This gem comes to us courtesy of John D. (Chisel, Edsel, etc.), and is quite the early 90's rarity. A big thanks to John for hooking us up!
The music of Teenage Dope Slaves could be described as noisy, discordant indie punk, at times with Slint-y spoken vocals, ranging all the way up to some nicely distorted howls. In this band, we find John stepping away from the skins and instead handling guitar and vocal duties. TDS also featured Dennis McN. on bass and vocals, and Jeff J. on drums, vocals, "tape junk" and samples. Dennis apparently went on to become head writer at Saturday Night Live. Cool.
Here's what John had to say about TDS:
"Originally a four-track band project. We were supposed to play a show but I was punched in the face by some neighborhood wannabee gang banger during a party at the house and we canceled."The cassette was recorded in December of 1991 at the Rokkhouse on Joe C's 4-track, and is noted as Rokkhouse 001.
listen/download:
see also:
Teenage Dope Slaves on MySpace
(Rokkhouse photo shamelessly swiped from Facebook -- thanks Jeff!)
Awesome. Welcome to the blog, Dugan.
ReplyDeleteNice job, John. Let the record show that the address of the Rokkhouse was 919 South Bend Avenue, which was demolished in 1992 or 1993 and is now home to a few evergreen trees.
ReplyDelete-- Jeff the bassist
"Jeff the bassist?!?!?" It says right there, and memory confirms, that you were in fact the drummer, dude! I think you're thinking of Two Dollar Piece. Plus I remember you enthusing about learning the drum part for "Unbelievable." (Who wouldn't have?)
ReplyDeleteYeah Jeff, you were playing the drums—my drums in fact, which were stolen from the house a few months later when the summer renters abandoned it.
ReplyDeleteDrums...bass...my mind was clouded by alcohol at the time, much like it is today. I still have two copies of the cassette: one with a yellow cover and one with the green cover. Heck, I may even have the original artwork that I assembled with glue and copy paper somewhere.
ReplyDeleteI found some of my old notes and you can download a flyer for TDS here.
ReplyDeletei can't believe I'll get to hear death spa in my van! you, sirs, have made my day!
ReplyDeleteAh ha ha! I just found this site.
ReplyDelete"Plank" - heavy duty.
Other notes -
Dennis has done well for himself, dang. Guess I shoulda stayed in touch...
OK, Dugan, which band did "Suitcase Friend"? Post that shit.
How does one "rip" tapes? I'm looking at you, Snowi Springs/Yam Soap cassette.
I suppose someday I should figure out how to digitize my film project that featured John D and Ted L on the soundtrack, playing along with the movie on the spot (Ted did one run through on bass, then the next on guitar). Though at what point does "rarity" cross over into "who gives a crap?"
Did any Severinsen tracks survive?
Gerard Cosloy is still very much alive.