Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Potholder - "Unsure" 7"

Potholder – “Unsure” 7”
Pop Bus Records, 1994
Acquired: Love Garden Shotgun Room, Used, 2007
Price: $.25
“1992? 1993? Somewhere in the early 90s, for sure.” That was the first thought I had when I heard the noisy guitar squall and the thumping bass of “Unsure.” 1994 was the correct answer. I was close, but three years in the early 90s might as well have been an eternity because the grunge ship had mostly sailed by this point leaving hundreds upon hundreds of newfound alt-rock bands in its wake. Potholder plays a crunchy brand of noise rock with a bit of a grunge hangover. Naturally, like many of these seven-inch records I scooped up years ago, there is very little information about Potholder on the internet (and, also naturally, tough shit finding a song to share). Today everything is preserved, and I think I love these 90s alt-rock sevens so much because I know I am the only person on the planet listening to this record at this very moment (and maybe the only person who has listened to this record in years, who knows). It’s not like I’m fetishizing the obscure, it’s more like breathing life into this thing that’s been dormant for a decade and getting a vivid image of this time period through the music.

4 comments:

  1. Hi, Ian. My name's Jeremy, and I was the singer/guitarist in potholder. Thanks for buying the 7". I wonder who I should contact to get my portion of the royalties. Ha. If you want to hear anymore songs, or if you have any questions about the band, don't hesitate to contact me.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi, Ian. My name's Jeremy, and I was the singer/guitarist in potholder. Thanks for buying the 7". I wonder who I should contact to get my portion of the royalties. Ha. If you want to hear anymore songs, or if you have any questions about the band, don't hesitate to contact me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Jeremy – my name is Mary and I also own a copy of this seven inch (found in a bin in Akron, OH). I bought it out of sheer curiosity after I took one look at the back cover and thought, “Ha! I was also very unsure of French I” (even though I know they’re two separate tracks). Anyway, I write for a few music blogs now and would love to check out some of your other songs and ask you some questions. Let me know how to get in touch if you’re interested!

      Delete
  3. Hello there, Ian! This is George, another 1/3 of Potholder. I JUST got linked to this post, and Jeremy's follow-up comment. In the picture you're holding our only single with 3 songs; Unsure, French 1, and 4 Corners. That's a drop in the bucket - we have something like 60+ songs recorded that were done in both home and professional studios over the 4.5 years of Potholder's existence. Over the years Jeremy's pet project has been remixing them and the recordings sound better than ever. I'm only commenting as a guest, but if you're interested I suggest following up with Jeremy on this forum. Eventually everything will be put online - when that happens I'll try to remember to put a link here. :)

    ReplyDelete