Hammerhead was amazing. They were touring on the Into the Vortex record which still stands up today as one of the greatest records in my collection. Still find myself compelled to listen to Swallow atleast ounce a week and reminisce about driving around with Chris from Coldsore blasting this in my 1965 Fairlane 500. Aww the good ole days. But ends up Hammerhead is playing the 25th anniversary of AMREP. I bought this 7″ later…it doesn’t have the original guitar player but it still rules. Enjoy.

So I haven’t done this in a while. Oh well. But thought I would go a little bit out of order. My obsession with girl fronted punk rock started pretty early. I think it all started when I went to a battle of the bands at Kings Court and saw FUR play for the first time. I truly become obsessed with the singer Tammy. The next time I saw them was at some weird outdoor festival in South Dakota or something. I forget, but they killed it that night…along with 10 Second Fuse.

Anyway alot of girls we had crushes on at the time were way into Riot Grrrl stuff. I was more on the fringe listening to Sonic Youth and more so Babes in Toyland. But anyway, the point is, this record kicks ass. Totally changed my thinking on what Riot Grrl music was. And maybe still is, although seems like its all been pretty watered down. I like fucking…one of the best songs ever!

Dick Delicous on the other hand is not a great band but pretty funny. Listen to the words. Unreal. Enjoy…you’ll get a laugh for sure.

So here is Zoom. Ends up the song is pretty boring. Oh and another funny note. Is I played for a short while in this band from Sioux CIty called Trike Press. Pretty good band. But anyway we covered this song. So here it is. PLANET PINBALL.

The Kurtz brothers and the Kestner brothers and I decided to start a band. It started shortly after the Kestners band Strychnine broke up. We started practicing in the attic of the Kestner’s house. I was 16 and it was a dream come true. We asked Chris to play bass. I think he was maybe just 14 at the time. He was singing in a band called Naked Lawnmower. Brett and John played guitar and Dave played the drums. We wrote maybe 20 songs over the course of a couple of years. We played alot of shows. Some of the most memorable of my life. The best being a show we played at the theatre in LeMars. We basically had the entire movie theatre to ourselves. It was a crazy night. I think I made out with some girl on a pool table.

But one of the most memorable moments of my childhood was going to record at Jim Boogensburgers studio in Omaha. John was living there at the time and we all stayed in his apartment. We recorded four songs. None of them were my favorites but what do you do. Its still one of my favorite 7″s. Here are a couple of tracks. I would tell you the lyrics but its better if you try to figure them out for yourself.

This 7″ is amazing. Seeing Kidd Death was always memorable. Pete always had his sidekick on stage with him. I don’t remember his name but they would always do some sort of butt dance together. Pete since has left Sioux City and moved to Seattle. He plays in a band called Sioux City Pete and the Beggars. Same kind of stuff you expect from Pete. Great rock and roll. Sioux City won’t be the same, maybe a little cleaner.

Oh and I put this flyer from the show. Pretty sweet.

But Fischer started it all. Its the reason I wanted to play music, and I’ll never forget the first show at the Cattle Club they played. Everyone was starved for a show since it had been a while since Kings Court shut down. The ceiling was falling down and they played one of the best shows I’ve ever seen that night. Plus this record cover is amazing and the title was very fitting. Each member of Fischer has gone on to make great music and Russell has been one of the biggest inspirations in my life. Anyway…enjoy Timmy Wears a Helmet.

This was one of my first shows there. I showed up at the club in awe of the venue. It was an old run down school. I walked in and paid the $5 cover to a guy who looked like he should be in a mental institution. His name was Pete Phillips. He commented on my coat which was a woman’s fur coat just barely big enough for me. I walked in from the foyer and looking into what was probably the concession stand upstairs from the gym where the stage was located. It was full of typical Sioux City kids, dirty and confused. From there I walked into the bathroom which consisted of a hole in the floor. Not sure where my piss went but didn’t care at the time. So I walked down the stairs to the gym and the place was packed. On the stage was Iowa Beef Experience. All I remember from their show was the swarm of kids slam dancing. The next band on the stage was Three Mile Pilot. To this day my ears still ring from that show. They were the loudest band I’ve ever seen. They all had hand made metal guitars and amps up to the ceiling and off to the left side of the stage was Pete peering over the crowd of people from top of the PA speaker. That show changed my life. Every weekend from then on I went to shows in Sioux City and to this day have never seen anything like it.