Day After Day #306: Better Than Nothing

Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4).

Better Than Nothing (1994)

There are many examples of how the music industry has chewed up and spit out artists. They sign the artist to a big contract, the artist releases albums that don't sell well, the label drops the artist. This was especially common in the '90s when the major labels were trying to find the next big alternative rock artist. 

This series has documented the major label feeding frenzy that followed Nirvana's success, but it continued to a lesser extent in the mid-'90s when an unknown Boston-based singer named Jennifer Trynin self-released her debut album Cockamamie in 1994. After the lead single "Better Than Nothing" started getting played on rock stations across the country, Trynin got critical acclaim and record company bigwigs began courting her as the Next Big Female Rock Star.

Cockamamie is an excellent collection of catchy, guitar-driven rockers, highlighted by "Better Than Nothing," a midtempo ripper with a chorus that lodges itself in your brain.

"Maybe we could talk in the shower/I'll bet we'd be gone in an hour/Maybe we could leave all this behind/Or we could just stay home/Maybe we could pool all our money/Maybe head out west to the country/It'd be just like here but we'd be there/Or we could just stay home/It's better than nothing/It's better than nothing/I'm feeling good, I'm feeling good/I'm feeling good...for now/But I know that by tomorrow I'll probably come around."

I first heard "Better Than Nothing" on WFNX and then picked up the CD and was hooked. I saw Trynin play at TT the Bears in 1995 and she was excellent.

"Maybe we could stay out all night/2 shots of whiskey and have a good fight/Finally figure out who's really right/I think I'll just stay home/For now things don't seem so bad/I don't wanna know if I will sink or swim away to shore."

Among the labels that were chasing Trynin was Geffen, whose CEO David Geffen told her she reminded him of Linda Ronstadt, and Warner Bros., which was led by Danny Goldberg, Led Zeppelin's former publicist and Nirvana's manager. Eventually Trynin signed with Warner Bros., which gave her a three-album deal and a near-$1 million advance. Warner Bros. re-released Cockamamie in 1995 and "Better Than Nothing" reached #15 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and #40 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. But the second single didn't chart and the album stalled out at #74 on the Billboard 200.

Disappointed with album and ticket sales, Warner canceled a planned European tour and cut promo support. Trynin opened for Buffalo Tom on a fall tour. But by the following spring, Goldberg left the label for Mercury and Warner Bros. opted to put its money behind another female artist, Alanis Morrisette, who had a monster hit with "You Oughta Know" and her album Jagged Little Pill. 

Trynin released her second album on Warner Bros., Gun Shy, Trigger Happy, in 1997. It was quieter than her debut, but was strong nonetheless. It got good reviews but was more adult alternative than alt-rock and didn't sell well. The label refused her recommendation for the first single and then made her change the name of the song they wanted from "February" to "Getaway," but then didn't even release the video that had been made for the song. Eventually, Trynin took a buyout from Warner Bros. that released her from having to make a third album and dropped out of the public eye for a few years.

In 1999, she began playing guitar with the Boston indie rock band Loveless, which released an album in 2003. Trynin, who was a creative writing major in college, released her first book in 2006, Everything I'm Cracked Up to Be: A Rock & Roll Fairy Tale, which detailed her meteoric rise and fall. I spotted it in my local library not long after it came out and really enjoyed it.

Trynin married producer Mike Deneen in 2000 and then took time off after having their daughter in 2003. She started playing music again in 2014 with The Cujo and Band of Their Own, but is also working on her second book. Trynin has also been hosting EARFULL, a performance series that features writers and musicians, in Boston-area spots.

Parting of the Sensory

Man, things have been busy around here. We had a bit of a whirlwind weekend. I got up at 5:30 Saturday morning and was out the door by 6 for a 13-mile run. Got back, showered and went to Hannah's soccer game; they had a scrimmage for the last 20 minutes or so and she scored a goal. We then headed down to NJ for a quick 24-hour visit, the highlight of which was a Willy Wonka-themed birthday party Sunday afternoon for two of our nephews' cousins (got that?). We jumped in the van at 4:30 and hightailed it back home, because my fantasy hockey draft started at 8. Of course, we hit some serious traffic in New York and Massachusetts and got back around 9, but what are you gonna do? I made my first picks via cell phone and then finished the rest of the draft in person. Got home at midnight and went to bed. After work today, we had to go to parents' night at Hannah's school and got home around 8:30. Now I'm watching the Patriots-Bengals game.

I'm currently in the taper mode of my marathon training, which means I'm cutting down on the mileage in the weeks leading up to the race (which takes place in 13 days). Now I just have to hope for nice, cool weather on the 14th.

Drop the puck:

• My sports nirvana continues. The AL playoffs look to be pretty good, with the Sox playing the Angels and the Yankees taking on the Indians. Hopefully, the Sox and Yankees will face each other in the ALCS again. Meanwhile, the NHL season got underway over the weekend with a couple of games in London, with everybody else starting on Wednesday. And the NFL marches on through a strange season in which underdogs are winning left and right.
• Over the weekend, I just finished "Everything I'm Cracked Up to Be" by Jen Trynin, an excellent look at Trynin's dizzying rise and fall as the next big thing in rock in the mid-90s who never quite made it. Being based in Boston, Trynin was on my radar screen somewhat early on. I picked up both her excellent albums, Cockamamie and Gun Shy Trigger Happy, back in the day when they came out and saw her headline TT the Bears back in '95 at the height of her "fame." Trynin got plenty of radio play in Boston and was the center of a major label bidding war that found her signing to Warner. But despite excellent material, she unfortunately fell victim to major label politics and also had the misfortune of having her first album come out at the same time as the debut of one Alanis Morissette. She ended up essentially leaving the music biz in the late '90s to get married and raise a family and then wrote this book chronicling her short-lived dealings with the labels. Part of the fun is guessing who some of the pseudonyms belong to; she names the big names, but the local figures are renamed. She also does a great job of explaining how effed up the typical record contract is; even though she managed to get a great deal, she details just how hard it is for an artist to actually make money after you get done with recoupables and all the other arcane parts of the record contract. This book actually came out last year, but like movies, I don't usually get to books until long after they're out. If you have an interest in music, I'd recommend checking this one out.
• Speaking of the music industry, Radiohead is trying something interesting by announcing plans to sell its new album digitally to fans for whatever price they want to pay. With no label deal to adhere to, Radiohead can afford to sell the album themselves (the CD version will be out early next year) and build the buzz for their upcoming tour, where they'll make a mint. They've got such a huge and loyal fanbase that they'll do just fine, thank you.