Ely Parker and the CIAs

(right dudes, wrong band)

In the Year of Our Lord Nineteen Hundred Ninety-Three, Ely Parker and the CIAs practiced thrice and played out once. Chris Concannon on bass guitar, Ted Leo on guitar and vocals, Chris Norborg on drums. Two or three originals, otherwise pretty much straight up Medway Scene and its cousins and forbears.

--Chris Norborg

Below we have the live recording from the one-and-only show. And just for grins, we've got demos from one of the practice sessions as well. Enjoy!

   

Club 23, R.I.P.

Last week, Club 23 was demolished. If you are a regular reader of this blog, then there's a good chance you spent a lot of time at Club back in the day, and it's also pretty likely that your band played there at some point, too. Lots of great memories from hanging out at this joint, and it's kind of a sad feeling knowing that it's not around anymore.

Rather than trying to eulogize, I'm instead offering a chance to walk around inside Club 23 one last time, and relive for a moment what it was like to hang out there on a typical night almost 20 years ago. The video below was at the front end of a VHS tape of a Cripe Street set at Club 23 (which I'll get to eventually, I suppose) that was sent to me, and it's a pretty great time warp. Witness the flannel shirts, the mom jeans, the white baseball caps... it's amazing. Throw in a couple songs by Brian Muller (of Cripe Street and Brian, Colin, and Vince) and some fella I don't recognize (help?), peppered with requests to play "Spacey Floater," and... well, just see for yourself.

Take me home, Club 23. Take me home.

Voice Of Man Who Took Wheelchair - Metallica Party Live, 1998

Vinny: Napalm Hearts was easily the worst band I have ever played in... sure was fun, though!

Joe: Worst?! You crazy. I've been in much worse bands than Napalm Hearts. I think maybe all of my bands have been worse than Napalm Hearts. I still think that Voice of Man Who Took Wheelchair is a much better name, though. That's the name of the band I was playing in.

Chris: After the anticlimactic flameout of The Hick-Ups I wanted my next band (whatever it was) to be called "Napalm Hearts," from the Iggy and the Stooges song "Search and Destroy" : "I'm a streetwalkin’ cheetah with a heart full of napalm... I'm the runaway son of a nuclear A-Bomb... I am the world's forgotten boy, the one who searches and destroys." Pretty exciting, thankfully I never got it tattooed on my forehead like they do these days- there have been at least two other lousy bands since then who took their names from those lines. Regardless, by the time we played this, our only show, we were definitely called VOICE OF MAN WHO TOOK WHEELCHAIR.

Joe: We were in the Canary House, watching TV with the sound down (because we're so fuckin' cool). Some sort of news interview show was on. On the screen pops up stock video of a tape recorder rolling and the caption, "Voice of Man who Took Wheelchair." We didn't bother to turn the sound up, because, again, we're so fuckin' cool. So I have no idea what the show was about. We decided to name the band after it. Then, later, someone decided -- incorrectly -- that Napalm Hearts was a better name. I have no further information.

Chris: Joe is right and describes the image on the screen perfectly. It was either on the consistently entertaining South Bend local evening news (I still have hours of VHS recordings) or CrimeStoppers (“It works!”), I cannot remember which.

But before TV gifted us I had told someone we were going to be called the Napalm Hearts. They made a flyer for a show with that name on it, not knowing that in the meantime we had come up with the best band name of all time. The inscrutability of this flyer is itself of note-- the party was called a "Metallica Fete" for no apparent reason, particularly since the photo used was of Joan Jett(?!?!). This was before text messaging or the telephone, so information travelled very slowly.

Ultimately it is really best if we only call it VOICE OF MAN WHO TOOK WHEELCHAIR. The Napalm Hearts existed only in the bent, unhipped mind of the person who made that flyer.

(...and thus ends discussion of the most interesting aspect of this band).

Joe: Well, listening to the recording the title of the blog post must be either "That's fuckin' right goddammit!" or "All right, ladies and fuckers!"

Chris: Yeah I am listening to this again. What a band! The power... the fury! As I make sure to say at the beginning, this was the first band in which I ever played guitar. I think I wrote a couple songs on the guitar, had Joe solo over the whole thing and told Vinny to play as fast as possible. Joe had some folky things he written already and I tried to find things to play over that. Sometimes when we were sitting around the house watching TV with the sound turned off Vinny and I used to play The Poorly Rendered Folk Blues, so it was very convenient, if cognitively inconsistent, to perform these things as one band.


OK... the songs:

"I Don't Wanna Fuckin Talk to You" - Too bad we started with the best song. We should have played this one again at the end. Oh my god, is that Allison Wolfe from Bratmobile on guest vocals?!? No, it is Kristi from The Go-Lightly's. Hey that sounds pretty good.... to poop on!!

The name of the second song is "Lo! This... is a Bullfight!" Another non-sequiter from television. Joe thought this was a hilarious name for a song and I had some music so you can send us each a Grammy thank you very much.

"Locket Rocket" - this is our attempt to play "Locket Love" by the Ramones, but we couldn’t do it, so we made up our own song with some of the parts. A few months later I really perfected this song by mixing it with a Prince tune in another band in San Francisco that never played live, so this is a real treat for you completists.

Joe: None of this explains why I played that lame fingerstyle thing in the middle of our god damn rock show! God damn! Why didn't someone talk me down? Or (I gasp at the implications) did someone put me up to it?!?

SBP90s: I was wondering about that, it seemed like an odd interlude given the context. Maybe the other guys just needed refills from the keg.

Chris: Indeed, after a Ramones ripoff, I can’t think of a better time to throw in a long instrumental called "Hegel's Aesthetic." Hey brother, that was your bag, who were we to bum your trip? You were just doing your thing, maaaaaaan.

Actually, it was a bit insensitive you didn't notice how miffed Vinny was he didn't get to show the contents of his bag (15 minute hand drum solo).

It reminds me of the movie A Mighty Wind. At the end when the Folksmen are filling air time while the producers try to find Eugene Levy's MIA character, they display their tendency to take themselves way too seriously by following the ridiculously corny and upbeat audience participation song "Barnyard Symphony" with a dirge "The Skeletons of Quinto." Harry Shearer's character indulges in a drawn out introduction contextualizing what they are about to play: "In the Late 1930s of the last century, Spain was wracked by civil war blah blah blah" and everyone in the audience is looking at him like "Play another one where we can make a MOOOO sound like a cow!!"

In any case the dialogue throughout this recording is funny. When we cut him off Joe kind of mumbles "That was the first third of Hegel's Aesthetic...”

Joe: Its full name is "Hegel's Aesthetic in G." Because it is in G. Which still doesn't explain who thought it was a good idea to play it.

Chris: We needed material!

"Wild Thing" - So I thought this was the end of college, big party, one-off band, we should play dance songs! Once this groove was established we thought it would be funny to get someone in the audience to sing “Wild Thing” by the Troggs, you know like the classic party anthem type thing. Except once we had someone up there we would play it like Trio or the Shaggs, just rip anything that could have been groovy right out of the song. The problem is no one volunteered. I mean, who doesn’t know the words to “Wild Thing??” (Answer: a room full of Notre Dame students). So someone volunteered John Huston (whose band The Transoms came up next) who was the perfect victim for this poorly executed prank.

John Huston: Dude, I still have nightmares about that. It was clearly a joke, but I for the life of me had no idea what that joke was. I was game to play along, but wouldn't have known how. I felt like I had water in my brain. And you wouldn't give me any clues. You just kept yelling at/about me into the microphone. Is that the song where you wrapped four of your guitar strings with a dollar bill? Then asked me to strum it? It's fucking David Lynchian.

Chris: Listening to it now... "John, you have to take your shirt off if you're going to do this."

"Our Satan is Better Than Your Satan" - Pretty sure Joe made up that name on the spot. I think this was supposed to be like a Jon Spencer Blues Explosion type of dance tune thing. At the end someone says "What was that?" and we say "It's fucking rock, girl!" Well alright.

"Hoedown" - An itty bitty titty ditty Joe wrote with me hitting the strings of my guitar with a metal coat hanger to make that irritating syncopated sound you hear. Incidentally, that guitar (a collectible 1976 Ibanez Hummingbird “Lawsuit” Les Paul copy) was purchased from a Mishawaka pawn shop with 100% credit from useless CD singles stolen from WVFI. Later I was pissed when I realized I had ruined the finish by hitting it with that coat hanger. It was later stolen from the back of a car in San Francisco's colorful Tenderloin district. I could go on?

Well, I wish we had more songs, it sounds like that was fun. People seemed into it. I do remember Vinny was totally embarrassed, he truly thought this was going to ruin his reputation as a musician. He closes this recording sadly, reluctantly, confusedly talking to no one in particular: "Thanks for being open minded and shit man, that's badass..."

Well put.

Brian, Colin and Vince - Live at Grace Coffee House 9/3/1992

Well I had something else planned for this week, but felt compelled today to share this instead. This morning I felt a little in a funk, kinda tired, and admittedly a bit hung over. As I was browsing the ol' iTunes for something to perk me up, I came across this gem and was like, yeah... YEAH!

So spur of the moment, here it is for you as well. An amazing, super sweet, and thoroughly enjoyable live set from Brian, Colin and Vince that you can't help but love. Sure to turn your day around if you need it. A big thanks to Vince for sending me this tape awhile ago, and I don't know why we haven't posted it sooner. I'm going to leave it at that and let y'all get to it...

decaf. - We’re The Opening Band (Pt.3): Live at Dalloways - 2/24/1995

This is the 3rd and final installment of the decaf. live EP series, "We're The Opening Band." This one takes us to Dalloway's Coffee House at St. Mary's and was recorded on 02.24.95. That night we played with an out of town band, Tiny. Playing at Dalloway's never reached the energy level of house parties or bar shows, but they were fun nonetheless. Here it is - the last in the series and the last recording you will ever receive from decaf. because we have officially exhausted all material.

--Brian

listen/download:


see also:
decaf. on MySpace

decaf. - We’re The Opening Band (Pt.2): Live at The Box - 2/04/1995

OK so here is the 2nd installment of the decaf. live EP series, "We're The Opening Band." This 3-song EP was recorded live at The Box on 02.04.95. It starts out with our friend and housemate, Kevin, trying to get a roudy house to "shut up" and listen to his public service announcement. That house brought out a great energy from any band that played there, and I remember us going downstairs to check the floor joists as we were afraid the floor would collapse during Sweep's set - ahhhh The Box.

That night we played with Sweep The Leg Johnny, Spoonfed, and a South Bend bend named Used that was supposed to have a questionable film showing behind them while they played - thank god their projector broke. Anyway, here it is - 2 down, 1 to go.

--Brian

listen/download:

see also:
decaf. on MySpace

Transmontane - Live at SXSW 2011

SXSW 2011 ended just over a week ago, and all reports indicate that it was notably chaotic and overblown this year... a gatecrashing near-riot at The Strokes, even more so at Death From Above 1979, the total mess that was Kanye West's show, Ben Weasel's belligerence and punching of two women, hipsters wearing capes (why?), general excessive drunkenness and stupidity... it's understandable why so many of us Austin residents breath a sigh of relief when the whole circus leaves town.

Fortunately, though, there was one show that was worth the trip out for us, being decidedly more relaxed and trouble-free. Former WVFI DJ and enthusiastic SBP90s music fan Ryan Duncan brought his one man band, Transmontane, down to Austin for a lazy Saturday lunchtime performance on a quiet patio on North Guadalupe, well enough away from the folks already waiting in line downtown to see Kanye go on at 2am.



In addition to it just being a real joy to see Ryan again after such a long time, his music was a pleasure to experience as well. Here's a synopsis of the new Transmontane album, Lo Specchio Circolare:

Lo Specchio Circolare translates to "the circular mirror" in Italian, which is quite appropriate as a title for this collection of 12 songs by Transmontane (AKA Ryan Duncan from Chicago), for the lyrics and the mood on this debut record tend to be reflective in nature. The mood here is introspective, but at the same time it points toward certain elements of the soul that are universal. There is definitely a tone of desperation present, but it does not arrive without an underlying vibration of hope as its constant companion. As profound as our desires may be, when salvation seems to be a million miles away, we must always remember, that at the root of our existence is an eternal wellspring of hope, a fundamental love that exists within us and can never be broken.

These simple, honest songs are simply one man’s attempt to reflect this light back out into the world at large. Look into them, and perhaps you might find your own voice.

The first video above is of one of my favorite cuts from the album, "R.W.S." The one just below here is of the non-album song "Genealogy," which Ryan premiered in live form during SXSW. The shaky video footage comes courtesy of the 2-yr-old troublemaker throwing Hot Wheels at my feet while I was recording.



I encourage everyone to check out the Transmontane album, it was the laid-back jam in my headphones all last week. You can stream or buy the songs via the Transmontane bandcamp site, or splurge for the limited edition vinyl LP, which is really packaged quite beautifully.


Transmontane - Lo Specchio Circolare LP



Transmontane on Facebook

90 Day Men - Live at the Canary House 12-13-1997

90 Day Men drove down to South Bend from Chicago on a couple occasions. From what I remember, the first time was to play with Sweep the Leg Johnny and a ton of other bands, including the Mad Dogs, Bessie (Bessie's set from that night is here), Obstruction and a briefly reunited emiLy, at Clifford the Big Red House.

90 Day Men returned in December 1997 as part of a show at the Canary House with Braid (hear their set from that night here), Kind of Like Spitting, The Butterfly Effect, and Florida Evans.

The recording kicks off with some idle banging on the bell of the ride cymbal, snippets of conversation in the crowd, and the eventual confession from the singer of 90 Day Men, "Our keyboard's kind of broken. So fuck it." The band then launches into a tight 8 song set, a good portion of which consists of new songs with no words.

At one point, the band dedicates a song to fans of the band Rush, which got a big yell from certain members of the crowd. Someone called out a request for "2112 ... the whole thing!" As was the case with many SBP90s house shows, the crowd was quite enthusiastic and appreciative.

The sound quality on the tape is quite good, especially considering Ron Garcia recorded it with one room mic.



download:
90 Day Men - Live at the Canary House 12-13-1997

see also:
90 Day Men on Myspace
90 Day Men on Allmusic

decaf. - We’re The Opening Band (Pt.1): Live at Senior Bar - 12/08/1994

This is the first of 3 live EP releases that we will be putting out over the next few weeks. We’re The Opening Band showcases decaf. in 3 locations around Notre Dame: Senior Bar, The Box (our house), and Dalloway’s Coffee House at St. Mary’s. Each show had its own shining moments, tomfoolery, and unapologetic covers of some of the most sacred cows of hardcore songs... but c’mon, this was Notre Dame. It's not like we were covering Minor Threat at the 9:30 Club, so get over it.

We’re The Opening Band (Pt.1): Live at Senior Bar - 12.08.94... that’s right, Senior Bar. There is a story behind this – my good friend, Molly, was bartending there and was put in charge of booking bands. She asked me if decaf. could play for 2 hours we would get... (are you ready?)... PAID. Unfortunately, all the songs we wrote or covered poorly clocked in at about 48 minutes, so we enlisted our friends Sweep The Leg Johnny to share the bill with us – we did this about 3 or 4 times over the course of the year. The entire show went pretty damn well for 2 bands that had never played in a place like Senior Bar and it was because of this very night that they started “Alternative Night” (*gasp*) - paving the way for our other friends bands to play there as well instead of just cover bands or jam bands.

This show was special because it captures the only time we ever played our homage to our friend, Marco, and his love for Hair Metal – “Marco’s Package”. Ted Hennessy called this medley “pure genius”... so here it is... the first of 3 short “live” releases to exhaust the decaf. vault forever. We hope you enjoy.

--Brian

listen/download:


see also:
decaf. on MySpace

Chisel - Live at 242 Main (Burlington, VT) 4/16/1994

I don't know much about this except that these mp3s got posted by Bradley's Almanac about 6 years ago, recorded at something called Burlingtonitus Fest. It's Chisel, it's 1994, includes rarities "My First Resume" and "Chiefs." There's also a Jam cover... what more do you need to know?

Happy New Year!



download:
Chisel - Live at 242 Main 4/16/1994

The Cole Estate - Live at the Hive 11/13/1998

My memory is so hazy, I can't remember how I came to be in the band. Maybe Ron recommended me? Anyway, I was by far the youngest in the band. It was a little intimidating. Dean was a pretty fantastic guitar player. He could pull off crazy "licks," I believe they're called. My style was (and is) based on slop. So maybe that had a nice yin/yang thing? I believe it was my role to put some quirky "leads" over the songs Dean and Amy had written. We rehearsed a few times in the basement of the Hive, aka Ron's house. Did we only play one show together? Did we ever talk to each other again? Was it a love-rectangle that forced our demise? Or an argument over a meatball sandwich? (No, definitely not that. Maybe a seitan sandwich?)

Gosh almighty, I can hardly remember anything at all. What's wrong with me? I remember our cover of "Heart of Glass," because Amy's vocals really shined on it. And I remember her song about how she loved her dog. And I remember Dean suggesting we do a cover of the Pixies' "Bone Machine," and I was always kind of bummed that never happened.

- John




Like John, I really don’t remember how we all got together except that Ron was wanting to play the drums and I happened to live with a very good guitar player and I knew John was a cool kid. That’s it. Overall, I think it’s unfortunate that we only had maybe seven practices and two shows. I think we could have been alright if we had time to actually be a band. I’m not sure seven practices and two shows even qualifies as a side project. Again, I had no idea what I was doing, but I had fun. As with Bessie, I maintain the attitude that girls everywhere should pick up an instrument if they feel like it and see what happens. So what if it is less than amazing or downright sucks. By the way Chris, I was never ever trying to be Kim Deal. It would have been a lot simpler if I had been. If I was trying to rip anyone off it was the chic from Dahlia Seed. Much more difficult to do—especially while playing an instrument that you don’t really know how to play. I still couldn’t sing in minor keys, but continued to write songs that required such skill. Oh well--my kids love "Gertrude Is a Dog," so I guess that’s something!

Unfortunately, our time together was so brief, there is not a lot to say. I, too, regret that we never covered "Bone Machine." I remember feeling bad for John and Ron for having to listen to Dean and myself bicker about the songs…sorry about that. That last Cole Estate show also taught me never ever to drink Osco vodka. Sorry again about your car Ron. Thanks Tracy for the Febreze. Anyway—good times.

- Amy


Just like everyone else, I don't remember the exact details of our genesis as a band. I was living in the Hive with Andy, and really took to playing the drums. Amy rocked the house in Bessie and since we ran into each other all the time in the Cushing-Fitzpatrick engineering building, we were bound by fate to form a band. I think Dean was just wrapping up his time in another band (or not?), so we started playing together, practicing in my basement. Since I didn't really know how to play the drums yet I was mostly stealing ideas from the other drummers in the scene (particularly Vinny and Doug), but it was a lot of fun. Dean noted that my playing was rather unorthodox, but he seemed to enjoy it.

I had a lot of fun playing in Cole Estate. IIRC, I flaked out of the band at some point, but I have some memory of being replaced by a grateful dead-esque drummer? Sorry for being flakey.

I probably won't ever forget the Osco Vodka night. It was really funny (probably not for Amy though). Special thanks go to Tracy for fixing plumbing problems in our little beat up house (which was otherwise pretty great for throwing shows) and cleaning up my car.

- Ron

The HickUps - Live at the Canary House 11/22/1997

At first I thought I remembered almost nothing about this band. Luckily for you some of it has come back!

It happened the first semester of my senior year, sometime in 1997, and was very short lived. I am shocked there was a recording made of this, that someone saved it and it wasn't subsequently taped over by Trusty or Juliana Hatfield or something.

This band was an effort on my part to play the kind of music I was into at the time. I did not know how to play guitar yet and no one I was friends with was really into the same stuff, so it came down to finding people who would put up with me and do their best under the circumstances. I had spent the prior summer as an intern at Crypt Records, which at the time was renting office space in LA from In the Red and Birdman Records. In a short period of time I had been turned on to a lot of music that totally changed my life and while no one at Notre Dame shared my enthusiasm for any of it, I was dying to play in a different kind of band.

This is who I liked and sought to emulate: Nine Pound Hammer, Oblivians, New Bomb Turks, Dwarves, New York Dolls, Dead Boys, Pussy Galore, and GG Allin. Also older stuff like Hank Williams and James Brown. Which as you can hear means absolutely nothing in relation to what this band turned out to be.

I was living with Doug at the Canary House (where this live show took place) and though he says otherwise I am positive I bugged the shit out of him 24 hours a day. We had played together in the Mad Dogs the prior year and he was way into his more serious bands by this time. Playing bass along to my awkward anti-PC blabbering was not his idea of how to open a Butterfly Effect show, I assure you. I do not know how I talked him into the HickUps but I know he hated it.

I was poorly trying to learn guitar around this time and I think at least one of these songs originated in the band eventually known as the Go-Lightlys, who kicked me out for guitaral ineptitude and romantic incompatibly. Andy Yang was in that band, and as the ex-drummer of the Catatonics and co-host of the Chris and Andy Boom Boom Dedication Show on WVFI, was in no position to refuse the HickUps drum stool. Though he did repeatedly and eventually permanently. Of all the people who simultaneously quit the HickUps after this our second show, I believe his abdication hurt the most because it was the last time we ever played together. Though I am making it up and it is possible we played together at least 3 times afterwards.

When starting the HickUps, the only thing I knew I wanted was a lot of searing, obnoxious rocknroll guitar solos. This was like the least cool thing imaginable in the South Bend Power 90s scene and to do so without an ironic smirk would have been even harder. I had to go outside the Mad Dogs gene pool, which I was reluctant to do. I do not know where we found John Huston and his Fender Jag-Stang, but I am glad we did. With the Catatonics' Dave "The Night" Stoker nowhere to be found, John appeared to be the only guitarist available who knew basic blues scales and was unafraid to solo using them for more than 3 seconds. We tried to talk as little as possible about the fact that he had major wet dreams about Nirvana as late as 1997.

Listening to this show, here are my thoughts:

1) I hate my voice on these songs. I hate hearing my stupid between song banter and I hate my inability to keep my mouth a safe distance from the mic. I hate how I am doing this lame HC screaming, not singing. The lyrics are awful yet I am enunciating them toooooo much for full effect (none).

2) Getting these guys to understand what I was trying to accomplish was impossible. I was not good enough to do it myself and to ask them to mimic the Dead Boys or the New York Dolls (when the prevailing influences were Braid and Jawbreaker) was too weird.

3) The songs that were not covers were written by me singing guitar parts and John trying to mimic the sounds on guitar. Every time we played them they were different and I remember this show was really like making it up as we went along.

4) "Knoxville Girl" is a cover of bluegrass warbler Hylo Brown's version of the old murder ballad. To this day his version is the most sadistic I have heard. I found it on a cheapo 60s country LP comp with a burning prison on the cover. Pretty up my alley back then.

5) "Gazebo" steals thematically from the Raymond Carver short story of the same name. Written for the Go-Lightlys I think. Awkwardness abounds.

6) I still think "Like a Rolling Head" is a great name for a song. Though to be honest, Weird Al is a major lifelong influence.

We played one show before this at Club 23 (where I spent the majority of my time 1997-98). I hope Ted has a copy of the flyer for that show, because it is so much better than the band ever was. Of course as you would expect, Moe cut the set short and told us to pack it up. I am sure I dulled the pain of embarrassment one way or another.

OK! Enjoy!



--Chris



No matter what Chris says, he did not bug the shit out of me 24 hours a day. I learned a hell of a lot about music during the year we lived together, and Chris did an admirable job of trying to bust me out of the Jawbreaker/Braid/DisChord Records bubble I tended to live in. (Though I did know about the New Bomb Turks -- in fact, one of my personal high points in the history of emiLy was playing in Columbus, OH and having Eric from NBT come up to us and compliment us on our set afterwards. I also saw NBT and Gauge in Boston sometime in the 90s and it was fucking awesome.) That Chris was not more successful is more a reflection of my stubbornness winning out over his. Shocking, I know.

The HickUps played more than one show? Apparently my memory of '97-98 is hazier than I thought. Great fun, but the sort of fun that sometimes requires photographic evidence to remember.

--Doug



The funny thing is, I hardly remember playing in this band! I do remember a terrible showing at Club 23, and how I felt very inadequate as a drummer with Doug (master drummer) in the band wondering why I couldn't keep a simple beat. At least that's how I felt. Haha!

--Andy



I remember this show. When Chris called out the first song of the set, I instead played the last song of the set. Not because I was super punk and trying to fuck up his shit. No, it was because I was a total moron and totally didn't know the names of any of the songs.

The HickUps was Chris' thing, and we all knew it. We were all just fine with it, too. A number of weeks prior to this show, he and I got together in the very same Canary House basement to "write songs." Chris, of course, had already come up with a handful of songs. Since he couldn't play guitar, he grunted and hummed and waved his hands at me, trying to figure out how to get what he heard in his mind to come through my guitar. I did my best to decipher his vocal "melodies" and ascribe a chord progression to them.

And yeah, it was a Fender Jagstang. Let it go, dude.

But that brings me to my favorite memory of the HickUps show at the Canary House. I don't know that I've ever told Chris about this, given his obvious hatred for grunge and embarrassment by my guitar, but some dude came up to me at the end of the set and he was ecstatic. Like, overjoyed, if I dare use that word. He'd been banging around in the "audience" the entire set. He told me that he was from Seattle, and that he hadn't seen a live show like that since the early '90s. He thanked me for going nuts onstage and asked when we were going to play again.

So while the HickUps initially started as a band that would combine Punk, Soul, and Country (making what I liked to call "poultry"), it was clearly a grunge band. And that was my fault.

And Chris has never forgiven me.

--John

Pinky - Live at the Hive 12/12/1998

Attesting to the thorough nature of this blog, I would like to introduce, Pinky, possibly the only one-show-wonder, all-girl band in the history of ND Power 90s rock. Closely linked to the Florida Evans Showband and Revue, Pinky exploded out of fan-club/girlfriend status to take their place on the stage. Shamelessly using all Flo Evans equipment and practice space in the Bulla St. stone house basement, Pinky soon relished a sugary sweet sound, hailing from their icons Cub. Elfin Amy Bowman led the charge as singer/guitarist. Her shy, sweet stage presence set the tone for the band. She was supported with more enthusiasm than talent by co-habitants of the 716 Washington St estate, Courtney Blum on drums, Kristin D'Agostino on bass, and Emily Edwards on vocals and "keyboard that never managed to materialize."

While Pinky was hyped-up on the thrill of playing as a group, Matt Curreri had the foresight to make a Pinky recording (sans Edwards) of the two Cub covers before the first show. Pinky opened for Florida Evan and (to our surprise the ultra-hip and therefore extremely intimidating) Boston-based Lynx, on a cold night in the stone house basement (probably the late fall of 1998). Possibly because we stocked the audience with ready-made fans, the set was a huge hit. There were cameras and even a video, but no evidence could be relocated [ed. check that-- we found two photos!].

Still enjoying the "first show high," the band imploded with the sad truth that three Pinky members could not date two Florida Evans members and coexist.

It was great while it lasted, but love, love it tore us apart again.

- Kristin

Brian, Colin and Vince - Three Cheers for Skybuster Jones

COLIN

I think this was the last BCV show before Brian transferred to school in Boston – so I remember at this time also trying to find a couple hours to record what would later be half of the Bucket o’ fun n’ stuff n’ yeah album. And that even though it was our last hurrah, we wanted to go out with a big fun show and we still were trying to play new songs as soon as hey were written – I believe we had just barely learned the “She’s turning into a werewolf” a cappella round that day. But I might be wrong about that. I didn’t even remember that song existed until I heard these recordings.

One thing I remember about this show was that we wanted to do whatever we wanted to do – and for me that included carrying my bed all the way from my dorm to Washington hall so I could have the fun of listening to the other bands while lying in my bed under my comforter with a pillow on stage – that was pretty awesome. And I think we invited anybody up on stage who wanted to be there. It was pretty loose.

There was something really moving about the crowd yelling things like “Brian, don’t go!” in the middle of "Hypothetical Situation." I think we all felt mixed emotions – sad to have something so wonderful be coming to an end, but also just a warm good feeling during the act of playing. I certainly was in a bit of denial about the ending of the band – and I was lucky to have a whole semester afterwards to work on the BCV cd, so I was still a bit busy with it anyhow.

I get confused about the timeline of how and when everything happened, but when we were doing the stuff, that was what mattered the most to me. I always just felt lucky to get to hear Brian and Vince sing every time we practiced. Plus Brian’s guitar playing was a treat to watch develop – he was fantastic at everything and so easy going that the band seemed almost effortless – songs came pouring out all the time and we just sat around and played them, then walked around playing them and then sometimes took a cab to go play them somewhere else. Trees, Hugs, and Rock n Roll, man.

To be honest, I am amazed at how cheesy I was back then – not that I’ve changed so much, but that younger Colin was a bit of a dork! Yow!

P.S. I cannot for the life of me remember where the Skybuster Jones concept came from, but I know the show was supposed to be a benefit for the food shelf and that some folks brought cans of food. And I believe James Kennedy later used the Skybuster Jones character in his rock musical – because I got to play him! Or was the musical before the show? I think I had it right the first time.

P.P.S. I still love the countermelodies on “Powder Blue” and “She.”

VINCE

I remember that we envisioned this show to be a "rock opera" without having a clear idea of what that was. That's why I brought my manequin on stage I think. In the end it was a fun creative outlet and goodbye to Brian. I still have no recollection of a werewolf song.

BRIAN

I think the name 'Skybuster Jones' can be attributed to John Kehoe.

My official thought on BCV is that I am thankful to have been friends with Colin and Vince. The years gone by certainly put it all in perspective. Second official thought... it was a lot of fun. There were a lot of great people around, and it's cool to see all the pictures.

Other than that... dear vast and mighty internet, indexer of all things, appearing on my phone, connecting the un-connected, friending the un-friended, index this! Yow!

[Note: There is also one song by Chisel included with this BCV set. Mostly because it was on the same tape, and also recorded at the Skybuster Jones show. It's a crackin' good medley of BCV songs: "Spectacles/Crunchy Lunch/Wizards." Need I to say anything more?]


see also:
Brian, Colin and Vince on MySpace
V/A - Incubus 1993: ND Music Compilation
Chisel vs. Brian, Colin and Vince - Spectacles/One in Ten 7"
Brian, Colin and Vince - Just Trying To Help

Braid - Live at the Canary House - 13 December 1997

This was the second visit to South Bend for the Chicago, Milwaukee and Champaign based Braid, following a show at Clifford the Big Red House a year earlier (show #175 for Braid, according to complete Braid show list -- the Canary House show was #309), when they played with Chisel Drill Hammer from Iowa, The Fold from Chicago, and The Cuba Five. In '97, Braid visited the Canary House (aka the little yellow house at 610 N. St. Peter) on the way to Washington, DC, where they would record their third album, Frame and Canvas at Inner Ear Studios. Not surprisingly, over half of the set is songs from that album (including "Never Will Come For Us", not shown on the setlist). Florida Evans and The Butterfly Effect opened, along with Chicago's 90 Day Men, who were also returning visitors to the Bend.

The basement at the Canary House was one large, unfinished room the size of the entire house, which made it an ideal show space. Use of the unenclosed toilet attached to one wall was optional. Colored light bulbs and strings of Christmas lights gave the place a bit of atmosphere. The PA setup was a bit dodgier, with the speakers propped up on boxes and shelves. It was not a singer-friendly setup.


Inspired by the excellent treatment emiLy received at Knox College, we liked to cook meals for visiting bands, which helped evenings get off to a friendly, relaxed start. Aside from bands with ND alumni, Braid drew the most out-of-towners to shows. Some were friends from Chicago who drove the hour and 45 minutes, others were South Bend natives who came back to town for the occasion. Ultimately I think that's a reflection of the sort of loyalty and dedication bands like Braid seemed to elicit from friends and fans. Heck, I saw them a dozen or so times in the space of two years in four different cities. It also explains the inside jokes and friendly heckling you can hear on the tape.


My favorite memory of the night was before any music got played. Ben Barnett, who was traveling with Braid, pointed at a drawing by my friend Ian (who turned out to be our mutual friend) on the refrigerator door and got very excited as he was planning to get a tattoo of the same drawing. We got to talking and he explained that he had a band called Kind of Like Spitting and asked if he could play a short solo set during the night, which he did. A few years later, I ran into Ben out in Portland. He said that he looked back on that night in South Bend as his break, as it led to Braid asking him to play again the next night and later taking the full-band version of K.O.L.S. on tour. (Listen for Bob's dedication "This is for Ben!" at the beginning of "What A Wonderful Puddle!")


From what I remember, this was recorded by Ron Garcia with a single room mic, as were the majority of the live shows soon to come via SBP90s.

download:
Braid - Live at the Canary House - 12/13/1997

see also:
Braid on Facebook
Unofficial MySpace
Twitter: @braidcentral
Studio recordings available from Polyvinyl Records

Severinsen - SNUBBED! by incubus 1993 + Bonus Live

In 1993, Severinsen recorded a couple songs at Miami Street Studio, with the impression that one of them would be included on the incubus 1993 ND campus band compilation. Yet for some reason, the band was eventually excluded from the CD. This EP, affectionately dubbed "SNUBBED! by incubus 1993," represents those studio recordings, as well as a couple extra live tracks we dug up from the show we previously posted.


MIKE:

This was my first time recording with John Nuner at Miami Street. (I'd go on to record at least two other mega sessions with emiLy). Nervous as heck but I'm happy with the way I played and the way we sounded. Nuner was a nice guy and easy to work with.

I'm pretty sure we recorded the basics for 3 songs (another one in addition to "Limber/Sorry" and "My Greatest Fear") but only kept/overdubbed/finished those two.

Singing the backup vocals to "My Greatest Fear" with Colin and Eric was much fun.

"Limber/Sorry" was and still is my favorite Severinsen song to play and to listen to. I'm very happy we have a nice studio version of this.

Somebody (can't remember who) told me later that both of these songs were rejected from the incubus CD because Chris was already represented in Chisel and Colin was already represented in Brian, Colin, and Vince. Which to this day still seems incredibly unfair to Eric and myself, but so it goes. SNUBBED!, indeed.

I'm not sure how we started doing the PJ Harvey cover with Kate Babka, but it was always a blast. And the Kylie song always made me laugh. It is about Kylie Minogue, isn't it? When I would hear her techno stuff years later (1999-2001 or so), anytime I saw her on VH1 on directTV or something, the line "Kylie's got a crush on us" would pop into my head.



ERIC:

I remember Colin having to stand on top of his amp in the studio to prevent the horrible vibration it produced from being recorded. Then I remember actual vocal track takes being produced in the bathroom to produce that "natural reverb"effect. The last minute decision to provide backup vocals on "My Greatest Fear" was just hilarious. Good times.

Then of course there was the incubus snub. I was probably the most affected by it, because I didn't have another band on the compilation, and I was a senior, so there would be no second chance. I remember getting my copy and giving it a chance, listening through all the tracks to hear why our recordings were not included. I was a genuine fan of many of the bands that were included (as a sidebar, I was so impressed with Bother, I asked them to play at our house during Zep Fest. The lead singer, James Kennedy, almost got into a fight with some of the people at the party because the band wanted to play during the NCAA Final Four basketball game on the TV. We eventually had to hide James in the basement to prevent him from getting hurt. So punk!!) When I heard the last forgettable track on the CD - "Punch the Clown" by The Porkchoppers (so forgettable, I had to look it up) I fully realized what a snub it was. The last song was so horrible, it turned into another valuable life lesson that you only get in college - in the music business, it's who you know. As I recall, the Porkchoppers were friends with the producers of the CD.

Our luck seemed to follow us around as we were the only band at the battle of the bands in the top 10 that played on the "student run" stage. All the other bands in the top 10 played on the stage that was engineered by professionals. The student engineers didn't even notice I was singing the last song of the set until halfway through the song when Meghan King of The Sister Chain fame yelled at them to turn up my microphone. The fact that we still got 5th made me wonder how well we could have done on the other stage.

I remember taking a recording studio class the year after graduation and bringing a copy of these recordings we made in for show and tell. I was the only brave soul in the whole class. Everyone commented how they wished they could hear the vocals better and that they were lost in the mix. I lamented at the time that I sort of wished the same, but I also recall that was somewhat intentional.



CHRIS:

I seem to recall that the engineer, John Nuner, had some funny turns of phrase. "Put it in the can," maybe? Something like that? His studio had a strange, fly by night feel to it. I always assumed it was a front for some shady dealings. But Nuner was (and hopefully still is) a good guy.

As for the songs, I love Colin's and cringe at mine. L/S was the beginning of great things for Colin - he wrote in that vein for the next ten years or so, shoegazing with the best of them. The lyrics of MGF are inexplicable. I hope no one thinks they're autobiographical. Thank god for the backup vocals, which add the only levity to an otherwise super creepy song.



COLIN:

Did John Nuner have a palm tree for a logo? I was always confused by the Miami moniker.

I think we all generally had a positive experience during the sessions. I think we recorded 2 songs because we couldn't decide whether to use one of Chris' songs or one of mine - and we were not the primary songwriters in the other bands we were in. Our idea was to give the incubus folks both songs and let them pick which one they wanted to use. I don't think it occurred to us at the time that they might go with the third option - neither! Yikes! And yeah, I recall that we were led to believe that we were excluded because of Chris and I already being on there with Chisel and Brian, Colin and Vince - but I didn't have the same problem of not being able to separate the various acts in my mind.

I'm not particularly bitter about it now, but I remember feeling slighted - Severinsen was a really important band to me. I see now that we were still learning what we were even doing, but at the time we were feeling like ND music scene veterans - playing regular gigs on and off campus and such.

When I decided to make my own compilation cassette release, Shameless, on my label Sudden Shame I put BOTH of the Severinsen songs on there -- is that why so many bands got 2 songs each? Ahahaha!

As a studio newbie, I remember trying to make cool sounds and used a cassette case to do amateur slide work up and down the neck.

I'm definitely glad we made these recordings, even though they were snubbed. We knew they we good!

As far as the bonus live material goes, we were playing "Sheila na Gig" because Chris had become a massive PJ Harvey fan on his semester abroad - and he also came back to the states with a cassette that had "Kylie's Got a Crush on Us" as performed by Teenage Fanclub (but written by the BMX Bandits). So we just loved playing those songs. I remember going to see PJ play in Chicago with Chris and waiting outside afterwards to say hi! And last year I got to see both of those bands live at the same festival (Indietracks), but neither one played that song. If they had, it would likely have blown my mind!

Did we start having Kate sing on "Sheila" because we wanted to help her get into Club 23 (underage) or was it just because we thought it would be a fun thing to do? I can't remember. Maybe Chris started feeling weird about singing it (as a boy?) and wanted to get some estrogen injected back into it. I could make up theories all day long, but Kate might be the best person to ask for the real answer! A couple months ago I was playing a show in a bar in Montpelier, VT, and my friends band that we were playing with did a cover of that song, too! Boy did it bring back memories all over again.

"Belly up!" That's another blast from the past! So glad to be reminded that this song ever existed. The recording quality is waaay rough, but I'm just glad to hear enough of it to spark my memories.

listen/download:


see also:
Severinsen on MySpace
incubus 1993 compilation

Obstruction - Live at Clifford

Haha! I didn't even remember that someone had recorded that show! Wow, good times. I guess everyone was just too nice to tell me how bad I sucked on drums those days!

Actually, "Eyesore" was a pretty good rendition, we always played that one well and "Holy Martyr" rocked!

Man, my timing was horrible! I think I was playing in another time zone on "Underscore" at the end there. Haha.

Once again, our best song and crowd favorite "Gunshot" seemed to always stand out from the rest. I especially liked it when I hit my cymbal so hard it flew off the stand towards the end of the song! Now that was some serious hardcore! Who was that trying to put it back on, Doug? Pretty funny.

Those were the good ol' days boys!! When is the reunion show!?

--Andy Yang

-------------

We look so young and shiny, like we have our whole rock and roll futures ahead of us!

I didn't realize that I roll my eyes every time I mess up lyrics, that's hilarious.

Bah, who needs timing when you have hardcore? I love how the verses in "Underscore" feel like we're rushing because we're late for a hanging or something and then the chorus has this laid back almost ska feel to it.

On explaining the songs: I wasn't the most eloquent public speaker. Good thing my job was to bellow our lyrics.

The darkness and dinginess captures the feel of a basement show really nicely.

Yeah, that was Doug futzing with the cymbal. Andy you were rocking it hard! We should have set our instruments on fire (if only we could afford new ones)!

It was such a blast playing in that band with two of my best friends to this day!

--Hardcore Ron

-------------

I'd have to agree with what Chris O always says about too many bands making the mistake of talking too much between songs. But with a set that could be played straight through in only around 10 minutes, I think we were sorta trying to string things out a little. Ah well...

I love seeing Ron rage on the mic, and watching Andy beat the drums into submission. The guitar work here is, as usual, somewhat regrettable. But whatever-- punk rock! Obstruction GO!!!

So cool that this video exists!

--Ted Hennessy


see also:
Obstruction - One Step Closer
Obstruction on MySpace
follow @SBP90s on twitter

Comeuppance - Live at the Pre-Nuptial Bash

Our first show was at Bronwyn and Ted’s engagement party at St. Peter Street. We dressed in our finest and nervously took our places on stage. Justin Mitchell graciously let me use his amp and set it up for me. We played four songs, which went by in a blur but for a moment in “Madeleine” when I had to hit the distortion pedal: the worry of finding the right pedal in the dark, stabbing at it with my toe and half-missing, then relief at hearing the piercing sound – and astonishment and thrill that I was actually playing guitar onstage in a band and not falling to utter pieces.

--Allison Rigo

listen/download:


see also:
Comeuppance on MySpace
Comeuppance - Tally Ho!

Faye, Leslie, and Shelley - Live at Clifford

I am so glad that we were able to participate in the scene and do so with our very own style and sound - without feeling that we had to emulate any of the other bands that were there. I am glad as well that people gave us a listen, and for the most part were respectful of the fact that we were just doing our own thing. How awesome for this suburban housewife to have some video of me hanging around where I am playing in a band at Clifford the Big Red House, with two smart as hell, outspoken, wonderful women - not to mention the times when Zoe played with us as well - another smart as hell wonderful lady.

Thank you to whoever recorded that moment in my life [ed. it was Roger] - and thank you Ted for putting it into the ether forever...

--Leslie



see also:
Faye, Leslie, and Shelley - Demo Recordings
Faye, Leslie, and Shelley on MySpace

twitter: @SBP90s

Ted Leo - "Innocents Abroad" (Chisel) live on WFMU 3/2/2010

Last night, Ted Leo made his latest in a series of recurring appearances on The Best Show on WFMU with Tom Sharpling, during their annual fund drive. Aside from playing a few solo versions of songs from his forthcoming album, The Brutalist Bricks, and a couple goofy covers, Ted whipped out an old Chisel classic... "Innocents Abroad." As Ted explains, he actually had to download the lyrics from the internet, to refresh his memory after not having played the tune in about 13 years!

Well, it sounded as good as ever, and was certainly a special treat for all the old-school Chisel fans out there. We've procured an MP3 of the cut for you, so check it out!

Ted Leo (solo) - "Innocents Abroad"

Additionally, you can stream the entire show by clicking here.

UPDATE! Video footage of the performance has popped up on YouTube:



follow Ted: @tedleo
follow us! @SBP90s