Soul Coughing

Self-described as “deep slacker jazz,” Soul Coughing’s sound is hard to pin down. While categorized as an alternative rock band, their music often incorporated elements from hip-hop, improvisational jazz, and electronica. Formed in New York City in 1992 by vocalist and guitarist Mike Doughty, who wrote poetry and was a doorman at the iconic underground venue The Knitting Factory, the band was completed by musicians Mark Degli Antoni (keyboards), Sebastian Steinberg (bass), and Yuval Gabay (drums), all of whom were regular patrons of the famed New York nightclub. The buzz surrounding their experimental performances helped them land a recording contract with Slash Records in 1993. A year later, Soul Coughing made their official debut with the album Ruby Vroom, which garnered praises from critics and received heavy airplay on college radio, rapidly attaining cult status. Their debut was followed by 1996’s Irresistible Bliss, a New Wave-tinged record that broke into the Billboard 200 and spawned the alternative radio hits “Soundtrack to Mary” and “Super Bon Bon.” In the following years, Soul Coughing contributed to the soundtracks of the films Batman & Robin, Tommy Boy, and Spawn, and issued their third album El Oso in 1998. Heavily influenced by drum’n’bass, both the LP and its lead single “Circles” reached Number 8 in the US, becoming their highest-charting effort. After the band’s breakup in 2000, M. Doughty launched a prolific solo career and Degli Antoni went on to become a film score composer. Lust in Phaze, a compilation of their greatest hits and B-sides, saw the light in 2002.