In these “looking back” posts, I talk about records that came in for review in the Disposable Underground ‘zine back in the ’90s or 2000s that deserve second listens. I remember Heavy Bag by the band Stick arriving in the mail in the early ’90s, but after checking the ‘zine archive, it looks like I didn’t review it. The album also went missing from my collection years ago.
I’ve been casually looking for the record on and off in used record stores for years and I recently found the CD at Mr. K’s Used Books in Asheville, NC. To my delight the songs are just as good as I remember them being back when Arista Records released the album in 1993.
Stick was categorized as a grunge band, which is accurate, but the band’s crunch, groove, and guitar work was great. Heavy Bag is a sometimes aggressive mix of some Soundgarden (and along with it, a sprinkle of yarl in the vocals), maybe a dash of Rollins Band, a bit of Tool stirred in, and a dose of Helmet.
Stick was a product of its time, which is driven home by the band’s music video for the second track on the album, “No Groovy”:
Heavy Bag is up on the streaming services, so grab your flannel and crank it up.
Find other albums I’ve fondly looked back on here at the blog.
