Trenchmouth

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Trenchmouth
Trenchmouth.jpg
Trenchmouth, from left to right: Armisen, Locks, DeZutter, Montana
Background information
Origin Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Genres
Years active1988–1996
Labels Skene!/East West
Past members

Trenchmouth was an American punk band from Chicago, Illinois, formed in 1988. Throughout its existence, the band mainly consisted of Damon Locks (vocals/percussion), Chris DeZutter (guitar), Wayne Montana (bass), and Fred Armisen (drums). [1]

Contents

Biography

The band was founded in 1988 after Locks and Armisen dropped out of the School of Visual Arts and moved from New York to Chicago. [2] As a five-piece with two guitarists, the band released their debut EP, "Snakebite," in 1989. [3] After releasing two studio albums, Construction of New Action and Inside The Future, they released a third LP, Trenchmouth vs. The Light of the Sun, on East West Records, a division of Elektra Records. The band broke up after releasing their final album, The Broadcasting System , in 1996. [1]

Armisen went on to be a cast member of Saturday Night Live , and would later create, produce, and star in the TV sketch comedy series Portlandia . Locks went on to be in Super ESP and later reconvened with Montana to form The Eternals.

In a 2014 Q&A also featuring musicians David Pajo and David Grubbs, Armisen revealed why he quit Trenchmouth: "It just felt like other bands kept passing us by," Armisen also said that "it was easy to convince himself some of those bands were more pop, and had a broader appeal." But as weirder and weirder bands started passing Trenchmouth by, he started to see the writing on the wall. He concluded: "Tortoise [Pajo's former band] had 20 minute songs with no vocals and they were huge." [4]

Musical style

Primarily known as a post-hardcore band, [4] Trenchmouth was also labeled as punk rock and math rock. [5] The band's musical style featured influences from various genres, including no wave, post-punk, funk, and reggae, [1] as well as Latin music. [2] The band's first single, "Snakebite", was described as a post-punk track that "fills in the void between primitive acid-jazz grooves, worldbeat brazenness, and fetid Fugazi formula." [3] While the band's following releases, including Trenchmouth Vs. the Light of the Sun , featured "mutating time signatures, elaborate guitar phrasing, and fast-walking basslines that traditionally signify 1970s prog-rock", [6] the band's final album completes the band's evolution to a "bass-heavy dub project". [5]

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

Compilation appearances

Singles

References

  1. 1 2 3 Kellman, Andy. "Trenchmouth biography". Allmusic . Retrieved September 3, 2015.
  2. 1 2 Hawkins, Bennett (February 24, 2014). "A Brief History Of Fred Armisen's Musical Career: From Trenchmouth To The 8G Band". Uproxx . Retrieved September 3, 2015.
  3. 1 2 Ensminger, David (May 16, 2012). "Top Ten Lost Midwest Punk Singles". PopMatters . Retrieved September 3, 2015.
  4. 1 2 McManus, Brian (March 18, 2014). "Fred Armisen Reveals Why He Quit Trenchmouth". The Village Voice . Retrieved September 3, 2015.
  5. 1 2 Glazer, Joshua. "Trenchmouth - The Broadcasting System review". Allmusic . Retrieved September 3, 2015.
  6. ↑ Glazer, Joshua. "Trenchmouth - Vs. the Light of the Sun". Allmusic . Retrieved September 3, 2015.
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