The queers

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The queers
The Queers at the Ruhrpott Rodeo 2013 in Hünxe with the line-up Joe Queer, Dangerous Dave, Lurch Nobody

The Queers are a punk band from Portsmouth , New Hampshire, USA . Their sound is strongly influenced by the music of the Ramones , but also by other influences, such as The Beach Boys .

history

The band was founded in 1982 by Joe Queer (then still under the name Joe King) on ​​guitar, Tulu on bass and as lead singer and Wimpy on drums. In the beginning, Tulu was responsible for the songwriting and singing, but Joe quickly took on these tasks. In this early phase, the band's music was even more influenced by the US hardcore legend Black Flag and was much rougher. It was only later that the more melodic Bubblegum punk sound, which is influenced by Beach Boys' harmonies, developed today. The band played a few concerts and released a few songs on various compilations and two 7 inches ( Love me , 1982 and Kick out the Webelos, 1984) on his own. But not least because of various line-up changes, temporary dissolutions and the attitude that the band is a pure party thing, it should be until 1990 before they released their first album Grow Up on the small English label Shakin Street Records. It was published in an edition of 1000 and the label went bankrupt shortly afterwards. (The album was re-released by Lookout Records in 1994. ) Under the influence of Ben Weasel, singer of the punk band Screeching Weasel and columnist of the American cult fanzine Maximum Rock'n'Roll , The Queers got a contract with Lookout Records. There they released the album Love songs for the retarded in April 1993 with the line-up Joe Queer, B-Face (bass), whom they met at a concert by Social Distortion , and Hugh O'Neill (drums). Ben Weasel was responsible for the production. This was followed by the albums Beat off (1994), Move back home (1995) and the outstanding classic Don't back down (1996). In January 1999, longtime drummer Hugh O'Neil died of a brain tumor and B-Face left the band shortly afterwards, after which he played with the Groovie Ghoulies, among others . Joe Queer has been the only constant in the queers line up ever since.

The band switched from Lookout to Hopeless and there the albums Punkrock Confidential (1999), Beyond the valley of the assfuckers (2001) and Live in West Hollywood (2002) were released.
In 2004 the last real studio album Pleasant Screams was released again by Lookout. Together with The Manges, they released the split CD Acid Beaters , on which the Queers only play cover songs. Besides Joe, the current line-up consists of Phillip Hill (bass), formerly Teen Idols, and Lurch Nobody (drums).

style

The Queers are often called Ramones - epigones referred to, which is quite not entirely wrong. But in the course of time, not least thanks to the concise voice of Joe Queer and his feeling for simple but captivating melodies, they have found a sound that stands for itself. Their admiration for the Ramones, which is also reflected in their music, is shown by the fact that they covered their third album Rocket to Russia in full and released it on record (1994, Selfless Records). The lyrics mainly cover the subject area girls, beer, party and surfing (even if Joe Queer, according to his own statements, was standing on a surfboard for the first time and was very embarrassed in front of fans of the band).

Surname

Joe Queer commented on the naming of the band as follows: “We specifically named our band The Queers to piss off the pathetic local art community which sneered down at us. We knew everyone would hate 'The Queers'' cause it was such a cool name. Even the local jerks would remember it. " Regarding allegations that the band was sexist and homophobic, he replied: " Fuck the PC bullshit. Having a song called 'I want cunt' doesn't mean we're sexist, homophobic, racist assholes. The Queers are about having fun - like The Ramones, Angry Samones, and all good punk music is about having fun. As I said, we have a great audience, and we have full confidence that our fans know the difference between obviously tongue-in-cheek satrical punk songs ('I want cunt', 'Gay boy') and a skinhead, white power band singing wistfully about beating up 'fags'. "

Side projects

Joe Queer founded the band The drunken cholos with the other two founding members Tulu and Wimpy and released the album Livin la vida loco on Hopeless in 2001 .

Discography

LPs
  • Grow up (Shakin Street) (1990)
  • Love songs for the retarded (Lookout) (1993)
  • Beat Off (Lookout) (1994)
  • Rocket to Russia (Selfless) (1994)
  • Suck This - live (Clearview) (1994) - Single sided LP recorded at the Jam Room
  • Move back home (Lookout) (1995)
  • A day late and a dollar short (Lookout) (1996) - Compilation of the band's early EPs and demo recordings
  • Don't back down (Lookout) (1996)
  • Punk rock Confidential (Hopeless) (1999)
  • Beyond the valley of the assfuckers (Hopeless) (2000)
  • Live in West Hollywood (Hopeless) (2001)
  • Pleasant Screams (Lookout) (2002)
  • Summer hits No. 1 (Doheny Records) (2004) - Re-recording of old queers hits
  • Weekend at Bernie's - live (2006)
  • Munki Brain (2007)
  • Back to the basement (Asian Man) (2010)

Web links

Commons : The Queers  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files