Formation and Sub Pop years (1988–1991) Tad was originally a solo project of Tad Doyle (born Thomas Andrew Doyle), former drummer of the band H-Hour, in early 1988 with Doyle singing and playing all instruments (guitar, bass, and drums), and recording a three-song demo. Tad was among the first bands signed to independent label
Sub Pop Records. Danielson's band,
Bundle of Hiss, played with Doyle's previous band H-Hour. Another lawsuit was filed due to the cover of
8-Way Santa (which was a found photo of a man fondling a woman's breast). In 1995, the band released
Live Alien Broadcasts on Futurist Records, a best-of live studio recording. Doyle later formed the band Hoof. His other band, Brothers of the Sonic Cloth, had been playing in Seattle night clubs. Kurt Danielson formed Valis, a project that included members of
Screaming Trees and
Mudhoney. He also formed The Quaranteens, a
post-punk/
new wave band with Craig Paul, before moving to France. He was back in Seattle in 2008, and started to write a novel. Danielson also played in other local Seattle-based bands, including Misericords (with fellow ex-Tad member Mongrain on drums). Sinder played drums in The Insurgence and with Marky Felchtone from
Zeke in the band Hellbound for Glory. A documentary of the band titled
Busted Circuits and Ringing Ears was released in February 2008. In July 2009, Doyle's website announced plans by Brothers of the Sonic Cloth to release a split 10" vinyl record with Seattle-area
sludge metal band
Mico de Noche. The Brothers of the Sonic Cloth/Mico de Noche split 10" vinyl record was released in October 2009 as an edition of 500 copies and featured two songs by Mico de Noche and one song by Brothers of the Sonic Cloth, "Fires Burn Dim in the Shadows of the Mountain". The record received several positive reviews and appeared on
Seattle Weekly's list of that year's best local releases. In 2009, Doyle performed with the members of Soundgarden and
Tom Morello of
Rage Against the Machine in Seattle.
Chris Cornell, Soundgarden's original singer, was not present and Doyle took on vocals. This marked the first performance by Soundgarden in over a decade.
Partial reunion and aftermath (2013–present) A semi-reunion of Tad took place at the Sub Pop Records 25th Anniversary Show on July 13, 2013 in Seattle, Washington. There, Doyle and Thorstensen joined Brothers of the Sonic Cloth to play a set of songs from ''God's Balls
, Salt Lick
, and 8-Way Santa''. Danielson went on to play with vocalist Ron Nine and guitarist Kevin Whitworth (
Love Battery), vocalist Katie Scarberry, and drummer Garret Shavlik (former member of
The Fluid) for a self-produced album,
Vaporland, in 2014. He and Ron Nine then played in Purple Strange with Jared Stroud, Matthew Candenberghe, and Endino, and issued another self-produced album of the same name in 2021. A vinyl-only archival album,
Quick and Dirty, was released in April 2018 as part of
Record Store Day, which contained unreleased tracks Tad recorded between 1995 and 1999 (in addition to a handful of live songs). ==Legacy==