Song of the Day: Nymphs, “Sad and Damned,” from Nymphs (DGC, 1991)

This era and style seem to be sort of "in vogue" with fans again these days, but I still don't see the Nymphs mentioned too often. I completely missed the band in their day. I'm sure I was too young to care. So, thankfully, I discovered their music at random a couple of years ago while watching episodes of the legendary Hard 'n' Heavy on Hulu—at which point "Sad and Damned" got stuck in my head for days on end.

Their tale seems fairly brief: formed in New Jersey, moved to Los Angeles, endured some lineup changes, appeared in the 1990 James Spader/Rob Lowe flick Bad Influence, and after years of delays ultimately released one full-length on Geffen subsidiary DGC in 1991—a gloomy platter of grungy alternative rock with the accentuated darkness of the goth-tinged vocals of Inger Lorre. (Fun fact: you may recall her appearance alongside Henry Rollins for the Rise Above rendition of "Slip it In.")

Unfortunately for the Nymphs, two solid yet underappreciated singles and an Iggy Pop guest spot do not a success make, so they'd already self-destructed by the time the odds 'n' ends EP, A Practical Guide to Astral Projection, was released in '92.

Damn... that is sad.

Oh well. The album holds up just fine, and is definitely worth a curious spin. Better late than never. Always.