In the early 1990s, Richard Patrick was a touring guitarist for NINE INCH NAILS and, at the end of the Self Destruct Tour, following the release of NIN‘s industrial monolith “The Downward Spiral,” (1994) the urban legend says Patrick was stuck home, broke, and, then, utterly annoyed by Trent Reznor‘s suggestions to make some extra money by delivering pizzas, he quit NIN, formed FILTER and released the debut, “Short Bus,” on May 8th, 1995, via Reprise Records, with the album soon selling platinum. Its biggest single, “Hey Man Nice Shot,” became a gargantuan hit, making its way onto the Tales From the Crypt soundtrack. Hey, man, it’s a nice story. Still, according to the official bio, the band was formed already in 1993, with the idea having been conceived on a hiking trip at the Grand Canyon by Patrick and guitarist Brian Liesegang. However, at least that part of the story where the band hit a sweet spot with their debut holds true. Largely thanks to NIN, the industrial sound was fast becoming the talk of the town while grunge was still riding its biggest waves. FILTER‘s genius was to bring the heavy guitars of grunge and the drum machines, digital effects, and synths of industrial metal into the same mixing bowl, resulting in a novel, yet timeless genre touchstone.
There are no pretty songs on the debut. Even the acoustic songs come off as overly sarcastic and bitter. Otherwise, the songs are basically about angry noises and guitar assaults in drop-D. Patrick‘s stint in the live incarnation of NIN shows through, obviously, but whereas the budding industrial sound of the era was prominently deployed by electronic instruments and programmed beats, FILTER‘s modus operandi focused more on heavy guitar riffs. The novel blend of such a menacing atmosphere and edgy riffs proved quite a refreshing foray into the darker side of our human nature. So much so, in fact, that some industrial purists still consider “Short Bus” as the band’s greatest achievement to date, claiming that when Liesebang left the band in 1997, he must have taken with him the sound that gave FILTER its edge. On this debut, however, this edge is still very much intact.
The biggest hit from the album, “Hey Man Nice Shot,” proved somewhat controversial at the time. Some critics saw it as capitalizing either on the public suicide of American politician Robert Budd Dwyer or the death of Kurt Cobain. The first rumor was probably initiated by Marilyn Manson since he believed that his audio sample from Dwyer’s suicide had inspired Patrick to write the song. The latter rumor was later debunked by Patrick, claiming that he’d written the song in 1991 already. The controversial lyrics aside, the song is a brooding, somewhat vintage NINE INCH NAILS-like banger. The atmospheric, bassline-driven verses resonate with a sense of danger only to explode in the chorus with abrasive guitar riffs. Almost the same sonic template is in use in the song, “Gerbil,” albeit with substantially less controversial lyrics.
With the acoustic songs notwithstanding – songs such as “Stuck in Here” and “So Cool” which sound like impromptu NIRVANA tributes, anyway – the songs fall into either of these two categories: 1) industrial riffers in the vein of NIN, and 2) more lysergic riffers, resonating with the air of grunge. The first category is represented by just a few tracks, actually, and the majority of songs fall into the latter box. Two of the three singles released from the album – “Hey Man Nice Shot” and “Under” – lean significantly toward this industrial side of the band, while “Dose” gears up on the grunge aesthetic. The grunge bangers traverse the fine line between the heavier Seattle sound of bands such as SOUNDGARDEN and the rawer grunge aesthetic, bordering on punk rock. Then, “Consider This” comes off almost as though WEEZER were paying homage to NIRVANA‘s “Nevermind.” In this day and age, no one could get away with something like this, but we’re talking about 1995, here, remember?
In a way, FILTER found its niche somewhere between the riff-driven alienation of grunge and cold, computer rhythms of industrial rock with their debut and, for a brief moment, it made them the coolest band in the world. For a long time, the band never sounded quite like the debut, though. Until recently, on the last couple of albums – “The Amalgamut” (2022) and “The Algorithm” (2023) – you can hear subtle echoes from that pioneering spirit, again.
Written by Jani Lehtinen
Tracklist
- Hey Man Nice Shot
- Dose
- Under
- Spent
- Take Another
- Stuck in Here
- It’s Over
- Gerbil
- White Like That
- Consider This
- So Cool
Lineup
Richard Patrick – vocals, guitars, bass, programming, drums
Brian Liesegang – programming, keyboards, guitars, drums
additional musicians:
Scott Kern – live drums, answering machine vocals
Matt Drvenkar – answering machine vocals
Kevin Hanley – additional guitar noises
Mike Peffer – live drums
Label
Reprise
