After thirty years, Seattle alt-rock band Candlebox is saying farewell with one last album and tour. Frontman Kevin Martin is the only band member remaining from the original lineup that broke through with the multi-platinum eponymous debut in 1993. In the thirty years since, Martin has seen the band win over fans with singles that were mainstays on MTV and alternative radio. He’s also seen the band dismissed as pretenders riding the coattails of the Seattle grunge bands that came before them. Though that criticism was never fair, at that time, many held disdain for any bands with a “Seattle sound” that weren’t part of that local club scene in the mid-80s.
The band broke up in 2000 and returned six years later to a musical landscape where alt-rock was an afterthought. Accused of jumping on the hot trend initially, Candlebox has had the opposite problem since reforming: guitar-based alt-rock is as out of style as Doc Martens with shorts. Still, Martin and his alternating cast of bandmates pressed on. The music provides catharsis and artistic expression, and Candlebox doesn’t need a huge following to live that out.
During a concert in Orlando a few years ago, Martin acknowledged the half-capacity crowd. “I know it’s Spring Break. That must be why more kids aren’t here tonight. You know, all of those teenage Candlebox fans,” he joked.
Though Candlebox hasn’t had a gold record since 1995’s Lucy, it’s had modest hits with Happy Pills (1998), Into the Sun (2008), and Love Stories and Other Musings (2012). Like the crowd at that concert, the fan base may be smaller than it once was, but it’s enthusiastic.
The band’s eighth and final album, The Long Goodbye, is a fitting end for Candlebox in that it has enough high points to show what made the band hit-makers but also some moments that serve as reminders that the band was never able to replicate the artistic and commercial achievements of the debut album. For the final Candlebox album, Martin is joined by guitarists Island Styles and Brian Quinn—part of the lineup since 2016; Adam Kury on bass—a member since 2007, and drummer BJ Kerwin, who joined the band in 2021.
That short-lived stardom and the fickleness of fame are running themes throughout The Long Goodbye. In the album opener “Punks,” Martin bitterly rejects the quest for fame. “I don’t even want to taste it ‘cause every time it gets wasted. And what’s the point of trying to chase it when it’s already gone?” he sings over aggressive, distorted guitars. It’s the album’s best song, not just for its head-banging fury but also for its warning to today’s young, popular bands. “We paved these streets; that’s why you’re here,” he sings before offering the reminder that their popularity is “already gone.”
