Victims Family
| Victims Family | |
|---|---|
 Bassist Larry Boothroyd performing live with the Victims Family in 2004. |
|
| General information | |
| origin | Santa Rosa , United States |
| Genre (s) | Hardcore punk , jazzcore |
| founding | 1984, 1993, 2001 |
| resolution | 1992, 1995 |
| Website | www.victimsfamily.com |
| Founding members | |
| Ralph Spight | |
| Larry Boothroyd | |
| Devon VrMeer | |
| Current occupation | |
Vocals, guitar |
Ralph Spight |
bass |
Larry Boothroyd |
Drums |
Tim Solyan |
| former members | |
Drums |
Devon VrMeer (1984–1988) |
Drums |
Eric Strand (1988-1989) |
Drums |
David Gleza (2001-2002) |
Victims Family is a punk band from Santa Rosa . The band was formed in 1984 by bassist Larry Boothroyd and guitarist and singer Ralph Spight. The drummer Devon VrMeer completed the band that same year. With their idiosyncratic mixture of punk, metal , funk and jazz-influenced progressive rock, the band is one of the pioneers of jazz core .
history
founding
Singer Ralph Spight and bassist Larry Boothroyd met in the early 1980s when their previous bands were engaged in Santa Rosa. Spight performed with the rockabilly band Pedestrians while Boothroyd played bass for the band Skirtboys . The sound of skirtboys corresponded to a mixture of punk, jazz and funk. After Skirtboys broke up in the early 1980s, Spight and Boothroyd formed the band Victims Family together. They borrowed the name from a picture by the carton maker Bernhard Kliban. Shortly afterwards they turned drummer Devon VrMeer away from the local gothic rock band Fire Mission .
In the first few years the band recorded a few demo tapes and toured various cities in the American South. Victims Family opened a concert by the hardcore band Suicidal Tendencies in Petaluma in 1984 and played a joint concert with NOFX in Albuquerque in 1985 . In addition, the band played a first joint concert with Dead Kennedys in 1985 .
Mordam Records
The band got to know Ruth Schwartz from Mordam Records through another concert in San Francisco. The very record company that had previously released the debut of the band Faith No More , which was also difficult to categorize , now also released the debut of the Victims Family Voltage and Violets . At that time, Schwartz was already known for releasing unconventional bands, which also gave the displaced bands the genre title Schwartzcore , which, however, did not remain a genre name.
In 1988 Devon VrMeer left the band for family reasons after two joint studio albums and an exhausting tour and was replaced by Eric Strand. Spight describes the tour on the band's homepage as "the 1987 tour to hell" "The 1987 tour to hell". Spight explained that the entire tour was marked by a series of wrong decisions and blows of fate. The band had already rehearsed too little before and ruined some concerts through their own negligence, personal selfishness and excessive alcohol consumption. In addition, various concerts had to be canceled due to some breakdowns in the tour van. The sets in Canada were banned entirely because of the attempt to illegally enter the country, a circumstance which also gave the band a one-year entry ban. The van came to a complete standstill on the way back in Nevada recently. VrMeer and Spight stayed a few more days in Nevada indulging in the legal gambling there . But the band went back to Santa Rosa separately. The individual members of the Victims Family did not speak to each other for a few months. But in addition to the few good concerts on this tour, there was also a lasting performance with No Means No in Oakland , from which a long-term friendship should develop. Despite the bad tour and against their own expectations, the musicians got together and recorded Things I Hate to Admit before VrMeer's exit . Shortly after the release, however, VrMeer started a family and therefore decided against the band.
The two-month tour through Europe that followed the album was already accompanied by Eric Strand. Strand had been a friend of the band for years and had played with Victims Family before VrMeer. During this tour, the fall of the Berlin Wall also happened , an event that the band did not miss and tempted them to visit in good time. Both Spight and Boothroyd have since bragged about helping tore down the wall. While they were still on tour, Spight and Boothroyd found that their collaboration with Strand was less productive than expected. Strand could not master more complicated pieces and musically could not fit into the band structure. Strand was replaced by Tim Solyan, who previously accompanied the band as a roadie .
In this new constellation, the band also recorded the album White Bread Blues . The third studio album should be the final album for Mordam Records. The album was in Vancouver recorded and John Wright drummer of friendly band No Means No produced. The album has since been considered the band's most important release. White Bread Blues remained the band's most successful record with over 20,000 sold copies until 2008. The title Caged Bird reached number 6 in the Dutch radio charts. At the following concerts the band performed with such illustrious bands as Nirvana , Tad , Primus , Green Day and Mr. Bungle , but never managed to build on their own success in a similar way.
Alternative tentacles
In 1992 Victims Family switched to Alternative Tentacles . Ruth Schwartz personally brought the band into Jello Biafra's label beforehand . For Alternative Tentacles, the band recorded The Germ first . The album was also produced in Vancouver by John Wright and is described by the label, compared to the early releases, as thoughtful and noise-heavy . After they had also presented this album at extensive concerts, the band split for the first time in 1992. The separation of only ten months ended with a sold out concert in San Francisco in spring 1993 and the prompt announcement of a new album. Headache Remedy then appeared in 1994. Again tours and concerts in Europe and America followed. In 1995 the sixth and for the time being last album Four Great Thrash Songs was released . The band recorded the album live at their final concert in Amsterdam in Melkweg . Both the city and the Melkweg already had a long tradition for Victims Family at that time.
Following the release of Four Great Thrash Songs , the band split again. Boothroyd founded the punk band Saturn's Flea Collar in 1995, to which he invited Spight as guitarist. After a single, an album and a tour through America and Europe, this band also split. Shortly thereafter, both founded the band Hellworms and stylistically joined the Victims Family again. This band also recorded an album and a single. Until Boothroyd and Spight decided to go back to the name Victims Family.
“At some point we felt the need to tie in with VICTIMS FAMILY and the old stuff, but didn't want to play the old stuff or peddle the old name, so we founded HELLWORMS and went on tour. After seven months the drummer quit and we were faced with the decision to look for a new drummer and a new name, but gradually that became too stupid for us. Since the old name followed us every step of the way and we wanted to play live again, we ended up with VICTIMS FAMILY again. "
So in 2001 Boothroyd and Spight decided to play songs from all three bands and new material under the name Victims Family. David Gleza joined the band as a new member on drums, but he also left the band after the release of the album Apocalicious . Since Gleza left the band due to mental and physical exhaustion, Victims Family have performed again with Tim Solyan, but have not released a new studio album. Instead, the members founded Triclops! 2006 another band.
Since 2008, the first three albums by the Victims Family have been reprinted for the American market by Saint Rose Records . A fact that the band supports with every re-release through a tour. In 2010 the successful album White Bread Blues was released again.
Discography
Albums
- 1986: Voltage and Violets ( Mordam Records , re-released in 2008 on Saint Rose Records )
- 1988: Things I Hate to Admit (Mordam Records, re-released on Saint Rose Records in 2009)
- 1990: White Bread Blues (Mordam Records, re-released on Saint Rose Records in 2010)
- 1992: The Germ ( Alternative Tentacles )
- 1994: Headache Remedy (Alternative Tentacles)
- 1995: Four Great Thrash Songs (Alternative Tentacles)
- 2001: Apocalicious (Alternative Tentacles)
Singles and EPs
- 1988: Son of a Church Card / Quivering Lip (single, Mordam Records)
- 1991: My Evil Twin on Cry / My Evil Twin with Coffin Break (Split EP, Rave Records)
- 1993: Maybe if I ... (Single, Alternative Tentacles)
- 2001: Calling Dr. Schlesinger on Fleshies / Victims Family (Split EP, Alternative Tentacles)
- 2012: Have a Nice Day / Let's Cancel the Future (Single, Alternative Tentacles)
Sampler contributions
- 1986: Lock of Interest on Viva Umkhonto! (Mordam Records / Competition Records)
- 1990: Burly Jalisco on Sasquach, the Man, the Myth, the Compilation (Kirbdog)
- 1990: Sinatra Mantra on The Big One (Flipside Records)
- 1991: Ill in the Head on Virus 100 (Alternative Tentacles)
- 2002: Fridge on Apocalypse Always (Alternative Tentacles)
Web links
- Victims Family at Discogs (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e History. Victims Family, archived from the original on October 5, 2010 ; Retrieved July 1, 2010 .
- ↑ Article in the intro ( Memento of the original from May 22, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed July 1, 2010)
- ↑ a b History (Part 1). VictimsFamily.com, archived from the original on October 5, 2010 ; Retrieved July 1, 2010 .
- ↑ a b History (Part 2). VictimsFamily.com, archived from the original on October 5, 2010 ; Retrieved July 1, 2010 .
- ↑ a b c d e Larry Boothroyd in an interview with MohawkRadio.com (accessed July 1, 2010)
- ↑ a b The band on AllMusic.com (accessed July 1, 2010)
- ↑ a b c Victims Family on Alternative Tentacles ( Memento of the original from June 3, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed July 1, 2010)
- ↑ History (Part 3). VictimsFamily.com, archived from the original on October 5, 2010 ; Retrieved July 1, 2010 .
- ↑ a b c History (Part 4). VictimsFamily.com, archived from the original on October 5, 2010 ; Retrieved July 1, 2010 .
- ↑ a b Interview with Victims Family in the OX (accessed July 1, 2010)
