THE GALS ARE BACK IN TOWN! In the mid-1980’s The Del Rubio Triplets became an overnight success-after 40 years of playing around the world, being chased by Abbott and Costollo, opening for Victor Borge and entertaining in every Nursing Home in Southern California! Three Gals Three Guitars made The Del Rubio Triplets household names-if your household happened to be in Hollywood-during the mid to late 1980’s The look-alike sisters went from the D- list to opening clubs from Tokyo to Brussels; they appeared with everyone from John Waters to Nathan Lane. At the height of their career Millie, Eadie and Elena were everywhere. They showed up on TV shows like Married With Children, Night Court and The Golden Girls. They did a classic turn by singing “Walkin’ In A Winter Wonderland” for Pee Wee Herman’s 1988 Christmas Special. They became the Queens of Kitsch and icons for outsiders who didn’t quite fit into the typical mold of pop glamour and pre-packaged talent. We here at dadastic! central are pleased to be able to offer the original 12” vinyl recording of the ladies’ first album. The treats on Three Gals, Three Guitars include standards like Besamo Mucho to The Neutron Dance and Walk Like an Egyptian…all performed in that inimitable Del Rubio style that made them the Queens of 80’s Kitsch. Go-go boots, hot pants, good cheer and unlikely covers by The Del Rubio Triplets make this collectors item. This LP is from the first, original 1988 vinyl pressing on Cabazon Records.
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LISTEN TO 'WALK LIKE AN EGYPTIAN' BY THE DEL RUBIO TRIPLETS

GIVE US SOME SLACK! According to the original press release “Bigger than Breakfast is the 1988 debut album by Slack, a white funk quartet from Portland, Oregon. The album conjures an 11-song spell pulled from rap, fusion, punk, psychedelia, jazz, and croquet. Put an Oregon moontan on a skateboard, give it a dance beat and a groove so scorchin' it can dehydrate a fern bar, and you've drafted Slack. From the comedic temporary amnesia of "Brain Toast" to the tater-tot frustration of "Out to Lunch" to the gentle contemplation of "Spiders," Slack's varied stand-up attacked not only shoots to your soul, it could alter your DNA“. Bigger than Breakfast was the first LP produced by trombonist Bruce Fowler, a veteran of Captain Beefheart and Frank Zappa’s recording and performing bands. It’s a perfect antidote for those who pine for the days when alt/funk/jazz was fueled by erratic horns and clumsy lyrics instead of highly polished synthetic, soul-less sounds. Slack were indisputable masters of the kind of sweaty, alcohol-fueled live sets that often resulted in hangovers and poor choices in sex partners. Listening to Bigger Than Breakfast might not result in a trip to rehab or the free-clinic, but it captures the essence of whiteboy frat-funk perfectly. When that sound is combined with Fowler’s detailed attention to absurdist horn sections and jarring dance-beats, the result is explosive. The album is available once again on classic vinyl, or as digital downloads, ready to be heard in all it’s glorious, vibrant, chaotic splendor!”

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LISTEN TO 'WHERE'S THE BEAT' FROM SLACK'S 'BIGGER THAN BREAKFAST'

DANCING DOWN CIVILIZATION Suppose Nino Rota got drunk with John Phillip Sousa in the back room of a Hollywood soundstage. Suppose they're joined by a couple of organ grinders from a failed traveling acrobatics troupe. Suppose they pick up an Asian chanteuse at the corner dive, and together stagger home to drink, sing, and dance till the light of dawn. The music produced from such a meeting of the minds (or mindless debauchery) might describe The Fibonaccis, a headshrinkin' espresso-fueled ensemble equal parts Berlin cabaret, Sicilian dirge, and hip-shakin' Watusi mating ritual. Hard to label? Yep. Hard to enjoy? Never! The Fibonaccis, who swiped their name from a thirteenth-century Italian mathematician, molded disparate exotic tastes into an act of musical chicanery, pleasing but deceiving to the eye and ear. Twenty-two years after it’s original release, their ground-breaking Civilization and It’s Discotheques sounds as confoundingly ahead-of-it’s time as ever. Make no mistake, this was no ordinary sideshow-barking gang of geeks. This was a band with entrails. Return to the future with one of the most remarkable underground bands of the 1980’s with this classic slab of vinyl. The Fibonaccis' traveling carnival will take the detour to your town, and hold you open-mouthed and spellbound with their sprightly tales and twisted oompahpah.

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GNARLENE PULLS A FAST ONE The muddy Duwamish River runs through South Park, a grimy down-and out neighborhood south of Seattle. The river pulls chemical and industrial sludge from up-river as it passes through. The slow-moving water’s chemical content probably accounts for the oddball behavior of Gnarlene, one of one of South Parks oddest behaving residents.

Gnarlene is proudly gay and/or lesbian and strives to confuse your gender conceptions and bedazzle your fashion senses. He combines black levis and Chuck Taylor’s with pink wiggage and jewel-encrusted sweater creations. So what music do you expect from this bearded, pink-haired former radical faerie? Striesand? Lady Gaga? Show tunes? Fuck you. How about metal with trashy Doll-esque licks, lyrics and looks? Gnarlene is the perverted offspring of post-grunge and punk rock bathed in the unholy waters of faggotry. Gnarlene even throws in a bit of Country-Western and twee folk music just to fuck-up the mix. Maybe it's the PCB's. Maybe it's the heavy metals. Maybe it’s the cool, artistic vibe that permeates the area, that causes it to reek with wanton self-expression. Whatever it is, South Park has provided the inspiration for Gnarlene’s best work to date. Blood & Treasure is her sophomore (and sophomoric) release and it rocks really hard. The album is filled with catchy punk/pop as well as a few totally unexpected turns. Recorded at Self-Adhesive Records in Fremont/Seatttle by Jon Goff and mastered by Barry, it combines the best traditions of Seattle rock with the vision only a queer lost among rockers is capable of. Think Mudhoney meets Flight of the Conchords meets gay Frankenstein. The music can be just as raw as it is polished, but Gnarlene has made poverty a virtue. The video clip of Blood & Treasure’s first single She’s Got A Fast One was made for less than forty bucks and it shows. It couldn’t be more perfect if it cost a couple million and was directed by George Lucas. Gnarlene is backed by old geezers, escapes from a rent-a-cop with a squirt gun a his prop and drives away in one hell of an art car!

This is fun stuff…but it’s dangerous too. Blood & Treasure defies easy categorization. It’s aggressive but not angst driven. It’s not simpering queer-core by a long shot. You might do some head-banging on one song and scratch it and wonder during the next. It’s music from an outsider that prefers to be there. It’s juvenile, puerile, and totally rockin'…just how it’s meant to be.

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Watch 'She's Got A Fast One' by Gnarlene

ANGIE BOWIE’S AIDS BEGONE CD TO FEATURE GARY HEFFERN & CHARLES 'UPCHUCK' GERRA Songs from Gary Heffern and Charles ‘Upchuck’ Gerra will be included on the upcoming AIDS BEGONE CD being coordinated by the legendary pop icon Angie Bowie. (I Am Your) Destroyer from Heffern’s album ‘Consolation’ and (It’s) Five O’Clock from the album Upchuck: Gone But Not Forgiven are green-lit to be included on the charity CD. Both the Heffern and Upchuck CD’s are available through dadastic! sounds, a Seattle-based label and boutique distributor headed up by Dennis R. White.

Last week Ms. Bowie told San Diego online journal Che Underground: “ (I Am Your) Destroyer is a fascinating lyric with a Jekyll-and-Hyde quality. Knowing that destruction can be both constructive and renewing. That being a destroyer may also open up an avenue for new feelings, love and emotions that could not exist with old tradition and prejudice. It’s a great song!” The song (It’s) Five O’Clock was the final recording of legendary Seattle performer Charles “Upchuck” Gerra who died of AIDS in 1990. Gerra and his band Such recorded the song with noted engineer/mixer/producer John Holbrook just as the toll of his illness began to end his remarkable career. The song is a bitter-sweet reflection on life as it begins to turn toward it’s end.

Angie Bowie is hosting a cyber party on Dec. 22 when “a party of friends from around the world will meet and greet in cyberspace. … AIDS BEGONE is a party to celebrate the AIDS BEGONE fund drive to accredited AIDS charities. … The songs and poems, photos and artwork contributed by friends and artists to help raise money and awareness in the fight against AIDS. The AIDS BEGONE website is due to open soon. “The project was spontaneous,” she says. “Giovanni Perini, a friend from Italy, suggested we do a musical track to memorialize the Dec. 1st World AIDS day. He sent me a sample he had written, and then it snowballed from there.” According to Bowie, the blog that the party format is intended to educate and empower participants. “We know our children need to be educated. We know our prisons need to be reformed and become re-education centers for those wounded in society’s rough and tumble, we know everyone should have enough to eat and health care so they can live satisfying lives … And yet instead of employing the resources available through the UN and other international agencies, we do not participate as individuals enough to demonstrate the value of citizens of the Planet Earth. “Unified, concerted cooperation can move mountains, divert lava floes and find cure for disease. Let’s harness our diversity, creativity and scientific clout to conquer this tiresome virus. If we can defeat fascism, we can kill a bloody virus and save the lives of millions of humans.”

The accompanying CD will represent a mix of languages and cultures, she said: “One of the pleasures of travel is the music of language. We shall program the CDs with the music as it arrives, and thus there will be a chronological history of involvement that we can be proud of on the day we accomplish our mission. “I am committed. I am on the down slope of life running towards the winning post. I want to bequeath something useful for all my efforts and if this is a reason for which to be remembered, I will be content!” In that spirit, dadastic! sounds encourages our friend to join the AIDS BEGONE cause: Send Angie Bowie an e-mail to learn how you can contribute! Meanwhile, pick up your very own copy of Gary Heffern’s CD ‘Consolation‘. The disc features performances by Alejandro Escovedo, Steve Berlin of Los Lobos; Peter Case; members of the Walkabouts; and more.

Upchuck: Gone But Not Forgiven includes 10 tracks by the influential singer/performer that cover his entire career; from his early glam-punk days as front man for Clone, to his final incarnation as Charles Garish. According to author Charles R. Cross, the CD “ finally sets right one of the lost chapters in Seattle's pre-grunge music era. Essential for anyone who loves punk rock, glam rock, or just groundbreaking music of any genre." Proceeds from Upchuck: Gone But Not Forgiven also go to a charitable AIDS education cause.

THE AIDS BEGONE CD IS NOW AVAILABE. CLICK HERE!

GARY HEFFERN GIVES CONSOLATION There's an Elvis Costello song called “Man Out of Time” and that title is always one I’ve thought applicable to Gary Heffern. His voice, his pensive songs, and his outsized personality suggest a simpler and earlier era. Like the struggling men and women in the short stories of Raymond Carver, or the figures sitting at diner stools in the paintings of Edward Hopper, the characters in Heffern’s songs exist in a noir-ish netherworld of an uncertain time but one that surely is not ours. They drift and struggle in a place where the simple concept of consolation exists as a salvation.

Heffern is a songwriter’s songwriter, which is one of the reasons his work has always commanded so much respect from other musicians. Many stellar names contribute to Consolation including musicians from such noteworthy bands as the Screaming Trees, Young Fresh Fellows, Love Battery, Walkabouts, Built to Spill, Motels, Mad Season, and Tuatara, among others. Even when Heffern is singing with Alejandro Escovedo or Mark Lanegan, both of whom take vocal turns here, these collaborations come off as a further explorations of the Heffern’s worldview.

Nine of the thirteen songs here are Heffern originals but even the four covers have a melancholy. On “All His Children” Heffern takes a forgotten song from the over-looked film “Sometimes a Great Notion,” and turns it into an anthem of longing. Considering that Heffern’s voice is at times reminiscent of both Johnny Cash and Nick Cave, it is no surprise to see him take on a Merle Travis song, or to take a refrain from Gram Parsons. Still, Heffern’s cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “Growin’ Up” is such a re-imagining that it now sounds like it came off Nebraska rather than Springsteen’s 1973 debut.

In Heffern’s own songs there is a constant struggle between darkness and light, between failed dreams and reckless prayer, between a world where all hope is lost and one where a consoling friend offers a sliver of deliverance. Even on a song as haunting as “(I Am Your) Destroyer,” which sounds like Iggy Pop could have written it, there is still a core of sweetness among the ruins. “That’s the Beauty (Of the Little Things in Life)” truly rings with a ghost: It was written in Seattle’s Comet Tavern on the very night that Gits’ singer Mia Zapata went missing (and later turned up murdered). Not only a remarkable time piece, “That’s the Beauty” demonstrates Heffern’s skill at creating a story arc that celebrates the fragility of life at the same time it bemoans it. It’s the kind of re-framing that is uniquely Gary Heffern and part of what makes Consolation a career-defining album. Charles R. Cross

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SEE THE VIDEO TO LA LA LAND

BY GARY HEFFERN

NANCY JEPHCOTE: SCHOOLING THE I-POD GENERATION TO LISTEN "I'm not setting out to start a career," says Nancy Jephcote. "I made the CD to honor what I was given. Every gift you have comes at a price. If a certain area of your life is compelling to you, you have to limit other areas of your life. "Garland of Rain" is an anthology of her career, and she admits to having spent much time and energy over the last two years designing a CD that would completely satisfy her.

In making the CD, Ms. Jepchote traveled from her long-time Martha's Vineyard home to Texas to do the recording with a long-time friend of hers, Tom Prasada- Rao. She describes the recording process as a perfect meeting of the minds. In the recording process, Ms. Jepchote, who was raised in a family of classical musicians, was able to play multiple instruments on a single track, painstakingly polishing the performances until they had arrived at a finished product.

The effect is orchestral. "Garland of Rain" is a two-disc set, each 35 to 40 minutes long. The songs sound full and nuanced. Ms. Jepchote has a wonderful voice that slides harmoniously through the songs.

Ms. Jepchote has made her living teaching music, both privately and throughout the Island school system. Thoughtful and considered as she speaks, she lights up when she describes teaching music: "Music is magical in its ability to bypass the brain and reach a person inside. It can really help people's hearts. When teaching, I would think, 'Who is this person, what's important to them, and how can I help them reach it.' Whether or not the music was their real goal, working with music could help them reach it."

With her emphasis on teaching comes a willingness to learn. "We are learning from the young how to be connected in this day and age," she says. "With the realm of computers, the way music is being listened to has changed greatly in just the last couple of years."

The Vineyard community has changed since Ms. Jepchote started playing on the Island, but its appreciation of live music remains. "I miss the sense that the Wintertide brought in the winter," speaking of the former coffeehouse in Vineyard Haven, "but we still have events such as potlucks and fundraisers that capture that energy. There is a certain joy in seeing your friends and neighbors performing. In many places people don't have that."

Perhaps the most frustrating thing about music with such richness, is trying to tack it into a genre.

"Music is freer than genres," says Ms. Jepchote. "They don't ask visual artists, 'What genre is that painting?' But you have to associate. Folk is a vast area, and this falls into it somewhere. There is rock influence, Latin influence... We carefully arranged the order of the tracks. The goal was to make something unique, make it sound like good music."

"I was told that no one listens to whole CD's anymore, that they take the songs they like and put them in an iPod on shuffle," Ms. Jephcote says. "I'm from a different generation. I like sitting down and listening to a CD, so I made my CD to the standards that I have and feel fulfilled for it."

The music has a refined, resilient energy, a fullness that comes with the life experience of its creator and reflects her positivity that has come from hardship. "There are a lot of health quandaries that can hold people back, times when your life is shaping you rather than you it," Ms. Jephcote says. "I've learned not to take any degree of health for granted. When I was healthy enough to do this project, I realized I had no excuse not to, late as it feels like in my life."

Having made a conscious choice to live a fulfilling life, Ms. Jephcote says, "It is much easier to observe loss than it is to observe improvement and wealth. We have to practice gratitude. We have to be able to turn our attention to what we want to grow. To recognize what's good, and not get stuck in what isn't."

Ben Williams, The Martha's Vineyard Times.

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LISTEN TO 'ROBERT' & 'WALK ON'

BY NANCY JEPHCOTE

FROM PATAGONIA TO BUENOS AIRES AND NOW TO THE USA. OTHERNESS ARE GOING PLACES. OTHERNESS is a quirky alt/rock band that made their way from the furthest reaches of Argentina's Patagonia to Buenos Aires four years ago. Since then they have worked constantly, recording, playing. and touring. Now the hard work has begun to pay off with notice in their adopted city and as far away as London Seattle and New York . Their first South American CD titled Lite 2007 released in sold out almost immediately. A video of one of the CD's songs Once Begop went into rotation on MuchMusic Latin America. Now the band have set their sites on bringing their special brand of techno-punk to the US and Europe. It's a goal brothers Gonzalo and Martin Cativa have had since their days growing up in the cold desolate landscape of Comodoro Rivadavia Argentina. While growing up Martin and Gonzalo Cativa and Adrian Bersais took comfort in the fact that some of their musical heroes- Leadbelly, Arthur Alexander, Kurt Cobain-were able to escape the gloomy confines of dull grey backgrounds that offered very little future. Comodoro Rivadavia was a boom town gone bust in the 1990's. There was little time or opportunity to put into dreams of becoming rock musicians. But their drive led them to uncover the music of Nirvana, John Lennon, Elvis Costello and the Argentine grand master of tango, Astor Piazzolla. Paying careful attention to the craft of artists like these has helped Martin and Gonzalo Cativa to become the authors of hundreds of catchy, exciting songs that are entirely the product of their own talents. Along the way the three created their own sort of manifesto. It has become an outline of the way they view life in the 21st Century. The basics of this include observations such as; • The pilgrim needs to travel, if he stops he can die at the hands of what he considers the final learning-or perhaps adoration. • Everyone is addicted to something. • What is achieved with drugs can be obtained by other means. • Explore alternative knowledge. • Human beings are simply sexual. • Marriage is an obsolete institution that died in the 20th century. And just for good measure; • "El sexo y el dolor firman la identidad de la carne" - W. Burroughs If this makes the band sound like earnest young idealists, the fact is they are also full of fun and a sense of wonder. There's a sense of hope and positivity in their music and lyrics that make them seem ...well....happy. The addition of drummer Pablito Gaggioni in 2008 has rounded out the band and given the extra drive they had been looking for. They have made a commitment to write and perform their songs in English which goes against the current trend in Argentine rock. These days Argentine pop seems a bit doctrinaire in it's insistence to be sung in Spanish when in fact most of it is nothing more than a re-hash of older British and English sounds. The sound Otherness has created doesn't even fit easily into today's pop music pigeon-holes. It's a quirky, upbeat sound that pays serious attention to the tradition of intelligent pop music. It also honors sounds like the traditional choros of Northern Argentina and Brazil, as well as the tango...a tradition that rose out of the Buenos Aires slums to become one of the most recognizable musical genres in the world. The members of Otherness show great deference to the master of Tango, Astor Piazzolla, but never overuse the style . Thus avoiding the pitfall of sounding like twee "world music". They are the furthest thing one imagines from musical archeologists. In fact, the August 2009 issue of London's Rock Pulse says:

"A fresh new rock group from Argentina are hitting the American and British music scene with their quirky and fun sound. Their name; Otherness. They have recently released their new single digitally. Containing the tracks Adorable and Pill-grim. They are an interesting four piece, sounding unlike anything I've heard before. Mellow and fiesty songs with a hint of electro. I love the vocals and rhythm that seems to come so easily to them, without trying too hard to impress. Otherness have passion and dedication and truly sound brilliant! Their first US tour is sure to be a success..." Their first US album is being released on the eve of a tour that will take them across North America for the first time. It will fulfill a dream of following the spiritual journey of great American travellers like John Stienbeck and Jack Kerouac and fellow Argentinean Che' Guevara. The CD is being released by Seattle independent label dadastic! Sounds and includes eight new songs as well as Once Begop the hit from their debut album The CD is scheduled for release October 13th 2009. It will be available directly though the dadastic! sounds website at www.dadastic.com. As well as amazon.com, CD Baby, i-tunes and many other download sites worldwide. Check out the band's video of ONCE BEGOP.

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ONCE BEGOP by OTHERNESS

STUDENT NURSE SAYS: STAND UP STRAIGHT! By 1981 Student Nurse were a mainstay on the alterative Seattle scene. Their angular, slightly dissonant and dancey sound set them aside from the darker, the punkier, or the heavier bands they shared bills with. The best of their contemporaries honed-in on their sound. Student Nurse expanded outward, sending the band on a trajectory headed somewhere between subversion and art-damage. The jittery guitars of Helena Rogers, Tom Boettcher and Eric Muhs stood just a little out front of Johnny Rubato’s jazz-influenced understated drumming. Helena’s Roger’s singing was disjointed, pointillist and determined.
The band put out the mutantly delightful “Disco Dog” as well as “As Seen on TV”, a one-sided EP with cover art hand-screened by Rogers. This is the kind of stuff collectors drool over nowadays, but Student Nurse wasn’t interested in the pre-manufactured collectible market that would later be a trademark of other Seattle artists and labels. For them the art was part of the ethic.
In early ‘81 Student Nurse entered Triangle Studios to record two sides for Pravda Records. The choice of songs seems odd…both had a real pop element to them. But both were still subversive. The A side ‘Recht Op Staan’ was sung in a foreign language and the B side “Electronic Pop Smash’ was devoid of the synth sound that was becoming so popular at the time. Just as odd was the choice of producer, David Javelosa of NYC/LA techno jokers Los Microwaves. But dig a little closer and it’s apparent this was definitely an inside job. Two and a half decades later, it’s a lot easier to see just how the band sought to subvert even the most accessible music they could muster up.
Although the band was fairly democratic, onstage Student Nurse belonged to Helena Rogers. Skinny but not a bit frail looking with piercing silver eyes with Phranc-ish hair. All shouts and smiles. Totally Lesbo-chic before Lesbo-chic was chic. She provided the caffeinated energy that led to them onto many of the best local bills of the era. They didn’t seem to mind that local promoters were unlikely to choose them as openers for touring acts. The were too oddball. Too difficult to pigeonhole. And let’s face it; promoters were scared by Helena Rogers butch dynamic.
Student Nurse didn’t spend time calculating what would have been best for their career. Otherwise they never would have released this single. The title ‘Recht Op Staan’ is Dutch for ‘stand up straight’. The song’s lyrics extol the benefits of good posture. Not a likely way to get attention from the American indie audience at the time, but ‘Recht Op Staan’ is a bit of a collectors item these days. In fact all of Student Nurse’s vinyl releases go for a fair amount of cash. A recent Seattle citing of ‘Recht Op Staan’ had an asking price of $28. If you’re after a copy of their EP or of Disco Dog be prepared to spend more. Likewise, many of the silk-screens that came out of Rogers silkscreen/design studio during the 1980’s are in demand. Posters for shows by Audio Leter, The Fags, Red Dress as well as their own are easier to appreciate these days. Like Student Nurse’s music, they are shiny examples of being the unknowing architects of the future.

LISTEN TO 'RECHT OP STAAN' BY STUDENT NURSE

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THE SPECTATORS: BUGGIN' OUT WITH THE DARK LORDS OF SURF/SPY/BAD ACID

They did less than 20 gigs. They only played about 15 songs live. But their reputation has grown so much over the past three decades that musicians who were just kids when the band played have heard of them. I saw their first gig December 8th 1980. The same day John Lennon was gunned down in New York City. It was just like most other night at Seattle’s legendary Gorilla Room on Second Ave. Just a handful of people showed up, and more free beer was drunk up by the bar staff and their buddies than was ever sold. Just like a lot of other nights at The Gorilla Room, one of the finest bands of the era played to a near empty house. Over the next few months the band would be regulars at the Gorilla Room. By Summer, Bob Mould, having heard them on with Husker Du‘s first national tour, called them “the best unsigned band in America“. A year later they were gone.
Byron Duff, Jeff Farrand and Stan Filarca made their dent on the Seattle music scene of the 1980’s as The Spectators. Their combination of surf, metal, jazz and punk predates bands with similar influences…like Primus… by a full decade. They were a power-trio, but one that dealt their deadly blows with intricate and subtle precision rather than blind swings. This was a band that had brains as well as brawn. By using a limited amount of effects, guitarist Byron Duff and bass player Stan Filarca created a sound so tightly woven that it was hard to tell who was playing lead, where the rhythm was coming from and how they could possibly sound so big. Add to the mix the powerful, inventive and perfect tempo of drummer Jeff Farrand. It’s hard to think of any finer trio in rock, signed or unsigned even today.
During their short life The Spectators managed to record more than most Seattle bands of the era. Notable was a live-in-studio session they did with producer/engineer Ed Shepard at his place The Funhole in Fremont. But only a few cassette tracks remain of those sessions, although two songs ended up on the 1982 compilation PRAVDA Volume I. The cassettes are incredibly rare, and those that remain are mostly worn-out. But the brilliance of The Spectators still shines through. Both tracks, FINE LINES and IDIOT CULTURE are typical of the band’s live performance. They show the deft ability to overlap bass, rhythm and lead guitar sections into their music so effectively that it can confound the listener into thinking there are far more guitars at work.
After The Spectators disbanded guitarist Byron Duff faded from the Seattle scene, much to its loss. Drummer Jeff left the NW for San Francisco. Bassist Stan Filarca managed to fill duties of another of Seattle’s best bands to emerge in the 1980s The Beat Pagodas. Filarca used the same creative arsenal as he did in The Spectators. A few very well placed effects and superb musicianship filled -in for any lack of a lead or rhythm guitar. It was Filarca’s ability to handle The Beat Pagoda’s instrumental needs that allowed them to revel in their “No Guitar” motto. Byron Duff emerged very briefly in the 1990’s, and dropped back into obscurity….to this day he’s still M.I.A. Duff’s brilliant guitar playing would come as a revelation today. He was no slacker in the lyrics department either.
That first night the band played The Gorilla Room an old beat-up big screen TV projected flickering images behind them. As someone behind the bar changed channels back and forth they stopped on an old sci-fi flick. Giant locusts were attacking a horrified city. At that moment, by coincidence, the band lit into one of their signature tunes, Idiot Culture. As the creatures wrecked havoc on the city and terrified the population Byron sang:
There is
Something
Of great size
Out of control in the head
Of an insect
Of an insect.

Great size and out of control…a perfect way to describe The Spectators.

LISTEN TO 'FINE LINES' & 'IDIOT CULTURE HERE.
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THE REFUZORS FIND THEIR FAITH Remember The Refuzors back in their heyday? Back when they were A-list Seattle punk rockers. They were one of the best live bands around. Uncompromising, edgy and raw. They could have been lumped in with alot of hardcore bands from that era but for one thing. The songwriting, mostly by guitarist and vocalist Mike Refuzor set them far ahead of other great Seattle bands like The Fartz or The Blackouts.
These guys never made it out of the confines of the Vancouver/Seattle/Portland alt vortex. I'm sure they never made a penny, but The Refuzors were the real deal. Totally without guile or bullshit, their lives and music were undistinguishable. They were hombres, outside the lines with fiercely loyal fans. By the late 80's though, the band slowly unraveled from drugs, alcohol, a generational shift in music and limited recognition outside the Northwest. It's a typical story, but it's without a typical ending. Read on.
In 1993 Mike Refuzor got some of his band mates back together and recorded two sides for the now defunct Seattle label 'Bag of Hammers'. The results are spectacular. 'Think I Lost My Faith' and 'Jim Jones' might just be the missing link between the brilliant NW underground scene of the 1980's and the brilliant but over-hyped 'grunge' of the 90's. Unfortunately Bag of Hammers released only 800 copies of the single and without any promotion it went nowhere. That in itself has made this a long sought-after single. I'd bet my balls somewhere there's still a stack that were never sold....It's that rare. Meanwhile Mike ended up in a spiral that eventually left him on the street. In the early 2000's he suffered a mild stroke and without the support from his old friends and fans he became nearly unknown to the generation who cut their teeth on grunge.
Recently I came across a copy of the ‘Bag of Hammers’ single and was completely caught off guard. The Refuzors were always a great live act, but I only know of one other recorded song available anywhere. 'White Power' was included on the Seattle Syndrome compilation put out in 1981 by Engram Records. 'White Power' was a great track, and possibly could have gotten college radio airplay if it weren't for it's misleading title. The song was directed at one-time Seattle rock critic Regina Hackett and her assumption that Mike's black leather had something to do with fascism. Remember, this was 25 years ago. The chorus screams:
'I never said White Power to you...White Power, I'm sayin' it now. You put those words in my mouth"
Both 'Think I Lost My Faith' and 'Jim Jones' have big guitars and upfront drums & bass that defy the typical punk rhythm section. Mike's vocals are torn-ragged and raw, but not like every other cookie-cutter hardcore vocalist. This is real pain; not fake angst. There's a beautiful, passionate cruelty at work here. These songs are a brilliant mix of writing and delivery. This is classic stuff. Stuff that makes me want to howl and cry and bang my head at the same time. Stuff that proves my theory; The greatest bands in the world will probably never be heard. Most will never make it outside their garage door.
The atypical ending? The lives of some of The Refuzors have taken turns for the better. Mike's off the street, healthy and making a go at being clean and sober. Sixteen years after they were recorded both songs...along with an entire album's worth of material...Are about to be re-released. The Refuzors may never end up onstage again…who knows? But we'll have a permanent reminder of their contribution to the outrageous success far less talented Seattle bands had in the 90's. I don't know if The Refuzors were some of the 'Shoulders of Giants' grunge bands stood on, or if they were just garage-bound guys that got stepped on and tossed aside when the music biz smelled cash. It doesn't matter. Think I Lost My Faith' and 'Jim Jones' are fucking brilliant, fucking beautiful masterpieces even if they never get heard....But they will. Just you wait...You'll hear them.

LISTEN TO 'THINK I LOST MY FAITH' BY THE REFUZORS

NW PUNK ROCK : 30 PLUS YEARS OF PUNK ROCK For two years Dave Alexander searched attics, basements and various storage lockers to come up with live clips of some of the Northwest’s best punk rock. Along the way he interviewed people like Joey Shithead (D.O.A) and Mark Arm (Mudhoney) to help tell the story of 30 years of hardcore punk from Vancouver BC, through Bellingham, Seattle and Olympia WA and on to Portland and Eugene OR. Dave’s D.I.Y. production culminated in this 2 DVD documentary. It shows the passion and life-blood of NW hardcore punk through it’s infancy to it’s current incarnation. It’s a gritty, down-to-earth and totally chaotic celebration. It contains little-seen archival footage of some of the Northwest’s legendary bands shot at some of the Northwest’s most famous punk venues: The Metropolis and The Funhouse in Seattle; Satyricon in Portland, and more. An entire disc is devoted to live music and the other is documentary, with an incredible line-up of bands. The Dishrags, Subhumans, The Fartz, Maggot Brains, Hot rod Lunatics, Solger, The Rickets, The Meyce, Mr. Epp and the Calculations, Zipgun, D.O.A., The Slashers, Subvert, The Insurgence, The Rebel Spell, TBA, Leper, The Dreadful Children, Potbelly, Swads, The Furies, Flash, Fitz of Depression….and….let me catch my breath….more. The 2 disc DVD is available now through our mail order catalogue for only $9.98.…yeah, that’s right…less than 10 smackeroos. Just click on the handy link to your right >