Green Apple Quick Step
Dizzy: The Medicine Label Anthology
Omnivore Recordings
Conspicuous by its absence, Near Disaster — still locked away in the vaults, it might never see the light of day — is nowhere to be found on Dizzy: The Medicine Label Anthology, where almost all the fruits of Green Apple Quick Step’s labors are gathered. Enthusiastically signed to Columbia Records, the post-grunge gatecrashers were poised for a bigger breakthrough with their third album, but instead, corporate machinations torpedoed its release, and the band subsequently unraveled, Near Disaster remaining in limbo to this day.
Ties to Pearl Jam, MTV videos, and perfectly placed inclusion on movie soundtracks for popular films like The Basketball Diaries and I Know What You Did Last Summer predicted massive future success, but it wasn’t to be. They were “Dizzy” — all down-and-dirty swagger and irresistible power-pop drawl, possibly Green Apple Quick Step’s best song — with possibilities. Stone Gossard, himself, co-produced 1995’s revelatory Reloaded, and during their brief heyday, they often stomped on the terra but also learned to tread gently, explosive fury and earthy beauty fighting over territory, electric guitars going scorched earth or working with plucked acoustics to set soaring hearts free, melodies and hooks hanging on for dear life.
And now comes a two-disc set of 1993-1995 Green Apple Quick Step recordings, housing their two LPs — Wonderful Virus and Reloaded (both also available as colored vinyl reissues) and 13 extra tracks — that reintroduce their strong brew of rugged, classic-rock dynamism, psychedelic wonder, and early ‘90s alternative-rock edge to curious visitors and old, forgotten friends. From Wonderful Virus, their auspicious debut, come chaotic Jane’s Addiction-inspired eruptions, like the hard-driving, vertiginous romps of riffs “Feel My Way,” “Pay the Rent,” and “Dirty Water Ocean,” whereas slow burns “Stereo,” “Ludes and Cherrybombs” — rippling in hallucinatory glory, the bonus remix version here even more thrilling — and “Rapid” dramatically learn to fly into skies of cloudy, bruised turbulence like Mother Love Bone.
Tacked on to Wonderful Virus, four Live at RKCNDY tracks, the polluted Nirvana-like combustion of “Shifting” making the most compelling noise, showcase the band’s prowess as concert barnstormers, setting the stage for a reassessment of Reloaded. Still prone to frenzied, wah-wah blowouts such as “Ed,” Green Apple Quick Step — the vocal smoke of bassist Mari Ann Braedon occasionally snaking around the varied intonations of lead singer Tyler Willman in enticing ways — exhibited more polish and diversity on its sophomore LP, resulting in the darkly phosphorescent “Hotel Wisconsin,” the starry ballads “T.V. Girl” and “Underwater,” and the alt-country sway of “Alligator.” Crunchy stoner metal groove drives “Los Vargos,” while the Southern rock strut of “Tangled” exudes confidence, all in support of “Dizzy,” which begs to “leave the light on” and just keeps churning.
Of greater significance perhaps are four previously unreleased bonus tracks attached to Reloaded, powerfully produced to intensify the overdrive and bite of Green Apple Quick Step’s guitar-centric attack. The growl and grind of “Five Way Switch” and “Pills” sound deliciously mean and nasty, as does “On Your Back,” whereas “Restless” is unrepentantly noisy and weird, the acid taking over in a mad, poetic swirl of unhinged exploration. And the bluesy, harmonica-blown stomp “Party Dream” is something altogether different, digging deep into the Mississippi mud. An interview with Tillman accompanies comprehensive liner notes, shedding light on the inner workings of Green Apple Quick Step, whose testimony spoke eloquently of youthful liberation and yearning.
If Near Disaster was a calamity, a mystery never to be unsealed, then Dizzy: The Medicine Label Anthology may just lead to a resurrection.
