Los Angeles, CA · post-grunge · alt-rock

Tonic

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Late-'90s alt-rock with a warm, unfussy approach to a big chorus — 'If You Could Only See' still glowing.

Tonic formed in Los Angeles in the early 1990s, built around singer and guitarist Emerson Hart and guitarist Jeff Russo, childhood friends who reconnected at a Los Angeles pool hall in 1993. They added bassist Dan Rothchild and drummer Kevin Shepard, then spent less than two years playing more than 300 shows around the city before signing with Polydor in 1995.

The band arrived at the tail end of the grunge era with a sound rooted in melodic, mid-tempo rock, drawing as much on roots rock and folk-rock as on the harder edges of the period. Producer Jack Joseph Puig helmed their 1996 debut, Lemon Parade, which went on to be certified platinum.

They are best known for "If You Could Only See", a radio staple of the late 1990s that was Rock Radio's most played song of 1997, and for "You Wanted More". The band self-produced its second album, Sugar, in 1999, then released Head on Straight in 2002, which brought two Grammy nominations, including one for Best Rock Album.

The group went on hiatus in the mid-2000s while Hart pursued solo work, and later reconvened for further recording and touring. Tonic returned in 2008 with a tour and a greatest-hits compilation, followed by a self-titled fourth album in 2010.

In 2016 the band crowdfunded an acoustic reworking of its debut album, released as Lemon Parade Revisited, drawing on direct support from fans. In 2021 it issued "To Be Loved", its first single not tied to a full studio album.

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post-grungealt-rock