Noise Retrospective - 1996 to 2000

1996-2000
FAR FROM SUCKODYNE
by Lexi Kahn 

You remember your first kiss, your first drink, and your first time behind the wheel of your very own car. How about your first issue of The Noise? For me it was 1996. I went to the Middle East to see Betty Goo and casually picked up issue #160. Everyone on the cover (Women of Sodom and Miles Dethmuffen) had tongues and hands exploring everyone else. I was hooked. Industrial experimental sexcapades right alongside pure pop bliss? I would soon learn that the genre-blending cover design was de rigueur for this spunky little fanzine, an unintentional statement; at least two bands, but always at least two people pictured. (The trendbuster came with #191, May 1999 when beefcake Jed Parish of The Gravel Pit graced the cover solo.)

The second half of the 1990s was interesting, because the decade had rolled in on a wave of new technology and by ’96 well-known bands like Radiohead had demonstrated new ways to use the new toys. Indie labels were everywhere and recording boomed. In Boston, a pop/ punk/ garage town, the trend seemed to usher forth artsy, dark pop. The Noise was still packed with reverential reviews of three-chord demons like The Freeze and Lyres and Gang Green and The Nines, and of course there was no stopping pop powerhouses like Gigolo Aunts and The Pills and Jack Drag. But a certain experimental quirk had blossomed. Bands like Think Tree, Galaxie 500, and Throwing Muses had certainly paved the way, but by ’96 there was an insistent polished wash of synthesized moodiness. Darkwave? Alternawave? The Noise called it all kinds of things (in issue #168, of Flexie, “powergoth” was coined). It was a great time for bands like edgy acts like Turkish Delight, The Moors, Lunar Plexus, Women of Sodom, Opium Den, Neptune, Cordelia’s Dad, Gingerbutkis, Mistle Thrush, Reflecting Skin, Sabot, Curtain Society, Splashdown, January, little a, One of Us, Litterapture and Saint Chimera. On his very computerized “Astounding World of Tomorrow’s Modern Hi-Fi Audio” (reviewed in issue #160) Pete Weiss issued a time-stamp with “I Hate Rock and Roll.” He sings “Axl Rose can suck my Wang Chung and the Beatles can suck my Flipper/Cuz all the songs have already been sung and that goes double for the Big Dipper.” Heh. I like that. And I loved those bands.

From 1997 to 1999, I averaged five nights a week in the clubs. Five years. Fifty Noises. Hundreds of bands. Though the 1996 Noise poll (#168) threw the most kudos to sludge rockers Quintaine, artsy Turkish Delight and January and prog/space newcomers Count Zero, it was the pop bands mostly winning record deals… and WBCN Rumbles. Oh, those sweet Boston harmonies, infectious hooks and power chords. From ’97 to ’99, delivering the best of the pop rock (and a ton of Noise coverage) were Grooveasaurus, Betty Goo, Lifestyle, Orbit, Sameasyou, Push Stars, Morphine, Sheila Divine, Permafrost, Seventeen, Rocketscience, Boy Wonder, Francine, Angry Salad, Flying Nuns, Pooka Stew, Inhale Mary, SayhitoLisa, The Flux, Douglas Fir, Lockgroove, Mary Lou Lord, Jules Verdone, Ramona Silver, Dirt Merchants, Godboy, Gigolo Aunts, Chin Ho!, Wide Iris, The Pills, Jack Drag, Jumprope, The Irresponsibles, Standing on Earth, The Sterlings, Poundcake, Merrie Amsterburg, The Shods, Star Ghost Dog, Calendar Girl, Mindflow, Tanya Donnelly, Jim’s Big Ego, The Mudhens, Krebstar, Baby Ray, El Camino, Cheerleader, Control Group… man, this list only barely begins to scratch the surface.

And what about the cats churning out surf/spy? And ska.  Like Rustic Overtones, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Bim Skala Bim, Seks Bomba, Babaloo, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Skavoovie, Strangemen….

And the guitar-driven, no-holds-barred face-melters! Random Road Mother, Canine, Sleestack, Chinstrap, Honkyball, Tree, Shiva Speedway, Roadsaw, There, 8-Ball Shifter, El Dopa, Bentmen, PM5K, Scissorfight, Underball, 3 1/2 Girls, Skingame, Neon Jesus, Darkbuster, Cave In, Kicked in the Head, Gangsta Bitch Barbie, Half Cocked…

And the DIY punk and garage straight-up rock of Toxic Narcotic, The Peasants, Firepig, Luau, Ross Phasor, Rootlock, The Vic Morrows, Real Kids, Amazing Royal Crowns, The Freeze, Lyres, The Nines, Media Connection, Underball…

And don’t forget the purveyors of roots and rockabilly and blues and funk:  Slide, Speed Devils, Crown Electric Company, Racketeers, Caged Heat…

Five years. Fifty Noises. Hundreds of bands. Good times. GREAT times. Here are some of my favorite Noise moments from this enormously fertile half-decade.

#173, July 1997, in which Mikey Dee writes the Scissorfight cover story and outs the scary-looking Ironlung as a scholar, a Papas Fritas fan, and then they discuss the weather for a whole quarter page. (From the same issue, does anybody have a copy of The World’s First Van Halen Tribute Compilation advertised on page 32, with Cherry 2K, Elbow, Fuzzy, Sam Black Church and more?)

 #175, Oct 1997, in which Erik Lindgren (Birdsongs of the Mesozic) educates us newbies on the brilliance that is Mission of Burma. (Same issue, The Upper Crust placed a full-page ad of themselves in full wig & make-up surrounded by mostly naked concubines.)

#180, April 1998, in which Einstein writes a one-line review of the Heretix reunion show. “For the love of God and your fans, don’t leave!” (Same issue, The Syphlloids put the lesbian orgy ad that began to alarm some Noise distro locations.)

#185, Oct 1998, in which Tim Catz (then of Honeyglazed) challenges Superhoney, Honey & the Bees, and HoneyWest to a bowling match to keep the name. T Max suggests Beer Chess instead.

#186, Nov 1998, in which Kim Morbey writes a comprehensive two-page review of Boston Rock Opera’s Preservation.

#187, Dec 1998, in which the letters column contains a rally to remove “so called writer” Joe Coughlin, citing “I knew the real Joe Coughlin. Joe Coughlin was a friend of mine. This guy is no Joe Coughlin.” The letter is signed, “Joe Coughlin.”

#191, May 1999, in which T Max is officially on a tear about censorship when one of his distro locations objects to a porn star in a band ad. Yes, The Syphlloids again. (Same issue, a letter from Rockets Burst from the Streetlamps starts a letter-war that would wage for many Noise issues to come).

Oh man, I could list best-of moments all day but I’m running out of space already! What about the one where Corin “always stuck a funny phrase here” Ashley wrote a one-word CD review reading simply: “Suckodyne.”  Or the one in which Mike Baldino did a whole big profile on the rockin’ women behind the scenes!? What about the one where Beverage broke up and wrote us a letter saying that it’s the fault of their fans for not coming out to more shows? And the Dubrow/ Coughlin letter war! And the one with our butts when me and T Max sat on the photocopier!  Wait, T Max, Rita, Lolita, there’s too much in 1996–2000 to fit into just two pages! PLEASE, I need more spa—

(This piece originally appeared in The Noise in 2006, the rest of the article is online.)