Born Against was an American hardcore punk band from New York active between 1989 and 1993. In addition to their radical leftist politics, the group espoused a DIY punk message and challenged what they perceived as being a problem within the punk subculture of their time. Though Born Against received little media exposure while still together, they have since been described as "legendary" by the Chicago Reader and the LA Weekly.
Benjamin Foster, also known as Ben Weasel, is a songwriter, singer, and guitarist. He is best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the punk rock band Screeching Weasel.
The Riverdales were an American punk rock band from Chicago, Illinois made up of Screeching Weasel members. Bassist Dan Vapid and guitarist Ben Weasel are heavily influenced by the Ramones' sound and both serve as front-men, sharing lead vocals for the band. The Riverdales' original run lasted from 1994-1997. They reformed in 2003 to record their third studio album, and then parted ways until they once again reformed in 2008 and released a fourth studio album in July, 2009. The band's fifth studio album, Tarantula, was released digitally on June 8, 2010 and on CD and vinyl on June 22, 2010. The band broke up in March 2011 after a fight that broke out during a Screeching Weasel performance.
Boogadaboogadaboogada! is the second studio album by the Chicago-based punk rock band Screeching Weasel. The album was originally released on vinyl in December 1988 through Roadkill Records. It was the group's only album to feature Fish on bass and the last with Steve Cheese on drums, both leaving the band shortly after the album's release. Although still influenced by hardcore punk, the album also shows hints of the band's later Ramones-inspired sound.
My Brain Hurts is the third studio album by the Chicago-based punk rock band Screeching Weasel. The album was originally released on CD, vinyl and cassette in September 1991 through Lookout Records. It was the group's first album on Lookout as well as the only release with bassist Dave Naked and the first with drummer Dan Panic, the latter of which would go on to appear on several of the band's albums. The album marked a very distinct stylistic shift for the group, fully moving toward a Ramones-inspired sound and completely abandoning their previous hardcore punk influences as a condition made by vocalist Ben Weasel when reforming the band after a brief break-up.
Wiggle is the fifth studio album by the Chicago-based punk rock band Screeching Weasel. Initially planned for release in November 1992, the album was finally released on CD, vinyl and cassette on January 15, 1993 through Lookout Records. Due to a "cymbal hissing" in the original vinyl version, the album was remixed and re-released soon afterwards.
Punkhouse was the first EP by the Chicago-based punk rock band Screeching Weasel. The EP was originally released on 7-inch vinyl with a limited pressing of 500 copies on July 7, 1989 through Limited Potential Records. It was the band's only non-compilation release to feature drummer Brian Vermin and the first to feature Dan Vapid, who would be featured on many later Screeching Weasel albums. Musically, the songs on Punkhouse are in a similar vein to the band's previous album Boogadaboogadaboogada!, albeit with a rougher sound.
How to Make Enemies and Irritate People is the seventh studio album by the Chicago-based punk rock band Screeching Weasel. Planned as the group's final album, it was released in August 1994 on CD, vinyl and cassette through Lookout Records. Shortly before recording the album, bassist/backing vocalist Dan Vapid left the band and, as a result, Green Day bassist Mike Dirnt was recruited to play on the album.
Dan Schafer, better known by his stage name Dan Vapid, is a punk rock musician from Chicago, Illinois. He is best known for his participation in Screeching Weasel, The Riverdales, The Methadones, and various other punk rock/pop punk bands. His current band is Dan Vapid and the Cheats.
Released in 1995, Kill the Musicians was meant to serve as a "cleaning up" of loose ends after Screeching Weasel's breakup in 1994. The compilation collects demos, b-sides, vinyl-only EPs, and other various odds and ends the band had accumulated in their career from 1989 to 1994. It came on the heels of 1994's How to Make Enemies and Irritate People, which itself was a collection of the final songs the band had written prior to splitting up. The band would soon reform in 1996 and remain together again until 2000, when they disbanded again. This collection was out of print for a short period until it was remastered and re-released by Asian Man Records in 2005. The original album contained an in-depth essay written by Ben Weasel covering the history of the band. This was later omitted from the re-issue.
The Flying Luttenbachers are an American instrumental unit led by multi-instrumentalist / composer / producer Weasel Walter. The Luttenbachers have created a body of work focused on musical extremity and dissonance. Over the course of the band, the personnel has shifted numerous times around the artistic leadership of Walter. The music has run a gamut from intense, all-acoustic free improvisation, to complex, modernistic rock composition; electronic noise to punk-inspired jazz. Walter has been quoted as drawing inspiration from the fields of punk, death metal, free jazz, and no wave.
Love Songs for the Retarded is the second studio album by the American punk rock band the Queers, released in 1993 by Lookout! Records. It was the first of five studio albums the band would record for Lookout!, and their first by the lineup of singer and guitarist "Joe Queer" King, bassist Chris "B-Face" Barnard, and drummer Hugh O'Neill. It was also their first collaboration with Screeching Weasel frontman Ben Weasel, who produced the album and co-wrote two of its songs, and the first of three Queers albums recorded at Sonic Iguana Studio in Lafayette, Indiana with audio engineer Mass Giorgini, who would continue to work with the band on and off for the next 14 years as a producer and engineer. Love Songs for the Retarded became the Queers' highest-selling album, with sales surpassing 100,000 copies.
Surf Goddess is an EP by the American punk rock band the Queers, released in February 1995 by Lookout! Records. It marked the return of longtime drummer Hugh O'Neill to the band, after a forced leave of absence to deal with heroin addiction. Former Screeching Weasel member Dan Vapid, who had been a member of the Queers in 1994, played on the EP as a guest guitarist. Surf Goddess was the result of band leader Joe King and Lookout! head Larry Livermore being dissatisfied with the production techniques on the band's prior album, 1994's Beat Off, which producer Ben Weasel had insisted on keeping basic. King and Livermore wanted to incorporate overdubbing and other effects which Livermore felt were essential to the Queers' sound. In addition to the title track, which was co-written by Weasel, and the Queers original "Quit Talkin'", the EP includes cover versions of Tommy James and the Shondells's "Mirage" and the Undertones' "Get Over You".
Sludgeworth is an American punk rock band from Chicago, Illinois consisting of Dan Schafer (vocals), Adam White (guitar), Dave McClean (guitar), Mike Hootenstrat (bass), and Brian Vermin (drums).
Dan Sullivan, also known as Dan Panic or Danny Panic, is a punk rock drummer from Chicago.
Zoetrope was an American heavy metal band from Chicago, Illinois. Although their sound was akin to thrash metal, the group described themselves as "Street Metal". The group was formed in 1976 by teenage friends Barry Stern (drums/vocals), Kevin Michael Rasofsky, aka Kevin Michael, (guitar), and Calvin "Willis" Humphrey (bass), soon to be joined by second guitarist Ken Black. Initially playing covers, the band soon ventured into writing their own material and released a single in 1980. Although undeniably a metal band, Zoetrope was also active in Chicago's hardcore punk scene, sharing bills with locals hardcore bands and hanging out at O'Banions, a Chicago punk bar. Following the release of a couple of demo tapes, the group was signed to Combat Records and issued their first LP, Amnesty, in 1985. In 1987, the band traveled to Los Angeles to record their follow up, A Life of Crime, with producer Randy Burns. During the recording sessions, Ken Black left the band and returned to Chicago to sort out substance abuse issues. He was replaced by Louis Svitek. Although Svitek appears on the album's cover, Kevin Michael later confirmed that Ken Black had finished his guitar parts before leaving Los Angeles. During the tour supporting A Life of Crime, Svitek was recruited for M.O.D. by Billy Milano. After the tour, Barry Stern jumped ship to fellow Chicagoans Trouble. Kevin Michael eventually returned with a new line up for 1993's Mind Over Splatter but the band folded for good soon after.
Screeching Weasel/Born Against split is a split E.P. featuring Screeching Weasel and Born Against. It was released in 1993 on 7" vinyl and CD by Lookout! Records. The premise of this record is that Born Against wrote music for lyrics written by Screeching Weasel and vice versa. The double-sided cover art plays on their different styles, political hardcore and pop punk, as well.
Between 1993 and 2000, a series of Ramones covers albums were released by Selfless Records, an independent record label based in Garland, Texas specializing in punk rock, on which bands influenced by seminal punk group the Ramones performed cover versions of entire Ramones albums. Under the Selfless label, Screeching Weasel, the Queers, and the Vindictives respectively covered the first three Ramones albums: Ramones (1976), Rocket to Russia (1977), and Leave Home (1977). Selfless then became Clearview Records and continued the series, with Boris the Sprinkler, the Parasites, the Mr. T Experience, the Beatnik Termites, and the McRackins respectively covering End of the Century (1980), It's Alive (1979), Road to Ruin (1978), Pleasant Dreams (1981), and Too Tough to Die (1984).
