#vinnie dombrowski

[rainingmusic]

Sponge - Plowed

[metalsongoftheday]

Tuesday, March 20: Sponge, “Rotting Piñata”

Given the band’s immediate affiliation with grunge, it was easy to overlook that Sponge was actually a moderately heavy guitar band- their riffing was often more forceful, and their tones more unique, than the fretwork of concurrent acts.  Yes, the group certainly played on a lot of the clichés of the time, from the pseudo-glam posturing to the faux angst that very quickly grew tiresome. But in another time and place, Sponge would’ve been seen as a cool hard rock act, and songs like Rotting Piñata’s title track would’ve been considered a fun little stomper.  Vinnie Dombrowski could lean a little too heavily on the swagger, but here his vocals were tight and focused, while the guitar tandem of Joe Mazzola and Mike Cross hit the gas with enough momentum to almost make the driving rhythm section feel like an afterthought.  “Rotting Piñata” was definitely more hard rock than grunge, rocking out with little pretense but plenty of hunger, and while Sponge wasn’t entirely consistent in their discography (their shifting commercial fortunes in the wake of grunge’s rise and fall definitely didn’t help), this song compellingly proved they were underrated in their time.