Philadelphia Bands

S PRCSS has a new album, Taste Like Daughter coming out in May on My Pal God Records.

Reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaadddddddddddddddddddddddddd the boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooook!

(I almost said Sadistic Exploits!)

No Milk!

Head Cheese.

These are all old bands since I'm profoundly out of the loop. (Except for Conjunto 23, but that's a different sort of thing.)

Odean Pope Saxophone Choir!

and oh yeah: Josh Wink! King Britt!

also, shout-out to the now-dispersed Red Square scene: Jen Turrell, Rabbit in Red, the Snow Fairies, the Skywriters, Thrift Shop, etc.

NOT KRS-One, who emphatically states that "No, I'm not from Philly!"

Also: Johnny's Dance Band! FOD!

thanks to everyone who contributed this thread. it made my day.

Now the question is how many of these bands can tell me where to get a good cheesesteak.

hollertronix: too overhyped / too early to really judge how good it actually is.

fact checking cuz... take note:

ween is incorrect. the band states in the lyrics to "freedom of 76" mannequin was filmed at woolworths; it was filmed at the wanamaker building, where lord & taylor is currently located.

however, woolworth was located across the street on chestnut. it closed in '96-97.

Then I will revel in the multitude of possible answers.

Actually, scratch that, your answer is the quintessential philly answer.

where is grand buffet from? (not that i like them or anything).

- Schooly D - "PSK What Does It Mean"
- Hall & Oates - "I Can't Go For That"
- Franklin - "Major Taylor" (the 7" mix with the whistle)
- Freeway feat. Peedi Crakk - "Flipside"
- Eve - "Gotta Man"
- John Coltrane - "Greensleeves" (Africa/Brass version)
- DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince - "Summertime"
- Jill Scott - "Slowly, Surely (Theo Parrish Mix)"
- Roni Size/Reprazent feat. Bahamadia - "New Forms (Remix)"
- Josh Wink - "Higher State of Consciousness"

i kinda hate this town.

Actually, scratch that, your answer is the quintessential philly answer.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. its funny 'cause its true. the water we drink here is really haterade in disguise.

Bands: Mandela Strikeforce (Sean and Don from Ink & Dagger), Flagman, Frail.

Beer store: The Foodery on 10th & Pine.

note: I don't live 'nere no more.

Man, I miss Philly.

Does anybody know what is up with MantaRay? Do they still gig at all?

And that act The Low Numbers from like 6 years ago? I thought they were going to be huge, saw them at The Balcony right when it opened and never heard anything about them after that night.

And what ever happened to those guys in the Interpreters. Man, they were huge for about 6 minutes back in the 90s, weren't they. I'll throw out props for Lefty's Deceiver and defunct acts Haywood and Moped.

and who is king god and why does my ex bandmate who now lives in philly think he's so great?

"got buds in these:
excelsior
amen booze rooster
aspera"

search: excelsior
destroy: amen booze rooster, aspera.

And that act The Low Numbers from like 6 years ago? I thought they were going to be huge, saw them at The Balcony right when it opened and never heard anything about them after that night.

the low numbers changed their name to the hi soft. i havent seen them since the name change, but i do remember them being really really good.

and good call on Espers; they just played a few minute ago, here.

9/21 - DC - DC9 w/renee heartfelt (ex-count me out)
9/23 - Richmond, VA - Chopstix w/renee heartfelt
9/27 - NYC - Rothko w/Hollertronix DJs Diplo and Low budget
9/29 - Philadelphia, PA - Khyber w/panthers, renee heartfelt
10/7 - NYC - North Six w/ Joan of Arc
10/8 - Boston, MA - Middle East w/explosions in the sky
10/10 - Philadelphia, PA - North Star Bar w/ calvin johnson

All following dates are with INTERPOL:

10/11 - Boston - Avalon
10/12 - Montreal - Metropolis
10/13 - Toronto - The Docks
10/15 - Detroit - State Theater
10/16 - Columbus - Newport Music Hall
10/17 - Chicago - Riviera Theatre
10/19 - Minneapolis - First Avenue
10/22 - Seattle - Paramount Theatre
10/23 - Vancouver - Commodore Ballroom
10/24 - Portland - Crystal Ballroom
10/25 - San Francisco - Warfield Theatre
10/27 - Los Angeles - The Wiltern

http://citypaper.net/articles/2005-12-08/music4.shtml

DEVENDRA BANHART DAY -- BANDS CONFIRMED SO FAR
DEVENDRA BANHART
VASHTI BUNYAN
VETIVER
ESPERS
BAT FOR LASHES
JANA HUNTER
THE METALLIC FALCONS
DANIELLE STECH-HOMSY
BERT JANSCH

Sorry for the multiple bulletins, but we're just about ready lose our minds.

To recap, our van was stolen this morning around 8am from the Comfort Inn on Delaware Ave in Philadelphia. It was a white, 2003 Ford E-350, California license plates. ALL of our gear was taken. Here's a list of what's missing:

- 1966 Ludwig drum kit, blue sparkle
- 23" Paiste ride cymbal
- 1976 Fender P-bass, no finish, beat down, Bartolini pick-up
- 1993 Gibson SG, black
- 1973 Fender Telecaster Deluxe, cream, with marble pickguard, humbuckers
- Fender Twin Reverb amp, 70's silverface, master volume
- Fender Deville guitar amp
- early 70's Ampeg SVT bass head with 2 massive metal handles on the sides
- Ampeg SVT 410HLF bass cabinet
- Peavey keyboard amp
- 3 boxes of effects: 2 Line 6 delay pedals, Memory Man Deluxe, Big Muff, SansAmp Bass DI, Rat, MXR distortion, Cry Baby wah, 2 Boss EQ pedals, Boss Digital Delay, 2 Boss Tuners. These were in 3 different suitcases.
- Kurzweil K2000 keyboard
- Boss Dr. Sample

If anyone in the Philadelphia area has any info where this stuff might surface we'd really appreciate it. Or, if you find our van or our gear we can pay you handsome reward. Seriously.

As for the rest of the tour, here's what's happening:

Wed-DC - cancelled
Thur-Providence - cancelled
Friday-Wellesely College - cancelled
Sat-Mercury Lounge - still on
Sun-Mercury Lounge - still on
Monday- Memphis - ???
all SXSW shows are still on.

If anything changes or the equipment fairy makes a special delivery I'll post a bulletin here to let everyone know. Thanks to everyone who wrote to us. It really means a lot. Thanks again.

-Justin
Film School

i always think of that sharpling and wurster sketch with philly boy roy where he names off about 800 philly bands.

- bring your guitars with you whereever you're crashing
- make one bandmate sleep in the van [extra blankets in the winter!]

Hello. As many of you have already heard, our van, the van we bought two days before we left for tour, was stolen with all our equipment in Philadelphia. Our van was parked in a 24-hour attended secured lot with bright lighting and a club on the steering wheel. Even though we did everything we could to keep this van safe and secured, the thieves sawed through the club, hotwired the van and drove it through the parking lot checkout fence. Pretty unbelievable. Unfortunately our van insurance does not cover theft and while some of our insurance might cover some of the gear, it will most likely be minimal.

Thanks so much to all the support we've been getting from our fans. Emails, myspace posts and articles, it's wonderful to feel like we're not alone in this. Also, because we'll be the ones getting hit with these costs we've set up a PayPal account for donations. If you are able to donate anything at all, we'd be extremely appreciative. Everything and anything at this point helps. Please head over to our website http://www.filmschoolmusic.com to make a donation.

Here are the dates we'll still be able to play:

3/10: Massachusetts, Welleseley College w/ Cloud Room
3/11: New York, Mercury Lounge w/ Cloud Room
3/12: New York, Mercury Lounge (second show added!)
3/14: Memphis, Hi Tone w/ Cloud Room
3/16: Austin, SXSW Beggars Banquet showcase at Club Deville (6th & Red River), 9pm
3/17: Austin, SXSW Jane magazine party at Beauty Bar (7th & Red River), time TBA w/Nada Surf, Mates of State, Of Montreal, Film School, The M's, What Made Milwaukee Famous, Tiny Steps
3/18: Austin, SXSW Hi Dive party at Gallery Lombardi (910 3rd at N.Lamar), 3:45pm w/Dressy Bessy, the M's, Ester Drang, Paul Jenkins (of Black Heart Procession), Bright Channel and more
3/31: San Francisco, Noise Pop Festival at Slim's
4/1: Los Angeles, The Troubadour w/Cloud Room

Again, thanks for your support and we hope to see you at the shows.

Hi. Sorry for the multiple bulletins, but I wanted to let everyone know the Philadelphia PD just located our van. YESSSSS! They couldn't tell us anything about the condition other than that "it looks fine". Unfortunately, none of our gear was still inside. NOOOO!

For those of you in the Philadelphia/Trenton area please keep spreading the word about our gear. If anybody needs pictures of our guitars, amps, serial numbers, etc. please get in touch. Here's the list of what's missing again:

Amps:

Fender Deville guitar amp
1970's Fender Twin Reverb silverface, master volume
1970's Ampeg SVT Bass amplifier head
Ampeg SVT 410HLF cabinet

Guitars:

1993 Gibson SG guitar black
1973 Fender Telecaster Deluxe w/humbuckers white w/marble pickguard
1976 Fender Precision Bass Serial ..629010 no finish/natural

Effects Pedals:

2 Line 6 Delay DL-4 pedals
Electro-Harmonix Memory Man Deluxe pedal
MXR Distortion pedal
Cry Baby Wah-wah pedal
2 Boss GE-7 Equalizer pedal
1 Boss TU-2 tuner pedal
Electro-Harmonix Big Muff fuzz pedal
Boss TU-12 tuner
Pro-Co Rat distortion pedal
SansAmp Bass DI box
Core One Pedal board
Pedal Pad pedal board

Keyboards:

Kurzweil K2VX keyboard w/sampling option
Boss SP-303 sampler w/power adapter
ART powermix 4 minimixer
Yamaha sustain pedal

Drums:

1966 Ludwig blue sparkle 13", 16", 22"
1964 Ludwig supralite snare 14"
14" Zildjan A series hi-hats
20" Zildjan A series crash
24" Paiste 2002 Dark ride
1 SKB 22" bass drum case
1 SKB 16" floor tom case
1 SKB 14" snare drum case
1 SKB 13" tom case
22" SKB cymbal case
2 Pearl stronglight stands
1 Pearl hi-hat stand
1 Pearl Bass drum pedal

Thanks again to everyone coming together to help us out like this. We really touched.

I'll post another update if/when we get any new info.

Apparently no one remembers King Carcass, but at least this guy does:
http://www.richius.com/mp3.html

skankin to the hit-hard
body in the pulse beat
quivered in the been told
i'm a broke lump o' meat
no this aint no mismatch
i ain't got no death wish
one thing bout this white trash
what i gots a thrash wish

Okay, can I finally throw this flyer out now and why have I kept it for so long (aside from the fact that I had a couple classes with the guy in the band who probably wrote those lines)?

http://uptownbones.com/

no one here mentioned Schooley D - tch tch.

Jesus, glad film school got their van back. looks like im not the only to get gear raped this year.

Schooly D! The Strapping Fieldhands! Mandrake Memorial!

-- scott seward (skotro...), April 22nd, 2004.

(i always forget that extra L)

?

film school
arab strap
rosie thomas
ambulette

http://www.youtube.com/user/AllroyPA#play/uploads/10/hIuRLiljFQc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2b7utZwzhw

A bit better, I'd say:

http://www.youtube.com/user/dazeystarr#p/a/u/0/-EXorsrqyTk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EXorsrqyTk

http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/music/The-Wawa-Jingle-Guy.html

FINALLY, Scram's anthemic "Here Tonite" is up. Love this song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mRF3Kh_yko

My favorite local Philly band during the 80s, with Ruin as a close second.

And, also huge, "Stand Up":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvbgN_yjL6g

It's sad about Scram. They reinvented their sound as they went on, digging more deeply into African music, adding percussion, and drafting saxophonist Elliot Levin, but they didn't get much support.

And you can complain about the protest lyrics (though I find them pretty palatable here) but you cannot deny the "Here Tonite" hook.

Never saw this band live (probably would've been too scared?), but I liked some of their songs on the radio. the Sadistic Exploits:

http://freedomhasnobounds.com/?cat=30

(Actually I think they were from New Jersey, but close enough.)

Oh and he's got live footage of RUIN from the 80s:

http://freedomhasnobounds.com/?cat=6

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRvYu_DUrpQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiAJssHF6Bw

Thank you youtube, I'm not getting any laundry done.

This Baby Doll might be the best of the live videos I've checked out so far:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xah7WYiqJHU

Anyone heard of Alex G?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_G

Yeah! I saw him play at OK Fest this year, he is p amazing

There is so much amazing music in Philly right now (Pinkwash, Sheer Mag, Girlpool, Hop Along, Swearin', Waxahatchee, Cayetana, Amanda X, Chondria, +HIRS+, etc)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pr2um9KXkgQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHh5FWxxSy4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDprSv9DjxY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mx3FcZmGyn8

The Goats were Philadelphia weren't they? & were actually a band when they played live at least.
I love Tricks of The Shade but not No Goats No Glory so much. They lost a central member between the 2 releases though I think. Have hoped that some live material by the band might appear somewhere but think I've only got one track possibly.

I know the Arkestra did spend some time in Philadelphia but can't think what era they were based there in. What Sun Ra lps does that relate to?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GLqs-fwDM4

Started a thread about this band, but I'm going to post it here too. These are reacreations, years later, by band member Todd Shuster, but I think the songs still come through. Late 70s Philadelphia punk.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y88VGIIkTOA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bozfE4v5-MQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT5DQJiq35s

Sink Manhattan (mentioned upthread):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFdJeupPLlQ

Ghostwriters (who I mistakenly called Ghost Riders upthread):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zh1t1he4IEY

no mention thus far of the great PURLING HISS? tsk tsk...

Lots of grist for my false nostalgia:

http://freedomhasnobounds.com/

Rudipherous, when were you in Philly?

As a child, something like 1973-1978. As an adult: 1989-2008

But also went to Temple 1983-1987, and worked and played there most of 1987-1989.

Rightly or wrongly, my paying attention to local rock (and related fringe things) was largely limited to the 80s.

lol i wonder if you're friends with any of my friends who were doing the whole lancaster ave punk squat thing in the 90s

I wasn't doing anything that interesting back then, although it's certainly possible that I might at least know someone who knows them. I smoked a joint at the Fake House once. That's about the closest I got to that scene.

I saw RUIN and Scram! much more often than any other local bands (not counting the Sun Ra Arkestra). Also, a lot of my experience of the bands from that era was via WXPN and WKDU (especially 78-83 before I started college).

(Or Relache, not that they were even a band of any sort.)

Relache! man, talk about nostalgia. ever go to a show at the funk dungeon? or hang out at the crass house at temple?

i think i moved there in 1988. just in time to see karen finley at the painted bride.

Nope to both of those. Was that a house occupied by Crass fans or something?

I know there were a lot of houses for different organizations (though that sounds unofficial!). I was in the honors program at Temple (not really what it sounds like) and when I first started there, they still had their own house. I think my college years (and beyond) would have been a lot more interesting if they had kept that house.

Like most Temple students (at that time--probably still?) I commuted. Had crushes on some of the Yardley girls who headed home every day in more or less the opposite direction.

yeah, it was just a big punk party house at temple. they would have shows.

funk dungeon was a huge cavernous warehouse space in north philly where they would have massive parties and shows in the 80's. i did acid there once and had to walk home to center city in a snowstorm. that was frightening and memorable. and it took forever. it was miles from center city. but temple people would go there.

You were probably at least safer thanks to the snow, but it doesn't sound like a great idea overall. Was Funk Dungeon north or south of Temple?

I was kind of a wuss in terms of what venues I would venture to, or what crowds I wanted to be around (although generally keeping a distance from skinhead punks was not such a bad idea).

i want to say it was on cecil b. moore so not that far north actually. it probably just felt like a million miles that night. nowhere i would have gone sober. i used to walk everywhere in philly when i was young. mostly during the day, but i would start walking north or west or south and just keep going. looking for records usually. i never took buses. just walked. but i never really "hung out" much outside of center city. that was my base except for a brief time in west philly.

at night sometimes i would walk to a show at the khyber from my place and then take a cab to my door when it was done. i was all about getting in and out in a hurry.

it was all so long ago. i don't think about it much anymore. it wasn't exactly cool to be in philly in the 90's. though it was a perfectly okay place to live. when we moved rufus was 2 months old and now he's 14! already many moons ago.

scott, where in west philly were you?

False nostalgia, incidentally, because (a) a lot of these bands were mediocre at best, to be honest and (b) I wasn't really having such exciting times nor was I that immersed in these scenes.

scott, oh yeah, I used to walk all over the place all the time (though took occasional public transportation and cabs). I miss that. I remember walking back from the Chestnut Cabaret to Spring Garden/Art Museum Area. Even when I was doing salsa dancing, I used to walk home to center city from Delaware Avenue at 2AMish and never really had problems.

Sounding so old.

https://www.google.com/maps/vt/data=RfCSdfNZ0LFPrHSm0ublXdzhdrDFhtmHhN1u-gM,UakgnonR5rqJUHsssYdlg7jwUTIdLQP-nBC-u3EcLDeSC2o3QVqHgIspvyvp0mvRJGHghZlw1_U4ysu1HBgZ0OIhTVMNKw4e6zKFI0yLdkT1wpl1UmjYEef2U2z0aWCPxKTT8KKoLoRVauNbaTnMswvZ6Xqf7GhnWg4YeGvspZBlEyLohL-ngVQ_RGtMWhRsWvTBQCK6v8Kyp-v_mrf38NFa0xfcpV1bHg

that's where i lived in west philly.

i used to have to take the trolley to the subway to old city to work in the morning. maybe that's why i walked everywhere for the next decade.

wow I live two blocks away from where you lived! it's a v happening neighborhood these days.

I was going to put this on a Christgau thread, but it's only tangentially related to him (because it took me forever to find it, it became the most elusive A-record from his '80s book for me): Persian Gulf's Changing the Weather. Once through, and the two songs that jumped out were "It's a Good Thing" and "(I'm So Glad I'm) Living in the Free World." The latter struck me as good, not great, but I thought it pretty interesting how it anticipates Neil Young by five years.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABntttO9pKA

Some missing RUIN tracks finally appearing on youtube:

Great Divide, psychedelic speed metal/punk:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2qGOu9xZkQ

From their previous album:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flf-TrOVk0A

etc.

Did not mean to make this into a nostalgia Saturday. That usually happens when I'm a bit depressed, which I'm not today.

My other favorite from Fiat Lux follows something like the Great Divide formula:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KO-b1bJgMhM

Altar, good inspirational hardcore:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buylfmEkjUo

And the classically brief Rule Worshipper:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZLhB3hZgdc

Apparently this is all a result of their two albums being reissued last year which I missed.

They plead being but coming persists!

You tell 'em!

Oops, ruined it:

They plead being but becoming persists

He-Ho is such a good album. I used to prefer Fiat Lux. I think I like my favorite Fiat Lux songs more, but He-Ho has pretty amazing flow:

https://open.spotify.com/album/78INC6nI6P9fgXYuU4qJMA

Throw in a few bonus tracks of course and that throws off the flow. Mouse was not on the original album. Don't even know where that came from.

Although the one-two punch of You and Make Believe at the beginning of Fiat Lux is nothing to dismiss lightly.

Nice to see these reissued on Southern Lord alongside so much Boris!