Scratch acid
| Scratch acid | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Genre (s) | Noise rock , art punk |
| founding | 1982, 2006 |
| resolution | 1987 |
| Founding members | |
| Steve Anderson (until 1982) | |
| David Yow | |
| Brett Bredford | |
guitar |
David Wm. Sims |
| Rey Washam | |
| Current occupation | |
singing |
David Yow |
bass |
David Wm. Sims |
guitar |
Brett Bredford |
Drums |
Rey Washam |
| former members | |
Drums |
Rich Malley |
Scratch Acid was an American noise rock band from Austin , Texas. Although Scratch Acid is a rather small and unknown band, the band had a significant impact on the hardcore and noise scene in and around Austin and Texas in the 1980s.
history
In the summer of 1982, the formation was formed from the remains of the bands Jerry's Kids , whose drummer Brian Betzger also played in Gang Green, and Toxic Shock. The founding formation of the band did not last long, however: At their first concert, Scratch Acid played three instrumentals as the opening act for the Butthole Surfers , while singer Steve Anderson was on the street in front of the club, without his knowing that the rest of the band was already playing . Thus Anderson was indirectly "thrown" from the band. After this first official appearance of Scratch Acid, David Yow took over the part of the singer and Sims switched from guitar to bass. From March 1983 the new line-up was ready to play their first concerts.
After two albums - 1984 Scratch Acid and 1986 Just Keep Eating - Scratch Acid split from their label Rabid Cat after a dispute between the band and the label broke out because Rabid Cat refused to pay Scratch Acid any financial shares for records sold - which was partly due to the fact that Scratch Acid never signed a record deal with Rabid Cat.
In 1986 the band switched to the young, up-and-coming label Touch And Go Records . Only handshake contracts were concluded here, but the label follows the philosophy that the bands are retained and promoted by the label, but also the label by the bands. This step made it possible for Scratch Acid to record a record that clearly stands out in terms of quality from the two previous works. In 1987, Berserker appeared on Touch and Go Records and Scratch Acid toured Europe.
resolution
In 1987 the band realized that they had earned a good reputation, but they overestimated their level of awareness, spent a lot of money, stopped rehearsing and eventually drifted apart. Obviously burned out, with no financial means or new ideas, the decision was made to break up the band.
Follow-up bands and projects
David Wm. Sims and Rey Washam founded the band Rapeman in 1987 together with Steve Albini (including Big Black ) , which however broke up three years later. David Yow and David Wm. Sims met again in 1989 and formed the band The Jesus Lizard together with Duane Denison (later Tomahawk ) and became a famous and sought-after alternative noise rock band around the world, which however never achieved great commercial success finds. Guitarist Brett Bredford was the only one who stayed in Austin and was active in smaller local bands for a long time. Washam played drums for bands like Ministry , Helios Creed and Tad , among others .
Reunion
In 2005, Scratch Acids record label Touch and Go Records began planning a three-day anniversary festival for the 25th anniversary of the label. Scratch Acid were asked if they would be willing to play at the concert. The band agrees and reunites with the original line-up. On September 2nd, 2006 Scratch Acid played at Emo's nightclub in Austin, Texas. It is the first concert in 19 years. From September 8th to 10th, 2006, the “Touch and Go 25th Anniversary Celebration” festival took place in Chicago, with other Touch & Go bands ( Shellac , Big Black, Killdozer , The Monorchid and many more) Scratch Acid (September 9th).
Discography
The first three releases of Scratch Acid were released exclusively as vinyl LP, the compilation The Greatest Gift was released as an audio CD in 1991 and contains in chronological order the three albums released to date plus an extra track ( The Scale Song ) from an early one Demo of the band.
- 1984: Scratch Acid (Album, Rabid Cat)
- 1986: Just Keep Eating (Album, Rabid Cat)
- 1987: Berserker (Album, Touch and Go Records)
- 1991: The Greatest Gift (compilation, Touch and Go Records)
style
The band's genre is often referred to as noise rock. Apart from the fact that it is difficult to clearly assign a style to the band, in the case of Scratch Acid one can rather speak of a merging of different styles and styles of music. That's why the band's sound sounds more like a mixture of New Wave , Punk , Noise and Hardcore.
Scratch Acid were very eager to experiment: The effect of the song Owners Lament (from the album Scratch Acid ) was accompanied by a string arrangement, the song Damned For All Time ( Just Keep Eating ) is a cover version of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Jesus Christ Superstar .
Scratch Acid went through a strong development from their first to the last release: While the debut Scratch Acid still sounds like rough noise punk, more New Wave-like pieces can be found on Berserker . The roots of noise and punk can still be heard.