Here is the download: Slumberjack Music
1-3: From High Heat 7"
3-5: From Slumberjack Demonstration Cassette II
6-8: From Re/Fuel Compilation
Also, Henry sent me a live show from August 8, 1994 at the Atomic Music Hall in Athens, which you can download here.
Slumberjack existed for a short period between 1992-1994 and included the rhythm section of After Words (i.e. Craig McQuiston and Kevin Coley on bass and drums, respectively). Christopher Lambert handled vocal and guitar duties, and later on they added a second guitarist named Petruska. Where After Words were influenced by the proto-emo/postpunk from the Washington D.C. area, Slumberjack took a more midwestern/Chicago noise rock slant. They fit right in with the other big bands of the area - Fiddlehead, Martians, etc. but also had a more refined sensibility that could have presumably brought them a major label deal, especially in this time period. It was not meant to be, however, as they broke up after only releasing two demo tapes, a single on Half Baked Records, and an appearance on the great Refuel compilation. I saw them live only once, opening for Gas Huffer and The LaBrea Stompers at the amazing Hoyt Street Station in the Fall of 1993, but I remember it as an impressive, loud set.
After Slumberjack met their demise, Craig McQuiston went on to play in several of Athens rock elites including The Glands, The Tom Collins, Elf Power and with David Barbe solo work. Lately he has been a tour manager for bands such as The Hold Steady. I'm not so sure of the other guys, but it's a small part of the world we are living in, I'm sure one of you knows.
Here is the artwork to their High Heat 7" and 2nd demo tape:
i haven't listened to that 7" in a few years...i wonder how it's aged? guess i'll find out soon enough.
ReplyDeleteathens had a pretty fun little noise-rock kinda scene going for a few years there in the early 90s. a couple really good bands (that you've covered on this blog already), a couple shitty ones, but mostly just "pretty good" bands. bands that you'd see at every frijoleros or atomic/shoebox show, that were good enough, heavy enough, whatever, but never quite got it together to put out a great record. i feel like slumberjack is in that grand tradition.
maybe it's aged well, who knows?
also, anyone out there sent you any reprisal material? they were an athens band of that same era, but much more rollins band-esque (and i mean that in a good way, or as good a way as possible when you refer to something as rollins-esque). i remember them from club fred, but can't remember ever seeing any recorded output.
just a shot in the dark.
This is really cool. I found the slumberjack 7" at a record shop in Charlotte, NC in June 2009. I picked up a few random 50 cent 7"s to see if I would like them. I enjoy this band, and I am glad to find a live set and their demo on here, I never thought I would hear anything else from these guys. Cool to see one of them is working with the Hold Steady now. Thanks for the mp3s and the info.
ReplyDeleteHey Patrick - thanks for checking it out. I would like to find the first demo one day, but we'll see what turns up. As I said, I saw them once and they were great, but they were relatively short lived. The live set is actually better than the recordings in my opinion, makes me wish they had done a full length.
ReplyDelete