(First appeared in The Rocket magazine, 5/13/98)
When Soundgarden signed to A&M records a decade ago, no one could have predicted the tumultuous relationship between Northwest bands and major labels that would ensue. Though initially many bands and artists were weary of the intrusion of A&R reps in the secluded, tight-knit scene, bands like Mother Love Bone, the Posies and others embraced the possibility of national (and even worldwide) recognition. But for every boom there is a bust and for every local artist to gain national attention and multi-platinum sales via major labels (Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Alice In Chains, Presidents of the United States of America and Candlebox), there are as many that barely get out of the starting gate (Hammerbox, Flop, War Babies, Best Kissers in the World, Sweet Water and Mike Johnson) before being dropped.
Truly, a Seattle trio formed in 1991 by guitarist/vocalist Robert Roth, ex-Screaming Trees drummer Mark Pickerel and, ironically, original Soundgarden bassist Hiro Yamamoto, have also felt the joy of getting signed to a major label (Capitol) and the sting of having their relationship with the label go south after just one record, 1995's brilliant Fast Stories...From Kid Coma. But unlike some of their peers who suffered the same fate, they ultimately overcame their disillusionment and frustration and soldiered on rather than calling it a day. In fact, for Truly, disbanding wasn't even an option. "No, absolutely not," Roth says unequivocally. "Why? We weren't dissatisfied with our band or our music. We were dissatisfied with a label that basically tried to control our music.
"I think that [bands that break up when they get dropped by a major label] are in it for the wrong reasons. I think those types of bands are in music to get a piece of the action. We're not out to get a piece of the action, we're out to offer something new. We're trying to be generous and give people something that they can't get from anywhere else. Our band is not based on a business deal with a label. I think it's pretty sad that some bands operate that way."
Truly's break with Capitol turned out to be a mutual separation. Though Fast Stories...From Kid Coma garnered a ton of critical acclaim both in the U.S. and Europe, when it came time for the group to make its follow-up, Capitol asked the band to record a series of demos and began sniffing around for a single, a scenario the band had been promised would never occur. The label was in financial disarray--putting the bulk of its resources into promoting guaranteed sellers like the Beatles, Everclear, Radiohead and the Foo Fighters--and wanted more than another brilliant record from Truly: They wanted a hit. The band asked to be released from its contract and was sent off with the demos for its second album.
The same week they were cut loose, the publishing arm of EMI Records expressed interest in signing Truly to a new publishing deal, but before anything was put in ink, EMI Records went under and its publishing company was scaled back. Though Truly had a wealth of new material, they were essentially back to ground zero without a label to release it. A surprise phone call from Zak Einstein, the head of Chicago-based indie Thick Records, in the fall of 1997 changed that in a hurry. A little faster than the band had anticipated, actually. "Zak called and said, 'I want to put out something by Truly immediately, like in a month,'" Roth explains. "I was just like, 'You're nuts.' But we basically went into the studio a few days later...and made [the album] in about a month or month and a half. And it came out not long after."
That sophomore effort, Feeling You Up, sprung forth at the close of 1997 and proved to be a measured improvement over Truly's stunning debut. Feeling You Up isn't as dark and heavy as Fast Stories and features a more dynamic and varied selection of sounds, partly due to Roth's use of standard guitar tunings, rather than the more experimental, drop-tuned style he utilized more extensively on the first record. "Some of the poppier songs on the new record were actually written while on tour [where we were] playing incredibly heavy songs. So, for me writing 'Leatherette Tears' was like giving me [a] break from playing really heavy, tuned-down-to-B-type stuff.
"Sitting backstage with an acoustic guitar, in standard tuning, playing a pop song put me in a good mood. [The songs] were really written for myself and I was amazed that Hiro and Mark really took to these songs that I had written on my own that were more pop songs. They really felt comfortable with that stuff."
From the slide-guitar-driven chorus of "Public Access Girls" to the slow-building, vein-popping intensity of "It's on Your Face" or the sludge-pop closer "Repulsion," Feeling You Up is a multi-layered psychedelic assault on the senses. It's both swirling, flower-power sweet and acid-flashback intense. Tinkling piano runs or washes of Mellotron organ collide with cascading guitar chords and distorted squalls, while perhaps the finest rhythm section in the Northwest leads the proceedings with confidence and fluid precision.
But far from being a crushing wave of noise, the album is a well-orchestrated wall of sound, flawlessly arranged and executed. "It's my natural tendency to try to make things three-dimensional," says Roth of his songwriting process, "not just musically, but lyrically. Even if it's just guitar, bass and drums I like it to have a three-dimensional quality to it. I spend a lot of time and care in the studio making sure that the drums and bass are really doing something together, because that's what I work off."
Though Truly have written single-caliber songs ("Leatherette Tears" and "Blue Flame Ford" from Fast Stories), their albums as cohesive bodies are far superior to their parts. Whereas singles are limited to three to four minutes in length, Truly's intricate arrangements and pop experiments require more space. "Music should be like a drug," Roth explains, "where you take it and it takes you on a little trip."
Truly will soon embark upon their own trip as they start a month-long U.S. tour in June, headlining over two major-label bands, Menthol and Sugar Smack. Truly are determined to stick together, regardless of the fickle nature of mainstream tastes and music industry mood swings. "I don't know where the industry is going to go," Roth says, "but I'd like to think that we're self-sufficient...and have the ability to participate in creating underground culture, and we don't need to rely on a corporation to do it. If we get their help, that's great."