Nina Gordon, singer, songwriter and guitarist for the hard-rock quartet Veruca Salt, has split with the band she co-founded, leaving the future of the Chicago-based outfit up in the air. "She left to pursue other opportunities," said Gayle Fine, spokeswoman for Q Prime, Veruca Salt's management company.

Whether those plans include work on a solo album or a new band is not yet clear. In the wake of Gordon's departure, Veruca Salt's label, DGC Records, issued a brief statement confirming the split. "At this point, the future of the group remains uncertain," the announcement said.

Gordon, 30, first joined forces with partner Louise Post in 1991. For six months, the pair forged a pop-rock sound in Post's living room, teaching one another songs they had each been working on separately for years and eventually coming to describe themselves as "musical soulmates." Soon they were joined by Gordon's brother Jim Shapiro (later replaced by Stacy Jones) on drums and bassist Steve Lack.

Veruca Salt (named for a character in the children's classic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) first climbed onto the national stage in late 1994, after word-of-mouth adulation for their hard-pop, Brad Wood-produced (Liz Phair) debut, American Thighs, prompted DGC to sign the band and re-release the album. They took full flight after the Gordon-penned "Seether" gained wide exposure on MTV.

Eight Arms To Hold You, the band's 1997 follow-up, was produced by Bob Rock (Metallica), whose pedal-to-the-metal hard-rock style contrasted with the more lo-fi approach taken by producer Wood on American Thighs. The more polished metallic sound failed to catch on with listeners. Without a hit single or video as captivating as "Seether" to drive it, Eight Arms moved more than 400,000 copies, nearly equaling the gold (more than 500,000 copies sold) status of its predecessor.

Gordon has remained busy following the release of Eight Arms To Hold You. The group toured and, most recently, Gordon lent backing vocals to the song "Beauty" on Let It Come Down, the solo debut from Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha.

-- Chris Nelson [Mon., March 2, 1998, 9 a.m. PST]