KEEPIN’ IT COPACETIC
LOCAL H’S BIG HIT DURING THE SUMMER OF 1996 WAS “Bound for the Floor,” otherwise known as “the copacetic song” for its sing-along chorus (“And you just don’t get it / you keep it copacetic / and you learn to accept it / you know it’s so pathetic”) and a gnashing guitar sound that fit in nicely with playlists leaning heavily on Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains and other au courant grunge/alt-rockers. The band’s 1995 debut album, Ham Fisted, failed to elicit much attention, but with “Bound for the Floor” receiving constant radio and MTV play, they saw their second disc, As Good As Dead, reach gold status. And now the pressure was on. As Lucas recalls, “All of a sudden, we were faced with this new set of expectations, all focused around one thing: Can we do it again?”
“THERE WAS SO MUCH CONTROVERSY WITH EVERY DECISION WE MADE BECAUSE THE STAKES WERE HIGH. WE NEEDED TO RECOUP. WE NEEDED TO JUSTIFY THE AMOUNT OF MONEY GEFFEN WAS SINKING INTO VIDEOS AND ALBUMS AND TOURS. IT WAS TOO MUCH PRESSURE, AND FRANKLY, WE JUST KIND OF CRACKED UNDERNEATH THE WEIGHT OF IT ALL”
— LOUISE POST
After the first grunge-rock signing spree tore through Seattle in the early Nineties, record labels invaded Chicago, waving big contracts and snapping up alternative acts such as the Smashing Pumpkins, Urge Overkill and Liz Phair. “It was an exciting time,” says guitarist-singer Louise Post, whose band Veruca Salt was wined and dined by scores of A&R reps before they ultimately signed with Geffen. “Things were happening so quickly. You have your first hit,
