Lost Weekend Records 17th Anniversary

Lost Weekend Records is celebrating their 17th anniversary on 02/22/20 with a show at Ace Of Cups. The line includes Bribed FUZZ, SEGA GENOCIDE, Thee Thees, Hydrone, and DANA.

Robert Loss on Ugly Stick

Robert Loss, writer, educator, cultural critic, and musician, wrote up a piece in 2011 for Ghettoblaster which he reposted to his website in 2014 on Ugly Stick. Here's a bit, worth the whole read:

When you're ambivalent about the "cowpunk" label, being a band from a city referred to as "Cow Town" doesn't help you avoid the tag. Of course, Ugly Stick is not from Columbus, Ohio, per se, but a rural college town just to the north, Delaware, known for its annual Little Brown Jug (the second leg of the Triple Crown of Harness Racing) and for birthing Rutherford B. Hayes. Neither of which helps much, either. 

Twenty years down the road, Ugly Stick is still making music, and it still has mixed feelings about the "cowpunk" label. With a hint of exasperation, bassist Ed Mann says, "The whole description bothers me because I don't get the 'cow' part. We thought we were punk rock. 'Look, X does these interesting things with their songwriting where they drop down a half-step. Or the Minutemen have these weird parts that don't seem like they should fit together, but who cares, that's the song.'" 

Ugly Stick's best bet for shedding the label is simply that you listen to their wild and idiosyncratic music. On their first two recordings—a self-titled debut in 1989, and the 1991 follow-up Shaved, both recently reissued by Hovercraft Records as the two-disc set Pick Up the Hatchet—what you'll hear are yelping cries of dissent and freedom from four late-teen friends hearing themselves for the first time. Ugly Stick crossed the boundaries between Delaware's farmland, diners, and night-time philosophy classes, borrowing the language of country and punk, yes, but adding in early R.E.M., the Minutemen and the Pixies. Nothing else sounds like it.

Columbus Dispatch on 2008 Ugly Stick

Back in 2008 when Ugly Stick put out their sophomore album Still Glistening, the Columbus Dispatch wrote up their album release show at Cafe Bourbon Street and included an interview with Al Huckabee. Here is some of that:

Ugly Stick, a Delaware-bred “cow-punk” quartet, is back with Still Glistening, its first album in 14 years. 

What is “cow punk”? Allow guitarist Al Huckabee to shine some light on the matter: 

Q What does the music on Still Glistening sound like? 

A It has a lot of story songs -- one about a two-legged love triangle in an unnamed Southwestern city. One follows the decline and ruin of a good-timing couple set in a marina bar. There’s a creepy, ’50s-infused murder ballad and a short rocker about not finding the parts one needs at the junkyard. 

There’s one party song narrated by a goat -- which kind of touches on two universal themes: parties and goats. Who can’t relate?

New Additions: Absinthe by Ugly Stick

Dave Holm is a busy guy, and it was only a matter of time before I ran into one of his projects. In this case, it's Ugly Stick. The band formed in the early 90s and put out an album in 1993 and 7" in 1994 before he turned his attention to other bands like Bigfoot and The Townsmen. The band would occasionally play out, and another album was released in 2008, but it took me a while to track down the '93 debut Absinthe. I'm glad I did because this sort of country-rock crossover is solidly up my alley with my appreciation for bands like Uncle Tupelo.

Know Yer Band: Ugly Stick

Band: Ugly Stick

Members
Jeff Clowdus - drums/vocals/guitar
Ed Mann - bass/vocals
David Holm - vocals/guitar/piano
Al Huckabee - guitar/vocals

Releases
1993 - Absinthe album (Bluehouse Records)
1994 - Dine Under The Birds 7" single (Lizard Family Music)
2008 - Still Glistening album (Hovercraft)
2011 - Pick Up The Hatchet compilation album (Hovercraft)

Dan Bell Goes For Fifty Show @ Rumba Cafe 2/7/2020

Since it's Templeton week here at the blog, it's good timing to mention the upcoming "Dan Bell Goes For Fifty" show at Rumba Cafe on March 7th. In addition to Templeton, Dan beat the skins for Punchbug, The Last Hotel, Stonevelvet, and Miranda Sound.

Video: Useful by Templeton

Cringe.com: 1998 Interview with Christian Hurd

Before Templeton, Christian Hurd was busy with other bands and projects. In 1998, a year prior to the release of Templeton's first album, he talked with Cringe.com. Here's some of the interview:

Cringe: Can you explain why you chose the name Templeton for the band? 

Chris: I like bands that have childhood references because rock and roll has always been something that makes me feel young- just pop in some Rolling Stones and it's going to make you feel youthful and maybe even a bit rebellious. Templeton was a character in the book Charlotte's Web. As the story goes, Charlotte (a spider) wanted to save Wilbur's (a pig) life. Her idea was to spin a word into a web that described the pig, but she couldn't think of the right word and she needed help. Templeton was a resourceful rat who Charlotte knew could help. With a bit of coaxing, he went out and found some words in print that had some impact. The gist of it is that if you are putting together any kind of project which has some intricacy to it, then you have to use your resources. The first thing you need in putting a band together is getting people to play with you. I could write a million songs, but unless I have people playing with me, they'll never be performed the way I intended them to be.

New Additions: Trash To Treasure album by Templeton

Calling this a "New Addition" is sort of a cheat. I bought this album when Templeton had their CD release way back in 1999. But of course, like so many others, this was lost in my massive CD purge of the early 2000s when I converted everything to MP3s. Of course, a dumb mistake on my part. Luckily, years later, I tracked down the Derailleur Records release, and I'm glad I did. This was always one of my faves from the era - Christian Hurd has a knack for lyrics and hooks and the band has the right combo of raw/loose and precise/tight.

Know Yer Band: Templeton

Band: Templeton

Members
Christian Hurd - vocals/guitar
Bryan Myers/Tony Nguyen - guitar
Emily Ann Allen/Caleb Bandy - bass
Ben Kemp/Dan Bell - drums

Releases
1999 - Trash To Treasure album (Derailleur Records)
1999 - The Gift compilation (Not On Label)
2001 - Cringe.com/pilation Vol. 1 compilation (Cringe.com)
2003 - Documenting The Sounds of Relay Recording(s) compilation (We Want Action)
2015 - Near Misses compilation (Bandcamp)

Nowhere Fest XX 2020 Happening March 19th & 20th

Nowhere Fest is back for 2020 (or XX) on March 19th and 20th at Ace of Cups and Dirty Dungarees. See the line-ups below for each night/venue:

THE NOWHERE 2020 LINEUP

PRE SHOW AT DIRTY DUNGAREES 3/19/2020

Keynote Speaker: Dana Riashi of Near Paris
BODY FARM
DEATH GRIPPOS
THE EEDIOTS

NOWHERE 2020 at Ace of Cups 3/20/2020
X___X
Mike Rep and the ___________
Baby Lindy and the Drug Mothers
Kneeling in Piss
Donkey Bugs
PHLOX
Spodee Boy
The Scratches
TORGO

Video: Manda and the Marbles Documentary

In Music We Trust - Interview with Manda And The Marbles

On the heels of re-releasing their fourth album Angels With Dirty Faces in 2005 with Addison Records, the band chatted with the website In Music We Trust. Here is part of that interview:

Looking to become more poppy, less pop-punk and more pop-new-wave, Manda and the band were excited about the creative choices having a full-time keyboard player in the band would allow them. So much so that the band tried a lot of different stuff on their third full-length, Angles with Dirty Faces. 

"We did a lot of different things," she says of the recording process. "On this new record, 'Seventeen' is a slower song that we normally would not have put on a record. Now we just don't care about what people think is different and put on the songs that we really like." 

With the new record done and ready to shop around, the band, anxious to get something out, asked their friends at local label Sick House Records to release the record. Soon after the album's release, their manager started up a label, Adison Records, and the record was re-released with wider distribution. 

"The first version of Angels With Dirty Faces was released on Sick House Records. But, it was recently re-released on Adison Records," Manda tells me. "We put out an early release on Sick House Records. They're friends of ours, we knew them, and they wanted to do it, so we put out the new one with them. Then our manager started a label, so it got re-released. Sick House was cool with it all. We're good friends." 

With the record now available in record stores, the band hopes to tour soon to support it.
"We're going to tour in late spring and summer, when it is easier to get away from work. And we won't have to deal with the ice and snow," she informs me.

New Additions: Seduction album by (Manda And) The Marbles

While I didn't get all their albums back in the day, I was a fan of Manda And The Marbles going back to when they were just called The Marbles (guess that makes me really old school). They were a breath of fresh air, playing straight-forward pop-punk that leaned more on the pop side. As the years have passed, I've been picking up their releases here and there, and recently acquired their second album Seduction, which is where the band really took off for me.

Know Yer Band: Manda And The Marbles

Band: Manda And The Marbles

Members
Manda Marble - Vocals/Bass
Joe "Damage" Mertz - Guitar
Mark Slak - Drums
Elias Dubok - Keyboards

Releases
1999 - Rock's Not Dead album (Break-Up! Records)
2000 - Seduction album (Break-Up! Records)
2002 - More Seduction album (Go-Kart Records)
2003 - Reputation 7" single (Sickhouse Records)
2004 - Angels With Dirty Faces album (Sickhouse Records)