The Residents

The Residents have kept their identity secret for twenty-eight years.  They have no faces, no gender, no race and no personality.  This decision was reached because they wanted a separation between their personal and professional lives.  Anonymity was and is their only rule.  These faceless anti-stars have stood on the fringes of the music world happily releasing their often-disturbing music to critical acclaim.  They are supposedly originally from Shreveport, Louisiana, and one is the father of Siamese Twins.  Maybe one is a former Protestant Minister and another has one of the largest model railroad collections in the world. 

Regarded by many to be the original pioneers of the music video, The Residents produced their first video in 1972 (Vileness Fats), but really came into their own when they released Third Reich ‘n Roll in 1977.  In this video, the band is dressed entirely in newspapers, as well as the instruments and set.  There is crude stop action animation filmed in black and white color that makes the hair on your neck stand up.

Tormentula

“Whorrorcore,” was the reply that I got from Tormentula drummer / vocalist Alice Bludgeon when I asked her to describe Tormentula’s music. I’ve wanted to do a story on Tormentula ever since their CD, Submit You Unworthy Soul, came out last summer. Not a pretty record and occasionally not easy to listen to, but nonetheless a superior record of enraged estrogen recorded for all of the world to hear and one of the best hard rock CD’s to come out of Wisconsin. So impressive is Submit Your Unworthy Soul, that the CD was stolen from my office while I was setting up this article.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from these women with faces made up better than KISS, playing music to stomp gonads to. What I did find was an intelligent and articulate woman (drummer / vocalist Alice Bludgeon) whose love for rock and roll music is as passionate as Angus Young. “I think that music should be challenging to the musician and to the listener,” said Bludgeon.

Boris The Sprinkler

When you think of Green Bay, there is only one thing that comes to mind, it’s the hometown of that zany punk rock band, Boris the Sprinkler. These Pop Culture abnormalities are so endeared in their hometown that the mayor has proposed to change the name of their obscure football team to “The Green Bay Sprinklers” and the name of the stadium to “Reverend Norb Field.”  Who the hell is Reverend Norb and Boris the Sprinkler, you may ask?  Well sit down, pop a beer, light a cigarette and read on, but I must warn you that after you’re done reading this article, you may know less about the Pride of Green Bay than before you picked up this paper. Formed by vocalist and former writer for Maximum Rock and Roll, (not to be confused with Maximum Ink – the paper in your hands) Reverend Norb, super guitarist Paul #1 and a revolving door rhythm section in 1992.  They were and still are influenced by the more zany side of punk rock music, The Dickies, Rezillos and The Ramones.  “Every talentless idiot like me,” confided Reverend Norb, “learned how to play music by listening to The Ramones.”

They released an uncountable number of 45’s, split 45’s, EP’s, LP’s and CD’s, [Although, research put the number at 6 full-length albums and 19 singles].  “For awhile there,” said Mike Sykes, former owner of Milwaukee’s Stinky Record Exchange, “it seemed like Boris the Sprinkler were releasing a record every week.  I couldn’t keep up and had to dedicate the entire store to them.  I went out of business one month later.”

She Might Have A Gun

My dog Zeus always sits in the same room as me when I write.  He is my barometer to gauge the intensity of music.  Although my Michigan Shepherd didn’t run out of the room like his ass was on fire like he did when I wrote about “Kill Switch…Klick,” he did become highly agitated and restless when I put on the She Might Have a Gun CD, Live Drugs. In fact, I haven’t seen him this distraught since I fed him leftover Sloppy Joes last summer.

Rising out of the debris like bum in Tenny Park on a Sunday afternoon, She Might Have a Gun is the end product of too many Madison bands [Magic Seven, Horizon 90, Last Crack, Autumn’s Dance, One Day War, Breath of Life, The Lotus Band, Krash Holiday].  Curiously, much like Green River/Mother Love Bone/Pearl Jam a decade before them.

Formed in the summer of 98, by Trinity James Mellon and Jamison Downing after they both found themselves without a band. Scraping together other musicians to fill the hole, She Might Have a Gun was born. Dispensing with all regards to the current trends, She Might Have a Gun blazes it’s own way, distributing its sonic barrage with tribal abandonment.  She Might Have a Gun’s music bites you in the ass like a beer soaked squirrel in your sleeping bag. The band consists of Jamison Downing and Noah Rickun on guitars, Trinity Mellon on vocals, Chin on bass, Hooch on congas and poetry and the multi-talented and infamous Buddo on drums. I spoke with the band while they were trying to decide what limo company to hire for their next show.