Columbus Alive: Local Music - Grafton (2011)

Columbus Alive, May 30th, 2011:

A decade ago, Grafton’s early career as barebones garage punk hellraisers culminated in the self-titled debut Lou Poster had always imagined. 

“This first record, that’s the one I started envisioning from the time I was 19,” said Poster, Grafton’s guitarist, singer and mastermind. 

Two lineup changes and three records later, Poster and drummer Jason McKiernan will reunite with original bassist Donovan Roth on Friday to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the debut, 15 years as a band and Poster’s 35th birthday. 

They’ll play the entire LP on Friday, hearkening to when they were young guns of Columbus rock. 

“It’s more a celebration that we’re still alive,” McKiernan said. 

Poster relocated to Columbus in 1995 and moved in with McKiernan the following year. Soon they were bashing out bluesy punk rock inspired by Columbus duo The Hairy Patt Band. Gaunt’s searing pop-punk, Gibson Bros.′ howlin’ stomp and Monster Truck Five’s churlish noise-mongering were in the mix too. 

“All those bands that we were into were the guys that we were afraid of at the bar,” Poster said.

Sprogg Compilation Casettes

From Discogs: While in college in the early 1990s, Nick Wilson was the record buyer for Magnolia Thunderpussy and World Record (local record stores in Columbus, Ohio on the campus of Ohio State University.) His friend, graphic designer James Towning, collaborated with Wilson on the creation of both the Sprogg fanzine/magazine and the accompanying compilation tape. Sprogg was intended to be an ongoing project, but both got sidetracked by their day jobs.

Columbus bands include Girly Machine, Martyr Colony, V-3, Pica Huss, Scrawl, Monster Truck Five and Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments.

jfotoman pictures website

It's hard to imagine the 1980s/90s Columbus music scene without the photography of Jay Brown, better known as "jfotoman." Hundreds of photos capture plenty of Columbus bands, like Pica Huss, Gaunt, Monster Truck Five and many more, but also the touring bands that played at places like Stache's including Nirvana, Laughing Hyenas, White Zombie, Urge Overkill and more.

Jay now has the photos for sale on this website here.

Bela Blog: Monster Truck Five & Jack Taylor

Because of the short existence of Monster Truck Five (or 005), there is hardly anything written about the band, and coming up with articles was a tough get this week. However, Bela of Anyway Records has an eloquent and stark recollection of High Street in the 1990s, and wrote several times on the band, including the short life or Richard "Jack Taylor" Violet. Here's a bit of that:

A great deal of the decorating was done on several spastic afternoons by Jack Taylor (birth name Richard Violet), who was fired and rehired by Dan Dow. Jack, like the décor of Used Kids was a living example of a life half finished, this is not just for the fact that Ritchie (as I first knew him as) died young in an unremarkable fashion. While giving up the lures of the city, Richie moved home to lonesome Urbana, Ohio and got a job at a local United Dairy Farmers convenient store. A long drop from the coolness of playing CBGB’s and getting name checked on an Unsane record. It was there in the vast flatness of western Ohio that Richie took a shot of dope too deep for his veins and died behind the UDF store, proving that heroin can be found everywhere.  Richie, was a cross between  Bluto from “Animal House” and a tarnished flannel shirt, he could be devastatingly charming and brilliant on one hand and on the other he could stab you with an insult that could bring the worst of high school back in a flutter of embarrassed red cheeks. He was the first member of Monster Truck 005 to die.

New Additions: Vandal-X 7" Single by Monster Truck Five

I was not at all familiar with Monster Truck Five before starting this project. In some cases, I had heard the name here or there of a band or artist, but perhaps due to the relatively short lifespan of the band, this one slipped under my radar. I was able to grab the last seven inch single they released in 1994, Vandal-X, on Sympathy For The Record Industry, where their 1995 and 1996 albums would also be released, via Discogs.

What I discovered in picking up the first of a number releases is that this band is ferocious. It's hard to pin down their sound, blues garage rock without regard for conventional song structures, and volume to rival Dinosaur Jr.

Know Yer Band: Monster Truck Five

Band Name: Monster Truck Five

Members
Vocals - Christopher Wilson
Guitar - Christopher Wilson, Vince Falcone, Jack Taylor
Bass - Pat Humphrey
Drums - Michael Dermody, Mark Deane

Releases
1990 - Split 7" w/Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments (Datapanik Records)
1993 - Aintneverbeen 7" (Anyway Records)
1993 - S.F. Sister 7" (Chrome Frog Records)
1994 - Gimme Five 10" (Chrome Frog Records)
1994 - Vandal-X 7" (Sympathy For The Record Industry)
1995 - Columbus Ohio album (Sympathy For The Record Industry)
1996 - Dry Leaves...Hot Wire (Sympathy For The Record Industry)

Know Yer Band: Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments

Band: Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments

Members
Vocals - Ron House
Guitar - Bob Petric
Bass - Keith Baker, Craig Dunson, Philip Park
Drums - Nora Malone, Bruce Saltmarsh, Elliot Dicks, Ted Hattemer

Releases
1990 - 7" split single w/Monster Truck Five (Datapanik Records)
1991 - 7" single Career Interruption Code (Datapanik Records)
1992 - 12" single You Can't Kill Stupid (Datapanik Records)
1994 - 7" single Negative Guest List (Siltbreeze Records)
1995 - 7" single Punk Rock Secret (Bag Of Hammers)
1995 - 7" split single w/Monster Truck Five, Moviola and Gunshy Ministers (Anyway Records)
1995 - Bait And Switch album (Onion Records)
1997 - Straight To Video album (Anyway Records)
1997 - 7" split single w/Fat Day (Ratfish Records)
1997 - You Lookin' For Treble? compilation album (Year Zero)
2000 - No Old Guy Lo-Fi Cry (Rockathon Records)
2011 - 7" single Burning Trash (Negative Guest List Records)