Here is the recording - Bag of Jakes
The Bag of Jakes 7" is another one of those iconic local relases from my high school years. I can remember seeing the cover at Tower Records when I would go down there late in the evening to check out new music. At the time (1990-1992) Tower Records at Lenox was the main place for the suburbanite to get good music in Atlanta. They also had a local releases section, and it exposed me to the releases by Lunchbox Records like the Bag of Jakes 7", the Wrong Answer Zoo Breath 7", the View cassette tape, etc. Little did I know I would be playing in bands with some of these guys a few years later. At the time there was a whole scene of bands in Atlanta that I was completely separated from, and luckily the guys at Lunchbox and other labels took their records to Tower for consignment so people like myself could pick up on it. I never saw Dirt, Figure or Oily-O play live, as they were just too early for my time, but of course I got to see Fiddlehead around this time open for Fugazi, and probably has the biggest legacy of these four bands (although you can make a case for Dirt with Mount Shasta, Dirt as a band themselves are probably not as well known now as Fiddlehead).
As for the artwork, I don't know much about the cover photo, but I remember Kip telling me that the squirrel picture on the back was when he and some friends drove to DC to see Jawbox and made friends with this little guy in the park and snapped a picture. The thank you list is great, especially the "thanks to the US Navy for taking Steve off our hands". Steve joined the Navy for a few years before we started Car Vs. Driver, and was enrolled in their nuclear energy program, but was discharged due to severe headaches he would experience while in school. I think the experience gave him the drive and organizational skills to run Car Vs. Driver like he did and made us so productive for the 2 years we were together.
I noticed that Figure had Kyle Spence playing drums. So right now I have him playing drums in Figure, Fiddlehead, The Martians, Harvey Milk, The Tom Collins, J. Mascis and the Fog, and I remember playing a show at the Somber Reptile back in the early days and an opening band called Radio played, and he was on the drums for them as well. Are there any others I'm missing? As for the songs, I think I like the Dirt number the best. I really wish I had been able to see them, probably more than any other Atlanta band then and now. I am still looking for the "Sahara of the Bozart" album - does anyone out there have it? If so, then I will post an unofficial Dirt discography including the 2 7"s, the She-Male Sugarpussy LP, and this album. Stay tuned. Also, once I get a copy of the Maritans demo, I will post their stuff ASAP.
Inserts and back cover for the single:
i dont think i ever got the fiddlehead genessee thing. what was it? i remember it on this record and then i remember seeing them and green day at the existentialist church in L5P (step in the way-back machine) and the stage and everything were covered in genessee flags. they may have even been wearing genesee work shirts. i seem to remember them saying on stage they were sponsored by them...haha. for some reason that always stuck in my head and i always wondered what the deal was. thanks for reminding me! good times. what a bizarrely wierd show that was. hardly anyone there. i think the next time green day played atlanta they sold out the masquerade. haha.
ReplyDeletealso, i dont think i ever made this connection, but was "d. beynart" in oily-o the same as dan"speeder" from athens/landspeeder/283bar/bananahammock fame? if so, then wow, i never made that connection. i shall make fun of him this evening. he will punch me.
ReplyDeleteI have no idea who you are talking about. The Oily-O song isn't bad, though. I wonder what else they put out? As for the Genessee thing, I also have no idea, but I almost went to the Green Day show, and tried to go to the Ultraman show at the church a few days/weeks later, but couldn't find it. Many years later, Ed Rawls did sound for the singer of Mojave 3 at the same venue. Strange how it keeps popping up.
ReplyDeleteit was definitely a strange venue. i think right across the street from a big golf course. i remember seeing that show and then like running around grassy fields. hell that golf course probably isnt even there anymore. replaced by million dollar condos i'm sure. anyway...another big memory that show was a huge garbage can full of sodas. but i seem to recall something wierd about them, too expensive? all fantas or shastas? i dont know. i just remember it being wierd and not wanting one.
ReplyDeletethe golf course in question would be the candler park (city of atl) 9 hole course, it's still there. i wasn't at that show, but i would call it the one of the most famous shows in atlanta history that nobody was at. i saw dirt a couple of times, they were awesome live. once i saw them open up for melvins at the masquerade. don't forget about the dirt/rock-a-teens connection also.
ReplyDeleteFiddlehead just really loved the Genessee beer. Pretty sure they made those work shirts themselves with some patches they got at the distributor.
ReplyDeleteI saw Figure once or twice. One time in the bottom of some print shop Kip worked at where Crain and Bikini Kill played too. I have their whole demo somewhere, one practice one and one 4 song one that this song is from. I think me and Steve both were going to try out to be their singer because Such As had broken up. I guess the guitarist decided to sing though.
Saw Oily-O a few times at Milo's, they were actually really good. They have another 7" that is better than this song. I guess I should get off my ass and convert all of this stuff....including the Martians demo.
Oh yeah, Lunchbox Records is going to sue you for putting this up. Expect a turdbomb in your mailbox soon!
I live near Candler Park these days, so I should really stop by and take a look. Funny, as I've driven/rode down that street so many times over the past few years and never thought to look for the First Existentialist Church. They should start doing shows again, I'm sure Candler Park would be psyched. As for the Dirt/Rock-A-Teens connection, I guess you're right, but it seems that Dirt has been swept under the rug since the early part of the gay nineties, and Fiddlehead seems to be more well known/revered in the modern era. Maybe it's just the dudes I hang around with. I saw Melvins with Gwar at the Masquerade back when I was in high school, but no Dirt - only the Genitortures. I lost on that deal.
ReplyDeleteI'm going through the Lunchbox catalog until everything is reissued in its proper glory. I want a Wrong Answer Zoo Breath box set now.
ReplyDeletei had a little crush on the guitarist for dirt, she worked at a store in L5P and was always super cool when you came in and asked to put up a flyer. too bad about the drummer passing away, he set his kit up at an angle and held his sticks differently (not sure the technical term). lopez played bass. and the singer/guitarist was a crazy character live, he had bug eyes.
ReplyDeletedo you have the 'cleft on the chin, devil within' single? one of my favorite song names ever.
excellent! i was at a famous atlanta show?! haha. honestly, there was nobody there. i took my girlfiriend at the time who hated "punk rock." the next year green day was her favorite band, i kept trying to tell her that i took her to see them at that "wierd church." she probably still doesnt belive me.
ReplyDeleteother shows i saw in atlanta when i first moved there (which nobody was at):
phleg camp - i cant remember the venue name, i remember looking through an atlas to find my way there.
411 - wreck room. i think this is where i actually met matt and jeff.
holy rollers - clairmont lounge?! or was it purgatory? both? i cant remember.
born against/rorschach/lungfish - wreck room. alot of people missed out on this one. i think the ramones were playing the same night at masquerade. you snooze you lose.
neurosis/seaweed - purgatory. i actually had to go stand outside becasuse neurosis visuals were seriously making me sick.
ah hell i cant remember. i think bloodspon played a bunch of those shows. i just wanted to list some.
i think the main one i remember "hearing about" but missed was nation of ulysses. i remember skateboarding at a grocery store in woodstock and locals told me that NOU just played some copy shop or pizza joint or something. ah well. i missed it. i seriously knew zero people in georgia at this time.
That NOU show was at Kip's print shop. I wasn't there of course, and I missed the NOU/Soulside show at the Masquerade soon after. It was one of those shows where I wasn't in the mood at the time, and then regretted it the rest of my life. The first of these type of shows I went to was probably Jawbox at the Masquerade when they were touring for Novelty (not Grippe). Didn't Quicksand or Seaweed or someone open up at that show? I remember seeing you (Phil) at that show, and Chad Wiener asked me what my dad was doing at the show. Have you ever met my dad? He looks like you, by the way.
ReplyDeleteI believe the Phleg Camp show was at the Liquid Bean, but maybe not. I wasn't there. The Ramones show at the Masquerade was one that Chad Wiener went and not me. I probably sat around my basement eating pop tarts, missing the show of a lifetime at the Wreck Room and a doozy at the Masquerade in one fell swoop. I did see All around that time, but it's not the same. I am not a loser.
That NOU show was at Kip's print shop. I wasn't there of course, and I missed the NOU/Soulside show at the Masquerade soon after. It was one of those shows where I wasn't in the mood at the time, and then regretted it the rest of my life. The first of these type of shows I went to was probably Jawbox at the Masquerade when they were touring for Novelty (not Grippe). Didn't Quicksand or Seaweed or someone open up at that show? I remember seeing you (Phil) at that show, and Chad Wiener asked me what my dad was doing at the show. Have you ever met my dad? He looks like you, by the way.
ReplyDeleteI believe the Phleg Camp show was at the Liquid Bean, but maybe not. I wasn't there. The Ramones show at the Masquerade was one that Chad Wiener went and not me. I probably sat around my basement eating pop tarts, missing the show of a lifetime at the Wreck Room and a doozy at the Masquerade in one fell swoop. I did see All around that time, but it's not the same. I am not a loser.
haha. i also missed kingface at the masquerade, but i didnt actually live in atlanta yet, so that's acceptable. i seriously doubt that soulside show happened while i was in atlanta too, or else i absolutely would have been there. i remember seeing jawbox a number of times at the masquerade. i remember one with quicksand and helios creed! and before that they played with shudder to think down in hell. that was probably the novelty/get your goat tour. i wrote about the phleg camp show on my blog, it was at some wierd warehouse kind of in the burbs. i want to say it was somewhere around where cumberland mall is. i remember there being an old lady in a white lab coat taking money at the door. and i remember the "woodstock" crew being there. i dont remember exactly who the woodstock kids were, but i remember steve knowing them. i dated one of their girls for a summer. steve was impressed i was dating the "cookie company girl" haha. that's all i remember. i swear!
ReplyDeleteon a liquid bean note. my only memory from that place was being excited to see iceburn play there. 5 people were there for it, no joke. and during the first song, EVERYONE left except for me. i was THE ONLY ONE watching the show. and embarrasingly, i was videotaping it and had no idea everyone left behind me. i remember them being very upset and promptly packed up their van and left. actually i might have seen CvD there...and bite.
ReplyDeletei want to say that phleg camp show was at the somber reptile. i was booking shows around this time, bit i don't think that was one of mine. 411 was with bloodspoon. are you talking about the neurosis/buzzoven/bloodspoon show in purgatory at the masquerade? was the holy rollers show the one at the somber reptile with cvd or one before that. i missed most the born against show, the NOU show, and pretty much all of kip's weird venue shows.
ReplyDeletePhil - That is possibly the funniest story I have heard since starting this blog. The fact that you were the only one in the crowd at the Iceburn show, and you were holding a video camera the whole time. They must have been so unbelievably bummed. And the fact that you own an Iceburn video where the camera was the only observer to the show. They might as well have set up a tripod in their practice space and done the same thing. Atlanta gave them a big "fuck you" that night.
ReplyDeletethe Phleg Camp show was at Milo's. I was at the Rorschach/Lungfish show as well. I just remember Charles Maggio yelling at everyone that they were giving him cancer with second hand smoke. Moss Icon was supposed to play that show as well but broke up a few weeks before.
ReplyDeleteThat Holy Rollers show was at the old Cotton Club I believe. There is a videotape of it somewhere that someone did. There was some guy named Greg that used to tape all of the D.C. band shows and he was there.
we need some kind of ultimate resource/timeline/database on when and where all these shows were in atlanta. james, GET ON IT! i do remember seeing holy rollers play in purgatory. can i get a confirmation that milo's was a wierd place? and that it was somewhat in an area which is now considered suburbs? and that an odd old lady in a lab coat did the door? haha. it was the only time i was there. phleg camp and woodenhorse. anyway. its funny that some of these bands played multiple times in atlanta, probably most without our knowledge. i guess we didnt have the internets back then to check tour dates. it was all pretty random.
ReplyDeleteThe guy who does soundofindie.com was from Rapid City, SD and they have an amazing archive of shows, fliers, videos, recordings from the bands that passed through. Check out the link: http://www.rcpunk.com/
ReplyDeleteIf you go to the Archive section and click on show listings and flyers, you get something like I wish we had in Atlanta. I could start one from about Car Vs. Driver era, but anything before would be really tough. They also have videos and live recordings of the bands archived on there. It's pretty cool for a town so small. I might start with a simple database, and add in shows over time to fill in the gaps.
phil's story was funny, not surprising though considering atlanta at that time.
ReplyDeleteMilo's was run by some weird kid named Soren whose mom owned the shopping center and let him use one of the units for shows. It's definitely in what is/was the burbs. It was probably his mom running the door too. Such As played there a lot. They used to have to run the power from a utility pole outside on an extension chord. One time some shitty band wouldn't stop playing (some funk/punk/ska crud), so we just went outside and unplugged them.
ReplyDeleteWoodenhorse was the folks from Headless Marines, right?
Milo's is actually a Blockbuster Video and Chicken restaurant now. Chad Wiener's sister lives right next to the place, and I have passed it a few times over the last few years. I am going to take some photos of various venues as the look now and do a post, including Wreck Room, Milo's, Somber Reptile, Under The Couch, Driverdome, I-Defy, Godless Red, any others?
ReplyDeleteif we're talking about milo's we have to talk about visions. jawbreaker played there...
ReplyDeleteyeah, woodenhorse was headless marines. i lived in ft walton beach/ pensacola area before moving to atlanta in like 91, so my "punk rock upbringing" pretty much consisted of me seeing the headless marines a bazillion fucking times. i had no idea they changed their name to woodenhorse until that phleg camp show and i was like "hey, what the hell are you guys doing here?!" anyway, although headless marines was one of th worst band names i've ever heard, i remember them being quite good. although i'd probably take back that statement if i heard their 7" now...haha. the thing i remember most about them was skott had the soulside sun painted on the back of his leather jacket and i thought that was the most badass thing i had ever seen. i was also 16, so i didnt know any better.
ReplyDeletethat jawbreaker show at visions was with third season, the precursor to fiddlehead before jason hall was replaced by geoey cook.
ReplyDeletei though the holy rollers played at the chameleon club in buckhead. for a short span of time some decent bands: both Seam and Pure from Chapel Hill and others.
we had a thing for Genessee as we could buy it underage at the kroger next to where i lived. it was cheap and we would tell the cashiers (late at night) that it was a cross between ginger ale and cream soda: Genessee Cream Ale! it was around $3.50 a six pack so it could pass for expensive fru fru sodas.
we got all the genessee stuff on tour in erie pa (where we played a basement show with the didjits (i'm looking in your direction, james)). we stopped at a genessee brewing plant we just luckily drove by and told them we were big fans down in atlanta. then some old guys gave us free tours and lots of freebies. treated us better than royalty or their own sons.
both fugazi and soulside played at the existentialist church circa 1988.
bruce's parents owned the print shop and bruce's mom busted the NOU show but just kept it a secret from her husband. and she just completed some after hours work and acted like nothing was happening.
in the basement is where fiddlehead used to practice. i gave that place a lame name: the underground. creative, right?
and don't forget the pit (off university avenue) where swiz and shudder to think played with afterwords. i've got that afterwords LP digitized too, james.
the man with the answers
ReplyDeleteChameleon Club, Cotton Club....I knew it started with a "C".
ReplyDeleteI was at the Jawbreaker show. It was pretty awesome but for some reason I didn't even buy the record then. I remember the drummer played one of those stupid Rocktagon cymbals. That was the only time I've ever seen anyone play one of those things.
Shudder To Think, Swiz, After Words at the pit was my second show ever! I think that was the one where some guy got stabbed at the gas station across the street too!
I can't believe I found this. I couldn't remember the name of this thing, I taped this from Neurotic Noriko at WREK, but the thing got destroyed. I saw Oily-O once long ago, the lead singer was nuts. For some reason I remember him rubbing his nipples till they bled. That might be wrong. Trocar Slush Weasel is well worth finding. Unfortunately, it sorta became a nickname for me, so my crap is clogging up the google search.
ReplyDeleteDude, this blog rules. I was the drummer in Oily-O and briefly in Land Speeder. Yes, my brother is both d. beynart and Dan Speeder. If anyone wants a 7", I think Jesse Bransford has 490 of the 500 we printed in his attic.
ReplyDeleteHey Tim - thanks for the comment! Scott Wishart (Such As, Scout, etc.) and I were talking about doing an Oily-O post, so please get in touch with me. Glad you liked the blog!
ReplyDeleteTo chime in with Tim I just cataloged the remaining 200ish copies of "Trocar Sluch Weasel". If anyone wants one let me know, however, they are at my Mom's in ATL (I live in NYC) so it would have to wait til xmas 09. jesse@sevenseven.com
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Tim, it's nice to see this stuff being ruminated over/remembered. Was fun to be sure!
I've also got a lot of the O-O archive (Feedback Factory Press Interview, MRR review etc...). Tim does have some choice photos of us playing an "Earth Day" show though. If you want/need anything for the blog let us both know.
ReplyDelete