Some talk about one hit wonders, well here's a no hit wonder: The Nymphs built a solid reputation on the basis of their wild live shows during the late 80's and seemed to be destined for greatness. A major label, Geffen, signed them ahead of Nirvana in a bid to bring alternative rock to the masses -or, in other words, to reach a hitherto unexploited audience. Both bands' albums were released simultaneously, but The Nymphs' flopped. One may argue the reason was that it was a relative disappointment, at least compared to their incendiary live performances. Certainly the band's attitude did not help. Female singer Inger Lorre shared Cobain's sense of angst but not his ambition, and her erratic behavior didn't win her many friends. On the other hand, while the company did offer them a big fat contract (in the neighborhood of $1 million) they were otherwise quite unsupportive. In the end, Lorre took her revenge on them by (symbolically but also very literally) pissing all over the record executive's desk, at which point her career was forfeit. I'll bet it felt good, though! The Nymphs' music was a heavy mix of grunge, goth and glam, while the guitars were as loud and distorted (though not as fast) as any in metal. Lorre's voice isn't much of instrument: it's raspy and tortured and she shouts more than she sings - actually not too different from her best frienemy Courtney Love. Opener "Just One Happy Day" sounds like a glam-rock take on Sonic Youth while "2 Cats" has something of X's punkabilly sound. Of the two singles, "Imitating Angels" is a great slice of gothic grunge and "Sad and Damned" is a rousing Patti Smith/Guns n Roses pastiche. "Supersonic" is a nice heavy garage rocker featuring Iggy Pop on backing vocals and "Revolt" is fast paced garage punk. "The River" is sludge blues (complete with harmonica) while "Cold" and "Wasting My Days" are, like most of the rest, a mix of grunge and Sabbath-y sludge. After the band's breakup, Alex Kirst drummed for Iggy Pop and other artists but sadly died in a traffic accident, thus putting an end to the efforts of reforming the original band. Guitarist Geoff Siegel went on to become a record company executive (after experiencing the stinky desk episode? He must have been really desperate) and 2nd guitarist Sam Merrick plays in an alt.rock band in Idaho. I didn't find any info on bassist Cliff D's whereabouts, but Lorre spent some time working with Jeff Buckley and is still out and about. After all the wild antics and debauchery (eating live maggots on videos, stripping and performing oral sex onstage) she's cleaned her act and is supposedly drug-free and sober now. She mostly flies under the radar, but there have been records and gigs, sometimes under The Nymphs moniker. I hear good things about those, so if she happens your way, give her a chance...
**** for Just One Happy Day, Imitating Angels, Supersonic, Sad and Damned, Revolt
*** for 2 Cats, Wasting My Days, Heaven, The River, The Highway
** for Cold, Death of a Scenester
No comments:
Post a Comment