Banned by MTV in 1989:

Wood Goblins


Other TAD Posts
TAD (Salem) Post over at [shiny grey monotone]

--fred

Brothers of the Sonic Cloth - Early Demos

This band marks what I like to think of as the first real spiritual return to music for mammoth front-man Tad Doyle. The release of TAD's final album 'Infrared Riding Hood' was followed by a few years of uncertainty as members slowly dropped off to follow other projects and the powerful waves of the grunge movement started to recede from the banks of mainstream popularity. Kurt Danielson migrated off to France for a few years while Tad, after the release of his side project "Hog Molly", took a small hiatus from music and seemed to fade into obscurity. Many, as I did, probably assumed he had died from medical complications related to him brutally abusing his body during TADs reckless touring schedule from '89 to the mid-nineties.

Rest assured that Tad Doyle is alive and well, and now producing music with his new band 'Brothers of the Sonic Cloth'. 'Brothers' adapts a sound similar to Yob and The Christpunchers to Tad's natural songwriting talent, without sounding dated, and outmatching TAD in layers of grit and filth. They only produced 50 or so copies of their actual demo, for whatever reason, sometime last year. Tad has kept a close clamp down on the release on ANY of their material stating only:

We only made 50 copies of these beauties, and not a single copy more will leave hell and enter your little paws... this is because we think it's nice to have a very rare and limited collection of our first documented tracks with our new lineup. We brought and sold all 25 copies that we had available on our merch table, when we played Ash Street, last February 28th. We will have the remaining 25 for sale at our next few shows and they will go fast... no, really.

So, make sure to come early and pick up yours if you don't already have it, cause it goes without saying (though, we'll still say it) that you won't find any versions of these two songs on the internet, because, of course, nobody would dare put them up online for free download... right? Right. Please don't.

So, as you can see, Tad doesn't like the idea of any of their demos reaching any sort of circulation on the internet, and will probably request this be taken down within a few days of me posting this. I hope he'll take into consideration our intentions here and understand that there's a huge camp of people, me included, who will gladly follow his musical career to the ends of the earth...and I can't say that for many artists (see Chris Cornell). I also hope he might consider sending WMUC a copy of his bands demo, considering MINDGRINDER doesn't exactly have the funds to spring a ticket out to Seattle and buy a CD at one of their shows.

...anyway, 'Brothers of the Sonic Cloth' are planning, what I guess would be their first official release, a split 10" with Mico De Noche due to be released on Halloween of '09 with a distribution of 500 copies. Keep an eye on their myspace and Tad's blog for more news on that.

Brothers of the Sonic Cloth - Early Demos

and as a bonus, here are two TAD songs which were released separately as singles late in their career. The first 'Obsidian Lights' was recorded during the production of 'Infrared Riding Hood' and 'Kevorkian's Holiday' was a later single, dating around '98 or so. If anyone has the other halves of these singles, or a copy they're willing to sell, hit me up.

TAD - Late Singles

--fred

NOTE: These are early recordings the band made between 2005 and 2007. This is NOT the demo that was released in extremely limited quantities....still waiting for that one to surface.

TAD - Various Singles

Here's a little grunge lovin' from everyone's favorite Seattle heavy-hitters, TAD.

[1988] Daisy/Ritual Device 7"
(Their first 7", one of the earliest records released by Sub Pop back in the day)

[1989] Tad/Pussy Galore Split
(A split with Pussy Galore; TAD covers Damaged, while Pussy Galore does Damaged II. Probably has the best beginning to any TAD release.)

[1990] Loser Single

[1993] Leafy Incline Single
(features a different version of 'Leafy Incline')

--fred

Another Obligatory TAD Post

Just because they rule.

TAD - Texas Chainsaw Assault

I know absolutely nothing about this album; much less whether it's an official live album, a bootleg, or whatever. I just know more people need to have this in their collection. It's some weird compilation of live stuff from 93/94 with some singles mixed in at the end. Enjoy kids.

--fred