Veruca Salt is an American alternative rock band founded in Chicago in 1992 by vocalist-guitarists Nina Gordon and Louise Post, drummer Jim Shapiro, and bassist Steve Lack. They are best known for their first single, "Seether", which was released on the 1994 album American Thighs. That success was followed up with 1997's Eight Arms to Hold You. By 1998, Post was the only original member still in the band and continued on with other musicians. Veruca Salt released the album Resolver in 2000 and the album IV in 2006. After a hiatus in 2012, the band reformed with its original lineup. Their fifth studio album, Ghost Notes, was released in 2015.
History
1992–1998: Formation and mainstream success
Named after Veruca Salt, the spoiled rotten rich girl from the 1964 children's book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl, Veruca Salt was formed in Chicago in 1992 by Louise Post (guitar and vocals) and Nina Gordon (guitar and vocals). Post and Gordon were introduced through mutual friend Lili Taylor, and began playing music together. They wrote songs for a year and a half before placing an ad in the Chicago Times for an all-female rhythm section. Instead the band was joined by Gordon's brother Jim Shapiro on drums and Steve Lack on bass. Songwriting was shared between Gordon and Post, though the two seldom collaborated. Rather, each would typically submit a complete song to the group and sing the lead vocals on that song, while the other would record backing vocals.
The band had performed a handful of shows when Jim Powers of Minty Fresh Records asked them to sign to the independent label. The band's first release was the single "Seether"/"All Hail Me" on Minty Fresh Records, in 1994. The single was a success and Veruca Salt accompanied Hole on a tour, before releasing their first full-length album, American Thighs. The album which included "Seether" and "All Hail Me", eventually reached Gold status. In a 2014 retrospective, music magazine Paste listed "Seether" as number 10 and "All Hail Me" as number 39 on their list of the 50 greatest grunge songs of all time.
After signing to Geffen Records, the band quickly gained in popularity as "Seether" became an MTV hit. A second single, "Number One Blind" was released along with a music video directed by Steve Hanft. The band was unsure about the video and pulled it from MTV in a panic. As a result, Geffen ceased any further marketing for American Thighs.
A stop-gap EP which was recorded by Steve Albini, Blow It Out Your Ass It's Veruca Salt, was released in 1996. In 1996, Veruca Salt appeared as Pavement's replacement band in their video "Painted Soldiers".
Veruca Salt's second album, Eight Arms to Hold You, was produced by Bob Rock and released in 1997. Lead single "Volcano Girls" gained exposure as the opening theme to the teen comedy film Jawbreaker.
Veruca Salt performed another single, "Shutterbug", on Saturday Night Live; instead of the featured musical group performing two songs as had been a tradition, the musical performances were split between Sting and Veruca Salt. This change was announced at the last minute between the dress rehearsal and the live show, at the behest of Sting to producer Lorne Michaels. Nina Gordon claimed that the band was erroneously introduced by Sting as "Veronica Salt"; but this appears to have been replaced in reruns with rehearsal footage when the correct name was used.
Shapiro left the band soon after the release of Eight Arms, due to unease with having to learn how to play drums – an instrument he had only started playing when asked to join the band – while under public scrutiny. Shapiro was replaced by Stacy Jones (of Letters to Cleo and American Hi-Fi). Jones toured with the band on the Eight Arms tour and appeared in the music videos for "Volcano Girls" and "Shutterbug". In 1997, Veruca Salt opened for the band Bush in a North American tour.
1998–2012: Gordon's departure and reformation
Gordon and Post started working together on Veruca Salt's third album. However, after an argument between the two, Gordon left the band to pursue a solo career in 1998. (Gordon's first album, Tonight and the Rest of My Life, was released in 2000 and featured drumming by Stacy Jones, who had also left Veruca Salt and was in a relationship with Gordon). The undisclosed dispute between Gordon and Post has been described as "one of the greatest rock soap operas since Fleetwood Mac or Hüsker Dü."