90s grunge pioneers Gruntruck are unleashing another look at their upcoming "lost" third album: "Noise Field" is now available to stream exclusively via Invisible Oranges. The self-titled, long awaited third album will finally be available this October 13 via Found Recordings. STREAM + SHARE "NOISE FIELD"
Seattle's Gruntruck sprung to life in 1989, bringing together members of Skin Yard, The Accüsed, and Final Warning. After two critically acclaimed albums, years touring with Alice in Chains, Pantera, Screaming Trees, and more, and legal battles with their label, the band has been quiet since the early 2000s...until now.
Seattle's Gruntruck flickered into life in 1989, born from seasoned veterans of the Northwest music scene including vocalist Ben McMillan and drummer Norman Scott of early Grunge pioneers Skin Yard, lead guitarist Tom Niemeyer of metal thrashers The Accüsed, and bassist Tim Paul of PDX hardcore punks Final Warning. While in Skin Yard, Norman also briefly joined Soundgarden, and collaborated with
Chris Cornell on a lesser-known band, the low frequency power trio Bass Truck. Before long Ben, Norman, and Tom began to collaborate on blending Bass Truck's sound with new material, and brought in Tim Paul on bass to fill out the sound later that year.
The band soon recorded a full-length album for Seattle label Empty Records, with Skin Yard alum/legendary producer Jack Endino (Nirvana, Soundgarden) producing with Gary King. Inside Yours was released in 1990, and was released simultaneously in Germany on the Musical Tragedies label. Gruntruck made a video for the song Not a Lot to Save, with Henry Shepherd (brother of
Soundgarden bassist Ben) directing, which soon found its way onto MTV.
In 1991, Gruntruck gained further exposure after opening for
Pearl Jam on the night they recorded the music video for the song Even Flow, and during the frenzy of media and record label attention that had descended on Seattle, they signed a multi-album deal with Roadrunner Records. Roadrunner re-released Inside Yours later that same year.
In 1992, the band recorded their second album, Push, with Endino and King again in charge of production. Roadrunner released it that same year. 1992 also saw the band out on tour for the first time. They joined Alice in Chains and Screaming Trees in support of Alice's Dirt across the U.S. and Canada. Early in 1993, they joined Pantera for a European tour.
Even though the band was at the height of their popularity, they were struggling to make ends meet while fulfilling contractual obligations to Roadrunner Records. Gruntruck filed for bankruptcy in an attempt to break free of their contract. The label sued to block the bankruptcy petition, resulting in a precedent-setting case that has been cited in subsequent cases, written up in legal journals, and eventually inspiring major congressional legislation. The court ultimately ruled in Gruntruck's favor, but the litigation would exact a severe financial and emotional toll on the band.
The lineup of Ben, Tom, Alex and Josh released a three-song EP, Shot, on Betty Records in 1996, with Endino and King producing for a third time. The new lineup attempted to recapture the momentum Gruntruck had enjoyed before the lawsuit by stoking a bidding war for the newly available band. However, at a showcase in Los
Angeles with A&R representatives from nearly all of the major labels in attendance, the music industry was uniformly perplexed by singer Ben's decision to perform with his back to the audience and the band remained unsigned.
In 1997, the original lineup was reunited after Norman and Tim rejoined to play extensively in local venues, and the band began working on new material together. These new songs were the foundation of what was envisioned as their breakthrough third album, and the original lineup began a two-year journey recording in five different studios in and around Seattle with both Jack Endino and Martin Feveyear (Queens of the Stone Age, Mudhoney, Screaming Trees) producing.
Once the self-titled third album was complete, the band ramped up their live performances around Seattle in preparation for the album's release. Then in 2003, the band took what was envisioned to be a brief hiatus to give Ben time to recover from his recent health issues. Tragically, Ben died in 2008 after succumbing to complications resulting from diabetes.
The finished third album languished in the vaults until 2016, when Jack Endino mentioned its existence to Found Recordings head, Scott Blum, who enthusiastically embarked on a journey with the band to bring the album to the world. The self-titled third album Gruntruck will finally be released October 13, 2017 by Found Recordings, and the remaining original members will honor the late singer's memory by reuniting for a limited number of live performances with a guest singer later in the year.
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