The Get Up Kids Woodson B/W Second Place Doghouse 1997

The Get Up Kids Woodson B/W Second Place Doghouse CAT #DOG-045

The fans now refer to this early release as 'All Stars' or the 'Woodson EP', however I believe it's just a self-titled 7". The artwork appears on a CD EP that also featured two extra tracks that are found on the 'Love Teller' 7".

On CD is the way the tunes first came to me. I had the early 7", but was in my senior year of high school when this was released. This was a big deal, the band's first release for a record label that wasn't their own. Friends of the band had been waiting forever for the real-deal. I remember the day it came out, I was working at Schnucks on Murlen in Olathe, Kansas, as an after school job. My friend Donald busted into the backroom with it screaming at me, "It's here! I got your copy!"

As soon as we could, Donald and I ran out to a car to put it in the CD player. It was so fucking great... There wasn't any pre-conceived notions of what emo should sound like, what the Get Up Kids were or should be, there was no expectations other than we wanted to hear what our friends had done.

It didn't disappoint. And I still won't take my blinders off for it. It's still fucking great. I could listen to it everyday for the rest of my life. It's that good.

Second Place

Revolvers She's Out Of Your Life Locket Love 1996

Revolvers She's Out Of Your Life Locket Love 1997 CAT# 001

When the SST band, the Descendants, started singing about girls, I don't think they could have predicted the pile of turd pop-punk bands that would take their formula to the Vans Warped Tour and radio by the 1990s. And despite those bands nods to the repetitiveness and speed of the Ramones, they almost all sucked and whined about high school too much despite the fact they were clearly out of it and had dropped out of college by the time their first album was released.

However, despite the MXPXs and NOFXs all around, a solid form of the genre existed all over in teenage garages. Kansas City's Revolvers were that type of band. Despite their obvious moves, when it's recorded in someone's house and done by kids still in their teenage years, it's some of the most honest music out there. The obvious sing-along chorus' carry weight and meaning. The repetitive guitar lines are exhilarating. The songs about teenage heartbreak make you want to cry. And most importantly, the tunes meant something to everyone of their friends and fans attending the shows in shit places like Gee Coffee and someone's basement. The kids were living the experiences with the band. This band meant something to a lot of kids. So despite it's obvious flaws, it's great music and it's a shame this record is almost all but forgotten.

Revolvers Live
Riot on the Plaza Write Up

Coalesce Give Them Rope She Said v2.0 No Idea 2004 (Repress)

Coalesce Give Them Rope She Said v2.0 No Idea 2004 (Repress) CAT#153

This is a remastered and remixed edition of Coalesce's ahead of it's time 1997 release, Give Them Rope.  The mix is brought up, mainly the guitar.  It sounds good, don't know if it was needed, but it's got cool artwork and the remix highlights some things that may have been missed the first time around.

Between the years of 1997 and 2004 lots of thing happened with Coalesce.  Numerous breakups and line up changes, the scene they helped develop passed them by, and they found time to do an entire album of Led Zeppelin covers (which is fucking awesome).  The original bass player, Stacy Hilt left and was replaced by Nathan Ellis.  Ellis stayed with the band for a substantial amount of time, but became focused on his own group, The Casket Lottery to which he recruited Stacy Hilt, the same bass player he replaced in Coalesce to play in his band.  Hilt however, would return in 2001 to play bass yet again for the band.  James Dewees left after the groups album, Functioning on Impatience, to play keyboards for the Get Up Kid, later he did his own project, Reggie & the Full Effect, and even later wound up as the touring keyboardist for My Chemical Romance.  Singer Sean Ingram filled in briefly for the Dillinger Escape Plan and embarked on other projects.  Guitarist Jes Steineger remained a constant member, however, it's rumored his numerous religious conversions were reason for many of the band's numerous break ups.

So yeah, tumultuous history and all, but, brutal, hardcore metal needs that to continue, I guess.

Coalesce Give Them Rope Edison Recordings 1997

Coalesce Give Them Rope Edison Recordings 1997 CAT #006

This is hands down one of the most important albums to come out of Kansas City during it's 90's indie explosion.  This album virtually started a genre.  So much so, the album has been re-released several times in multiple formats.

There were other bands doing this throughout the indie scene in the late 90's.  But, most those bands were fighting traditional metal influences and trying to find a way to re-write old riffs.  Coalesce took their cue from hardcore punk by going straight for the jugular.  No "singing", No drum solos, No Guitar solos.  Just blistering metal.

To be musical and show they had the chops to be "metal," they focused on odd time signatures and dissonant guitars.  The guttural vocals and odd out of place keyboard riffs add to the chaos.  Upon first listen, and even more so if you were listening in 1997, it sounds as if it's coming from another planet.  But, give it a few spins and it all starts to make sense, even becomes enjoyable.

A few years later, bands like Botch and Dillinger Escape Plan would perfect this form.  Coalesce would constantly shift members and lose focus along the way, by doing so they'd never catch up to those groups despite improving their sound.  Nevertheless, they'll always be thought of as pioneers in the genre.

Have Patience
Coalesce Live is Fucking Scary

Uncrush Was Ever Being So Born To Calamity? 7" crank! A Record Company 1997

Uncrush Was Ever Being So Born To Calamity? 7" crank! A Record Company 1997 CAT# crc010

Yeah, so who titles their 7" singles anything other than the songs that appear?  The songs that appear on this 7" are 'The Moron the Merrier' backed with 'There's a Roof in the Leak'.  Yet another KC band that was picked up by crank! in the 90's.  I'm not sure why the label picked these guys up, but I don't really want to talk about the music, I'd rather tell a long winded hipster douchbag story.

At the end of highschool and beginning of college I got involved as much as possible with music.  I was at the Community College right after highschool and most my friends were in Lawrence and I was bored.  I began writing for eZines and working street teams for indie rock labels.  Street Teams were kids that the labels supplied free promo material to so the kids could pass it out at shows and record stores.  Stickers, fliers, buttons, that type of swag.  Sometimes, but not very often, the label would get you onto the guest lists of shows and such.  Plus, they'd give you free albums.  I sparked up an inter-net conversation with Jeff Matlow way back when and he allowed me do work for crank!

Honestly, crank! was one of the best labels to do it for.  Jeff Matlow was uber-connected and the label could get me into just about any show.  Plus, he did stuff for the major labels due to his previous connections.  For example, when Jimmy Eat World's Clarity came out on Capital, someone asked crank! to promote it's "emo-ness".  I got like 20 free copies of the CD two months before it came out to hand out to record stores and other cool places.  For like a month and half, I was the coolest .emo kid in Kansas City, all the kids were asking me for burned copies and such.  I got to review it right away for a zine, it was solid.  So, all in all, my opinion of Jeff Matlow was that he was a cool guy.

So, I got this box of free crap and I was ready to go to work.  I took a bunch of .crank! swag to a show at the Bottleneck.  I can't remember who was playing, Farewell Bend, maybe?  I'm thinking somebody local or with local ties but, I can't remember.  Anyway, I'm handing it out between bands, during songs, etc.  A tall drunk guy comes up to me and asks, "What have you got?"  I reply, "crank! Records stuff, stickers, you want one?  They put out Vitreous Humor and Boys Life."  He says to me, "I know who they are, they put out my record."  I reply, "What?" (It was loud).  "They put out my record, I'm in Uncrush."  So, I'm surprised and I'm like, "Oh cool, I like your 7" I have it at home, you probably don't need these then, do you?"  "Yeah, yeah, I do, that fucker ripped me off, he owes me money."  At that point, things were getting awkward, I replied simply, "Oh."  He then grabs everything I had in my hand and demands the rest.  I'm not a wimp or anything, but he's tall and I'm like 5' 5" on a good day, plus he was drunk.  I gave him everything else I had.  He stormed off, went out the back door to presumably toss the stuff or put it in his car and I thought he was gone.

He wasn't. I remember at the end of the night, the bouncers had to physically put the guy to the ground.  He tried to take a beer outside of Bottleneck at last call.  He was more drunk than before and I assumed, the wrongdoing by crank!, brought forth by my stickers, was to blame.  He was not about to hand over the drink to the bouncers.  He said absurd things like, "Fuckers, I played at your bar a month ago."  "It's cool, I know the owner."  "Hey man, I know the band."  All things you'd expect from a drunk guy that didn't want to give up his beer.  Finally, they threw him to the ground and called his friends over.  I'm just glad the cops weren't brought in, it was getting physical.

The next time I had the chance to get into an email conversation with crank! I asked about the event.  The drunk guy was a member of Uncrush, that was confirmed the night of the show.  And, truthfully, I believed the guy.  He was obviously pissed about something and maybe crank! was just like other labels; evil.  Jeff Matlow quickly sent me his side of the story.  Obviously, he painted himself as the good guy.  He fronted Uncrush money.  The reason they thought they never got royalties is because the record never sold and the money owed was never made back.  Matlow claimed he actually lost money on the release.  Well of course that's what he would say.  He's a businessman, I was a kid who could drag his name through the mud on web boards and eZines.  Of course, so could the singer of Uncrush, but whatever, I felt I needed a third party to explain.

Coincidentally, I had a friend who was in touch, knew both parties and explained the situation.  I'm not going to name names, that'd be shitty.  Story goes, upon the release of this 7", Uncrush and another Kansas City band embarked on a tour from the Midwest to California.  Usual indie-rock tour at the time, mostly self booked, a few shows supplied by the label, but a lot of house shows and a lot of miles in a van.  Uncrush enjoyed the tour.  Every show they played, they put the money made towards gas to get to the next place and the rest went to beer and partying.  They did this all the way from Kansas City to California.  This practice would be fine had they booked shows on the way back, but they didn't.  After the shows in California, the plan was to go straight back to KC.  So, when Uncrush got to California and met with Jeff Matlow, they didn't have enough money to get home.  The label gave them the money to get home, a fairly substantial amount I'm told.  I mean that's a hell of drive from California to KC in a crappy van.  The money was just given to the band, no questions asked.  The band got home.

My friend had no reason to make up the story or validate Matlow's version.  He was friends with Uncrush.  In fact, he prefaced his story by telling me he didn't really like Jeff, his opinion being that he was kind of douchebag jock, not really the kind of guy you'd expect to be running an indie rock label.  I believed his story.  However, to Uncrush's credit, I assume there had to be some reason to be sour.  For one, the only other thing crank! did with the band was put them on a compilation album.  Second, no one really knows any of the conversations that took place between the label and band.  Could have been some half-truths like, the 7" was selling great and they were led to believe they'd get more than they got from it.  Could have been told the label would be releasing further material from the band and it never came to fruition.  The truth probably lies somewhere between all three accounts.

As for the 7", it showed faint signs of promise.  The A-side, 'The Moron the Merrier' is chaotic and sloppy, oddly enough, it feels drunk.  The strained vocals make it endearing and add to the loose sound.  It's menacing and loud, but at the same time, manages to mix in some jangly guitars and melody.  As a three piece, they can push out a lot of sound when they want to.  Bad news, on the B-Side they had no desire to repeat the formula.  'There's a Roof in the Leak' is as pointless as the title.  It just mills around and never ends.  It does sound drunk, but with no energy.  Like what happens at 3:00 AM about 30 minutes after going to Taco Bell, it's uncomfortable and lasts way too long.

The Moron the Merrier
Nap from the Don't Forget to Breathe comp.

Butterglory Rat Tat Tat Merge 1997

Butterglory Rat Tat Tat Merge 1997 CAT # MRG153

There are problems with this LP.  Previous work was very homespun and the cuteness of it all allowed you to ignore the band's flaws.  Once the production got cleared it up, the band's shortcomings come to light.  For one, they sound an awful lot like Pavement.  While they were contemporaries with the band, I've talked to some people in the know.  I asked about the Pavement sound on this LP and most have said the band was pretty in tune with what Pavement was doing (wink, wink).  Second, they borrow heavily from others.  I mean, obvious influences are great.  But, there are tunes that walk the line with lifting.  R.E.M. and the Velvet Underground come to mind when spinning this LP.

Aside from that, this album has what I consider the greatest song the band recorded, 'Carmen Cross.'  I love the song, it's not up on YouTube and I'm not savvy enough to transfer anything to the site myself.  But, if you get a chance, listen to it.  The winding melody and Debby's child-like vocals are great.

More over, their are moments of genuine originality.  Songs like 'Fight Fight Fight', and to a certain extent, 'Serpentine', showcase a slacker cowboy vibe.  You get a feeling the band wanted to do country, but in true lo-fi fashion scraped all the pomp surrounding the genre and just laid down what felt right.  Also, the negatives aren't that bad.  If you tell me (and a lot of other people) it sounds like Pavement, we're going to buy that record.  And, if you're going to lift, The Velvets and R.E.M. are pretty solid choices.

Serpentine

Shiner Sleep It Off b/w Empty Sub Pop 1997

Shiner Sleep It Off b/w Empty Sub Pop 1997 Cat # SP403

Shiner wrote complex post hardcore tunes that feature start stop dynamics, time signature changes, and they were notorious for skipping something pop oriented like a bridge and would often opt to take a song in a whole other direction.  On a local level, similar to what Boys Life and Giants Chair were doing.  On a national level, similar to Quicksand, Failure and bands of that ilk.  Great part about Shiner, is they did play a fairly large national audience in terms of inde-rock.

Splay, their debut album caught people's attention.  I know I loved it back in the day and currently, it's #1 on my vinyl want list.  The band could do the slow math rock thing then jump into full on rock mode at the snap of a finger.  So, listening to their Sub Pop 7" I've always wondered why they didn't lay down a scorcher.  Sleep it Off is great, it moves well but it doesn't have whole lot of energy.  Empty has even less energy and borders on boring.  I mean, here they are, putting out a record on Sub Pop in 1997.  Sub Pop was at their most popular and kids were paying attention.  If they wanted to leap over into the big time, this was it, lay down a hit, y'know?  Don't give me Side 1 song 3, give the opener, get people's attention.

The Regrets New Directions Results Beat Boasts 1997

The Regrets New Directions Results Beat Boasts Crank! A Record Company 1997 CAT #80206

The Regrets were 3/4 of Vitreous Humor and put out this one album.  Which is a shame, because I think Danny Pound was onto something when he came up with this Talking Heads meets organic boogie rock hybrid.

Vitreous Humor was a teenage reaction to indie-rock.  It was a group of kids discovering a genre for the first time, in their case the 90's scene from North Carolina and some Fugazi thrown in for good measure.  The Regrets were an adult reaction to the discovery of groups like R.E.M. and the Talking Heads.  It's also a nod to things not having to be loud and angry to be good.  Further, soul and dance music can work for everybody.

New Directions is post-modern.  It's a collection of influences stirred into the pot with Danny Pound free-forming lyrics over a loose beat.  His rants go from juvenile ("Play with yourself until you thought you might faint") to absurd streams of conscious.

It was recorded by Bob Weston and you get the sense that he just the guys bang out tunes.  It very easily could have sounded slick and polished, like the band Cake.  Instead, its loose and jittery.  Everything left in the mix.  Great album.

Reunion Gig
Inflated Passions

Get Up Kids Four Minute Mile Blue Vinyl Repress Doghouse 1997

Get Up Kids Four Minute Mile
Blue Vinyl
Doghouse America Records
CAT #DOG047 1997 Repress

The singer is from KC and the rest of the Get Up Kids are from Olathe, Kansas.  If you've been to Olathe, KS, this doesn't make any sense.  I grew up in Olathe, KS.  In junior high and high school I attended school with members of this band and despite that, this album makes no sense to me.

Olathe, KS is fucking blackhole.  People get lost in it and forget the rest of the world exists.  Sure, it's a great place raise your family and most parts of the city are safe, but why does it need so many strip malls?  Why is there nowhere cool to hang out?  Why is everyone so into Nascar?  And, why does everybody park their car on the street and not in their garage?  What are Olathians hiding thier garages?

In high school, I was in the backseat of Jimmy Suptic's VW Bug on the way to a parking lot.  (Because, that's what you did in Olathe on the weekends as a teenager, you hung out in 711 parking lots until the police moved you along to the next place you weren't allowed to hang out).  I had been feeding the drummer of this band stuff by the Dead Milkmen and the Red Hot Chili Peppers (pre- Blood Sex Sugar Magic, mind you) thinking I was hot indie rock shit.  This obviously got back to Jimmy who turned to me and asked, "Have you ever heard Fugazi?"  "Yes," I replied which was a total lie to sound cool.  He puts in the tape and on comes the song 'Repeater.'  My mind is racing, I can't keep up with the song, my mouth is wide open while the rest of the car is chanting, "1, 2, 3.  Repeater!"  The song ends and I ask Jimmy, "Where did you get that?"  "Recycled Sounds" he replies.  Recycled Sounds was a record store in downtown Kansas City.  That's how bad Olathe is.  You had to drive 45 minutes to get a fucking Fugazi tape.

Yet, Olathe, Kansas is where most of this band is from.  The album cover, that's the Olathe South track, those runners, Olathe South Grads.  And from that, comes this album.  The late 90's scene .emo darlings (along with Promise Ring) are from a boring suburb.  The band that the now Mighty Pitchfork e-zine MADE THEIR NAME TRASHING, is from Olathe, Kansas.  That's equivalent to Lester Bangs making his name bashing James Taylor and the whole California soft rock scene.  (Kicker being, no one remembers a bad review, but they'll still pay money for the albums that were scorned).

It would make sense then that this album is about girls, right?  Teenage kids from suburbia, what else do they have to write about?  Well, it's about being a teenager, but it's not all about girls.  The theme of this album is about moving on.  The Four Minute Mile is about achieving something that no one thought possible.  The Get Up Kids were literally just kids at the time, the drummer was still in high school when their first release came out.  All four members were at an age prime for parental expectations and other pressures.  They are from the suburbs, they lived in fairly affluent neighborhoods and had good parents.  Rather than continue in college, they took a chance and dropped out to be in a rock n' roll band.  Don't believe me?  Let's talk about some of these tunes.

Track 1. Coming Clean - 18 year old kids don't feel this way about girls, yet.  They do feel the disappoint though when they tell their parents, "I hope you'll forgive me but what you want from me is killing me."
Track 2. Don't Hate Me - Amy is not a girl, she's a metaphor for college, parents, religion.  Try it, it's the fear of failure, running back to Amy is giving up on a dream.
Track 3. Fall Semster - Oh fuck, this is obvious.  "If I tried, would you still call me a son?"
Track 4. Stay Gold, Ponyboy? - The Outsiders reference is priceless.  I will cut you if you disagree.  But, yeah, pretty emo.
Track 6. Washington Square Park - "Though that ring again, through that sick machine doesn't that make you any stronger than you or anything choose."  I feel this is the teenage role-reversal--this the coming of age child dismissing the life their parent's want to choose for them.  The 9-5 Monday through Friday doesn't seem all that great.
Track 7. Last Place You Look - This one is kind of heartbreaker.  I like to think it is a son hoping, despite the arguments, his parents will still support the choices he makes and trust him.  But, more likely about a girl.
Track 8. Better Half - A little of a mish-mosh, mostly about a girl.  But there is the line, "I saw my baby boy digging his own hole, keeping alive family traditions."

I've listened to this album countless times, multiple formats, over the last 15 years now, and every time it's the same: Brilliant.  It's recorded like shit, the band sounds like teenagers (they were), it's a bit pitch-y and the tempos are too fast, but it's bursting at the seams with nerves and energy.  It's exciting and loud, there are pick slides and yelps, it never tries to be "underground" and was never trying to be "emo."  The band just wanted you to hear what they created.  I put this album right next to other debuts like the Police's 'Outlandos d'Amour', the Talking Heads '77' album and R.E.M.'s 'Chronic Town' E.P., because it's that type of debut, raw and nervous, all energy.  It's a band dying to get the fuck out of Olathe and discover the rest of America.