You can’t talk about my musical origin story without mentioning how much the radio in Chicago in the late 90’s and early Aughts meant to me. I was only 3 when Siamese Dream came out but thanks to 94.7 The Zone (RIP) and Q101.1 I had access to smatterings of all the classic alternative music I could ever want, and it changed me as a small person. Apparently, I’m not the only one. Although Big Garden hail from NOLA, their debut To the Rind captures everything that was so magical about alternative music in that time period.

As are quite a few albums coming out in the last year or two, Big Garden began life as a bedroom project, meant to release some tension built up by the pandemic and its ripples into virtually every aspect of everyone’s life.  For mastermind Mitch Wells, perhaps best known as the bassist of NOLA doom metal mainstays Thou, this release also allowed him to make a musical departure from the crushing weight of his main project and explore a love of that classic alternative and indie rock from the 90’s.  Featuring thick reverb, spacious tones, airy vocals and groovy melodies, the songs bring together a bit of the weight and slightly progressive songwriting that Thou is known for, but with a much different flavor and aesthetic, at once comfortingly familiar and excitingly innovative.  To round the lineup out into something that can actually record (and tour, hopefully), Wells brought in his confrere in Thou Matthew Thudium on guitar and vocals, and filled the rest of the band out to a five-piece featuring Craig Oubre on guitar and vocals (does anyone in Thou believe in using less than 3 guitarists?), as well as Greg Manson on bass and synthesizer and Ian Paine-Jesam on drums.

Let’s be clear: the 90’s was a long time ago and the scope of “alternative” and “indie” can cover just about everything under the sun if you play fast and loose enough with the concept of genre, so what does To the Rind actually sound like?  Think less Nirvana and Soundgarden and more early Pumpkins and Hum, with just a kiss of Sunny Day Real Estate and some Deftones for good measure.  Of course, the riffs and the melodies are standout features, but the real blanket that covers the whole sonic landscape is the molasses thick, ultra-beefy guitar tones that reverberate and ooze their way through every crack and crevice in my headphones.  In that very specific 90’s alternative way, every square inch of space is almost always filled up with huge, pulsing riffs and booming chords.  Look no further than opening track and lead single “A Sliced Up Pear,” which lays immediately into a super grungy, powerfully heavy avalanche of sludgy tones and gnarly vocals.  Of course, the guitar melodies do a good job of cutting through and bringing some lift to a record that has the potential to be very weighed down, and the reverb-drenched vocals allow Wells and company to explore that quintessential moan and wail that is so indicative of the time period they are channeling.  The fact that most of this record is quite dense is what allows the moments of levity to really shine.  Take the intro to “I’m Scared of the Ocean,” which channels spacey, luscious open chords before slamming into an anxiety-ridden mosh, or the intro riff to “Pizza Party Baby,” which immediately takes me back to the days of jamming out whatever popped into our heads in a way-too-small garage with my friends.  For good measure, there’s even skits built into the album to break it up, consisting of outtakes and studio banter spliced together as a pseudo-narrative throughline.  By their own admission, they add nothing to the record, but it’s good to see the joy of people having fun making music together.  There’s something simple yet effective about the way To the Rind comes together that makes you feel that joy.

I will say, I’m probably missing a lot on this front, but outside of your Teenage Wrists and your Nothings, I don’t see a whole lot of love for this particular strain.  To the Rind is a rocking good time to listen to, much more than a simple exercise in nostalgia.  It proves that taking a step back and connecting to what inspired you in the first place can be just the thing you need to push your creativity to the next level.

— Ian

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To the Rind is available now on Gilead Media.  For more information on Big Garden, visit their Instagram page.