Toadies and Helmet

Helmet
Like many influential bands, Helmet were born out of an unusual set of influences. Oregon-born guitarist and founder Page Hamilton had actually moved to New York City to study jazz, but found inspiration in the late '80s through post-punk acts Sonic Youth, Killing Joke, and Big Black, and envisioned a group that combined then-unusual tunings (particularly dropped D) with uneven and jazz-like time signatures and harmonies....

Toadies
Best known as the creators of the 1995 grunge staple "Possum Kingdom," the Toadies formed in 1989 and spent their infancy playing shows in Fort Worth, TX. Musicians cycled in and out of the Toadies' lineup from the very start, and the group soon became the domain of frontman Todd Lewis, a Pixies-influenced musician who wrote and produced the band's early releases....