Medicine are an American

noise pop Noise pop is a subgenre of alternative and indie rock that developed in the mid-1980s in the United Kingdom and United States. It is defined by its mixture of dissonant noise or feedback with the songcraft more often found in pop music. Shoegazi ...

band formed in Los Angeles in 1990 by guitarist/keyboardist

Brad Laner Brad Laner (born November 6, 1966 in Los Angeles, California) is an American musician and record producer best known for his work with the shoegaze band Medicine, which he founded and led. Prior to Medicine, he was involved in avant-improv ban ...

. They are perhaps best known for their

cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly eit ...

in the 1994 film ''

The Crow The Crow is a supernatural superhero comic book series created by James O'Barr revolving around the titular character of the same name. The series, which was originally created by O'Barr as a means of dealing with the death of his fiancée at t ...

'', in which they performed "Time Baby II", although the soundtrack album included a different version titled "Time Baby III" (featuring guest vocals from the

Cocteau Twins Cocteau Twins was a Scottish rock band active from 1979 to 1997. They were formed in Grangemouth by Robin Guthrie (guitars, drum machine) and Will Heggie (bass), adding Elizabeth Fraser (vocals) in 1981 and replacing Heggie with multi-instrum ...

Elizabeth Fraser Elizabeth Davidson Fraser (born 29 August 1963), is a Scottish singer, songwriter and musician. Hailing from Grangemouth, Scotland, she is best known as the vocalist for the pioneering dream pop band Cocteau Twins who achieved international ...

History

Medicine was formed by ex-

Savage Republic Savage Republic (originally named Africa Corps) is an American, Los Angeles-based post-punk band, formed in the early 1980s. The group reformed in 2002 and remains active with a different lineup. They are known for lengthy songs with an emphasis ...

drummer

, based on some 4-track recordings Laner was working on in 1990. After playing the tapes for music industry representatives, he was told that if he formed a band that sounded like the tapes, he could get a record deal. Laner then assembled a band of musicians from the Los Angeles music scene. Medicine's early lineup included Laner, drummer Jim Goodall (Severed Head in a Bag,

Jon Wayne Jon Wayne was a recording alias of musician, producer and studio engineer David Vaught (November 27, 1948 – March 20, 2013) and an eponymous parody country band, conceived and formed by him in Los Angeles in the 1980s together with fellow pseud ...

, Lopez Beatles), guitarist Jim Putnam, bassist Eddie Ruscha and singer

Annette Zilinskas Annette Celia Genevieve Zilinskas is an American musician. She is a founding member of The Bangles and returned to the band in 2018 after an absence of 35 years. Zilinskas has also been the lead vocalist for Blood on the Saddle, and was a member ...

(an original member of

the Bangles The Bangles are an American pop rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1981. The band recorded several singles that reached the U.S. top 10 during the 1980s, including "Manic Monday" (1986), "Walk Like an Egyptian" (1986), " Hazy Shade ...

). Zilinskas left before any official releases and was replaced by former Fourwaycross singer Beth Thompson. On the basis of the original demo, the band was signed to

Creation Records Creation Records Ltd. was a British independent record label founded in 1983 by Alan McGee, Dick Green, and Joe Foster. Its name came from the 1960s band The Creation, whom McGee greatly admired. The label ceased operations in 1999, although ...

, becoming the first American band to do so. In America, Medicine signed to

Rick Rubin Frederick Jay Rubin (; born March 10, 1963) is an American record producer. He is the co-founder (alongside Russell Simmons) of Def Jam Recordings, founder of American Recordings, and former co-president of Columbia Records. Rubin helped popula ...

's American Recordings label in 1992. With a signature guitar tone, created by running Laner's guitar through a Yamaha 4-track recorder, Medicine's music managed to distinguish itself from some of the more ambiguous endeavors of the shoegaze movement. Their first album, '' Shot Forth Self Living'', was released in 1992. It received airplay on college radio and coverage in alternative newspapers, with even a few of their videos played on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

. Their second album, ''

The Buried Life ''The Buried Life'' is a reality documentary series on MTV. The series features Duncan Penn, Jonnie Penn, Ben Nemtin, and Dave Lingwood attempting to complete a list of "100 things to do before you die." The pilot episode aired on January 18, ...

'', was released the following year, and gained Medicine more mainstream attention, including coverage in magazines like ''

Creem ''Creem'' (often stylized in all caps) is a monthly American music magazine, based in Detroit, whose main print run lasted from 1969 to 1989. It was first published in March 1969 by Barry Kramer and founding editor Tony Reay. Influential criti ...

''. For their third album, ''

Her Highness Highness (abbreviation HH, oral address Your Highness) is a formal style used to address (in second person) or refer to (in third person) certain members of a reigning or formerly reigning dynasty. It is typically used with a possessive adject ...

'' (1995), Matt Devine and Justin Meldal-Johnsen replaced Putnam and Ruscha, respectively. The band broke up soon after, and Laner formed

supergroup Supergroup or super group may refer to: * Supergroup (music), a music group formed by artists who are already notable or respected in their fields * Supergroup (physics), a generalization of groups, used in the study of supersymmetry * Supergroup ...

Lusk. Medicine reformed briefly in 2003, solely as a duo including Laner and

Shannon Lee Shannon Emery Lee Keasler (born April 19, 1969) is an American actress and businesswoman. She is the only living child of martial artist Bruce Lee and retired martial arts teacher Linda Lee Cadwell, the granddaughter of Cantonese opera singer L ...

, the daughter of actor

Bruce Lee Bruce Lee (; born Lee Jun-fan, ; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was a Hong Kong and American martial artist and actor. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy drawing from different combat disciplines that ...

. They released one album, '' The Mechanical Forces of Love''. The band's core lineup of Laner, Thompson and Goodall later reformed again and signed with the

Captured Tracks Captured Tracks is an American independent record label based in Brooklyn, New York. The label was founded in 2008 by Mike Sniper. About Current flagship artists include: Craft Spells, DIIV and Wild Nothing. Captured Tracks has reissued record ...

label. Medicine released a new studio album, '' To the Happy Few'', in July 2013, preceded by the single "Long as the Sun". On October 27, 2014, they released their sixth studio album, '' Home Everywhere''. 2019 album ''Scarred for Life'' featured Laner, Zilinskas, and Devine.

Legacy

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

'' has hailed Medicine as the closest thing to being an American answer to My Bloody Valentine.

, Joe Tangari (August 16, 2010)
"Brad Laner: Natural Selections album review".
Retrieved September 9, 2012. In 2012, Captured Tracks reissued Medicine's first two albums, 1992's ''Shot Forth Self Living'' and 1993's ''The Buried Life'', with bonus material and rarities, as part of their Shoegaze Archive series.

Discography

Studio albums

*'' Shot Forth Self Living'' (

Def American American Recordings (formerly Def American Recordings) is an American record label headed by producer Rick Rubin. The label has featured artists such as Slayer, the Black Crowes, ZZ Top, Danzig, Trouble, Tom Petty, Johnny Cash, The Mother Hips ...

Creation Creation may refer to: Religion *''Creatio ex nihilo'', the concept that matter was created by God out of nothing * Creation myth, a religious story of the origin of the world and how people first came to inhabit it * Creationism, the belief tha ...

, 1992) *''

'' (

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

, 1993) *''

'' (American, 1995) *'' The Mechanical Forces of Love'' (

Wall of Sound The Wall of Sound (also called the Spector Sound) is a music production formula developed by American record producer Phil Spector at Gold Star Studios, in the 1960s, with assistance from engineer Larry Levine and the conglomerate of session m ...

Astralwerks Astralwerks is an American record label primarily focused on electronic music owned by Universal Music Group. Its material is distributed via Capitol Music Group in the United States. The label was founded in 1993 and, in its early years, featur ...

, 2003) *'' To the Happy Few'' (

, 2013) *'' Home Everywhere'' (Captured Tracks, 2014) *''Scarred For Life'' (Drawing Room Records, 2019) *''Drugs'' (Self-released, 2022)

Singles and EPs

*"Aruca" (1992, Creation) *"5ive" (1993, Creation) *"Never Click" (1993,

Beggars Banquet ''Beggars Banquet'' is the 7th British and 9th American studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 6 December 1968 by Decca Records in the United Kingdom and London Records in the United States. It was the first Ro ...

) *''Sounds of Medicine'' EP (1994, American) *"Time Baby 3" (1994, American) *"Candy Candy" (1995, American) *"Off the Vine" double 7" (1995, Ectoplasm) *''Wet on Wet'' EP (2002, Wall of Sound) *"I Smile to My Eyes" (2003, Wall of Sound) *"As You Do" (2004, Wall of Sound) *"Time Baby 2" (2011, Captured Tracks) *"Long as the Sun" (2013, Captured Tracks)

Live albums

*''Always Starting to Stop'' (2012, Captured Tracks) *''In Session'' (2013, Captured Tracks)

Compilation albums

*''Remains 1992-1995'' (2011, self-released) *''Box Set'' (2012, Captured Tracks) *''Falls'' (2019, Brava Entertainment)

Compilation appearances

*"Miss Drugstore" on ''Creation: Indie-Pop's Been Good to Us'' (1992, Indiecator) *"Never Click" on ''Particle Theory'' (1993,

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

) *"Time Baby III" on '' The Crow (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)'' (1994,

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

) *"Slut" on '' The Doom Generation - Music from the Motion Picture'' (1995, American) *"One More Night" on ''Tigerbeat6 Inc.'' (2001,

Tigerbeat6 Tigerbeat6 is a San Francisco and Berlin based independent and (mostly) electronic record label run by Kid606 (Miguel De Pedro). The label is run as a DIY operation and releases a variety of electronic music styles, including noisecore, intellige ...

) *"I Smile to My Eyes" on ''Labels Series'' (2003, Labels) *"As You Do" and "I Smile to My Eyes (Themroc Mix)" on ''Off The Wall - 10 Years of Wall Of Sound'' (2003, Wall of Sound) *"Live It Down" on ''Musique Dessinee 01 - Just a Groove!'' (2006, Production Dessinée)

References

External links

Official Facebook page

* * {{Authority control American experimental musical groups Shoegazing musical groups Creation Records artists Captured Tracks artists