* En anglais uniquement
Singer/guitarist/songwriter
Louise Post is best known in the alternative rock world for her work as the leader/co-founder of
Veruca Salt, a female-fronted band that was especially popular in the '90s but continued to have a following in the 2000s despite a great deal of well-publicized turmoil along the way. Born in St. Louis, MO on December 7, 1966,
Post grew up in the Midwest but moved to New York City after high school to attend Barnard College (where she obtained a BA in English). Opting to return to the Midwest,
Post (who now lives in Los Angeles) made Chicago her new home, and it was in the Windy City that she co-founded
Veruca Salt in 1993 with
Nina Gordon (also a singer, guitarist and songwriter). Together,
Post and
Gordon shaped the sound of
Veruca Salt, whose original lineup also included bassist
Steve Lack and drummer
Jim Shapiro.
Veruca were greatly influenced by
Nirvana, who were huge at the time and had -- along with the equally popular
Pearl Jam -- made alternative rock the primary direction of rock music. But while
Nirvana's angst-ridden lyrics were darkly introspective,
Veruca Salt were fun, humorous and eccentric. Although influenced by the chords and melodies of grunge,
Veruca also drew on everything from pop-metal (
Cheap Trick and
Joan Jett were influences) to quirky '80s new wave and had considerable power pop appeal. In contrast to all the serious-mindedness that
Nirvana,
Pearl Jam and
Hole were bringing to the table,
Veruca's goofy debut single, "Seether" (released on the Minty Fresh label in 1993) was an exercise in absurdist humor, and there were plenty of equally eccentric tracks on their first full-length album,
American Thighs. The title
American Thighs was inspired by a reference in
AC/DC's "You Shook Me All Night Long," and
Post's love of '80s metal/hard rock became even more evident when
Veruca hired
Bob Rock to produce their second full-length album,
Eight Arms to Hold You (a 1997 release on Geffen). Although
Eight Arms to Hold You went gold, the album was surrounded by considerable upheaval. First,
Shapiro left
Veruca (he was replaced by former
Letters to Cleo drummer
Stacy Jones), and in 1998,
Gordon left the band to pursue a solo career (a decision that
Post deeply resented).
Lack and
Jones took off as well. Adding to the turmoil was the fact that
Post's boyfriend
Dave Grohl (frontman for
the Foo Fighters and former
Nirvana drummer) cheated on her with actress Winona Ryder. Despite all that,
Post opted to keep
Veruca going and assembled a new lineup that included guitarist Stephen Fitzpatrick, bassist Suzanne Sokol and drummer Jimmy Madla. That new lineup was heard on
Veruca's third album, the extremely bitter and vitriolic Resolver (a 2000 release that found
Post lashing out at
Gordon and ex-boyfriend
Grohl). More lineup changes followed; on the 2005 EP, Lords of Sounds and Lesser Things,
Post (who turned 40 in 2006) was joined by Fitzpatrick, bassist
Solomon Snyder and drummer Michael Miley. After
Snyder and Miley left,
Post hired bassist Mareea Paterson and drummer Toby Lang for a 2005 tour. But when
Veruca's fourth full-length album, IV, was released in 2006, the lineup consisted of
Post, Fitzpatrick, bassist Nicole Fiorentino and drummer
Kelli Scott. Although not a huge seller, IV was hailed by some reviewers as
Veruca's best, most focused release since
Eight Arms to Hold You. ~ Alex Henderson