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| Miss Ohio (Source: https://missohio.bandcamp.com) |
If you think the New Jersey underground music scene of the ’80s and ’90s was a cohesive phenomenon, you’re remembering it wrong.
For every Wretched Ones, there was a Wake Oolo. For every Blanks 77, there was a Smithereens. A grimy, riotous Niblick Henbane gig at The Pipeline in Newark was matched by a more collegiate-leaning Hypnolovewheel performance at Maxwell’s in Hoboken. The Pipeline had the burly B.T. holding court at the bar every Thursday, and Maxwell’s had the bookish Bob Bert mingling in the crowd and taking in the tunes. The dichotomies were delightful.
I was lucky to live on both sides. I was a Pipeline kid who played his last gig there mere days before the place was finally shuttered ... and just a few short weeks after promoter extraordinaire Anthony Trance checked out and went upstairs.
Losing The Pipeline was tragic, but it also proved to be a catalyst for exploring infinitely cleaner pursuits. Where does a college-age guy go when stumbling around drunkenly to the sounds of Oi! has lost its appeal (and its home)? Where does he go to check out great live music and, you know, maybe take a girl out for a nice dinner at the same time?
Thus arrived my Maxwell’s moment.
I spent years at that place before pulling up stakes and shuffling off to Los Angeles. Eventually, I moved back to the East Coast in time to catch the club’s last hurrah before it devolved into an artisanal pizza place or some other bullshit. The smell of coffee and raw sewage that permeated the air outside the place will forever linger in my nostrils — and in my heart.
If Maxwell’s hadn’t succumbed to society’s insatiable need to eradicate everything cool, Miss Ohio would’ve made the perfect house band for the joint. Fronted by singer/guitarist/writer/teacher David Wilson, the Jersey City–based band has been churning out insanely melodic and instantly memorable indie pop for more than 20 years now. Perfect for the type of people who’d instinctively choose Slanted and Enchanted over Nevermind as the best album of the ’90s, the group’s sound provides a rocking (but never too raucous) foundation for Wilson’s Westerberg-meets-Waits wordplay.
Want another description in more direct, Garden State–centric parlance? Miss Ohio would exist in the same space as Shirk Circus or Melting Hopefuls in your record collection. In broader geographical terms, you’d probably play them after a Big Star binge.
Yeah, this stuff is that good.
For a quick intro, check out Miss Ohio’s recent singles “Bad Ear” and “Autumn Feeling” (both courtesy of Jersey label Pyrrhic Victory Recordings, which has lovingly cornered the market on this sort of thing in recent years). If you’re old enough to remember long nights on Washington Street, they’ll recapture that vibe for you immediately. If you missed that boat entirely and have no idea what I’ve been talking about for the last few hundred words, these songs are still worth a listen as a masterclass in perfect song composition.
As much as Miss Ohio reminds me of 1998, the band also makes me glad to know that music this special is still being made in the here and now.
And with that, it’s time to grab an espresso and stand outside a portajohn.