HAZEL

Hazel was one of several groups from the Pacific Northwest that blew up, but were stuck in the background (for the most part) for years because of the over saturated indie-rock scene.

HAZEL was from Portland, OR featuring
Jody Bleyle (of team dresch fame) - drums, vocals
Peter Krebs - guitar, vocals
Brady Smith - bass
and Fred Nemo - dancer ( I know totally weird, but they are from Portland)

Around 1992, just as grunge was reaching fever pitch up in Seattle, these guys were playing indie-pop infused punk. They frequently played with bands such as Pond and Heatmiser (early Elliot smith), just to give you an idea of what scene they were coming from. With both bleyle and Krebs singing together and sometimes off-time they made amazing mopey noisey pop melodies that evens out alot of whats going on musically and I think set them apart from most of what was going on at the time. They go back and forth from real crunchy guitar to softer more melodic guitar, they are very unique in the way they layer it all some riffs mixed with the melodies give me goosebumps!

They Released 2 records on Sub Pop
"Toreador of Love" and "Are You Going To Eat That"

an assortment of singles

"Calliope" on Puddlestomp comp
"Shiva" on I-5 Killers Vol 2 comp (Schizophonic)
"J Hell" b/w "Day-Glo" & "Joe Louis Punchout" (Cavity Search)
"Tragedy" on A Tribute to Greg Sage and the Wipers comp (T/K)
"Shag Rug" on Tarantistic Seedplot comp (Road Cone)
"Jilted" b/w "Truly" (Sub Pop)
"Heida" b/w "Pop Uncle" (Candy Ass)
"Wint-o-Green" b/w "King Twist" (Cavity Search)
"Storm In My House" on Minutemen tribute comp (Little Brother)
"Blank Florida" b/w "Motorsport Daredevils" (Candy Ass)

and in 1997 a 5-song EP on CandyAss/Caroline called "Airiana" this was their last release.

HAZEL: HIGHLY RECOMENDED BY ME!