Gordon and her fiance, Jeff Russo (of Tonic), welcomed their first child, Ivy Nightingale Russo, on November 21, 2006.

Veruca Salt was formed alongside the friendship of Gordon and Louise Post. Introduced by Gordon's good friend, actress Lili Taylor, Gordon and Post quickly bonded and formed what is now known as Veruca Salt. Originally, the band was an Indigo Girls-inspired acoustic act, but the women soon realized that this wasn't their sound. They quickly enlisted bass player Steve Lack, and eventually Gordon's brother, Jim Shapiro, joined as their drummer, even though he originally was just drumming as a favor to his sister.

Veruca Salt released a self-funded demo tape and shopped it to labels while playing a handful of small club shows. The buzz around the band grew furiously, and after only a few live gigs, the band was signed to Minty Fresh Records and began recording with producer Brad Wood. At the time, Brad was popular from having recently produced Liz Phair's critically acclaimed Exile in Guyville.

The band released an orange 7" single for the song "Seether". "Seether" was a distorted alt-rocker about an angry and misunderstood woman. Compared to the rest of Veruca Salt's material, "Seether" was very pop, so much so that Gordon said that when she wrote it, she did not think the rest of the band would like it. They sent "Seether" to radio, as it was the most radio-friendly song they had written, and the reaction was unexpectedly positive. Unfortunately, the album was not complete, and they found themselves rushing to complete it before "Seether" lost its radio momentum. It ended up peaking at #8 on the Modern Rock charts.

American Thighs was released through Minty Fresh Records on September 27, 1994 and re-released November 8, 1994 by Geffen Records after the label signed the band following an intense label bidding war. The album peaked on the Billboard Top 200 at 69 and was eventually certified Gold. The follow-up single to "Seether", "All Hail Me", failed to chart on the Modern Rock Charts, and the last single from the album, "Number One Blind", written by Gordon, did better than the previous single, peaking at #20 on the Modern Rock charts, but nowhere near as well as "Seether". Gordon and Post were unhappy with the song's video, and it was pulled after airing fewer than five times on MTV's 120 Minutes.

To support the album, Veruca Salt toured, opening for acts such as Hole, Live and PJ Harvey. They also headlined a club tour.

The band released an EP in 1996 titled Blow It Out Your Ass It's Veruca Salt to tide fans over until their next album. It was produced by Steve Albini (PJ Harvey, Nirvana) and contains the Gordon-penned "Shimmer Like a Girl" and "New York Mining Disaster 1996".

During this time Gordon collaborated with James Iha on the Smashing Pumpkins' "Bullet With Butterfly Wings" B-side, "...Said Sadly", and also recorded duets with Fig Dish and Triplefastaction.

After touring for American Thighs, Gordon and Post entered the studio with Bob Rock to record their second album. They were inspired to work with Bob after hearing Metallica's "Enter Sandman" on the loud-system before a Veruca Salt concert at an outdoor music festival.

Eight Arms to Hold You, which was released February 11, 1997 on Geffen Records, proved to be a difficult and dividing album. Some fans of American Thighs were disappointed by the polished, hard-rock and distinctively Bob Rock production, in comparison to the laid back, indie buzz-bin vibe of American Thighs. The new album garnered mixed reviews from music critics as well. Band members have since admitted that this album was difficult for the band, and the recording process was extremely tense. However, Eight Arms to Hold You sold well due to the success of the first single, "Volcano Girls", written by Gordon. It was a catchy, power-pop tantrum that matched "Seether"'s success, peaking at #8 on the Modern Rock charts. The album, however, didn't have longevity, and despite peaking higher (Billboard Top 200 at 55) than American Thighs, sales dropped off drastically when the second single, "Shutterbug", failed to chart, despite a high budget video and Saturday Night Live performance, as well as other promotion. Three more singles were sent to radio ("The Morning Sad", "Straight" and "Benjamin") but none of them did well enough to warrant a video. However, the Gordon-penned "'Benjamin" was released internationally as the third and last commercial single from the album despite having no video and no promotion. "Benjamin" also failed to chart.