26 June 2011

WHITE TRASH SUPERMAN


FUCKFACE crossed paths with WHITE TRASH SUPERMAN twice on our 1995 US tour. First in Biloxi, Mississippi, where we played with five touring bands and a couple of local ska acts in a rented hall, and then in New Orleans on afternoon that followed the most exceptional (frightening) displays of alcohol consumption I have ever seen (participated in) and our drummer was still talking to his dead friends (out loud) while we were playing. The following year, we got towed to a show they arranged for us sometime near Christmas (I can't recall if it was in Starkville or Columbus, and I don't remember if WTS or Jayson's next band THE GRUMPIES played...I just know it was real close to Jesus's birthday, and kids got crazy - perhaps because they were crazy). WHITE TRASH SUPERMAN are from Starkville, Mississippi, and their songs will seep under your skin and melt your icy jaded veins...this tape and their other demo were on heavy rotation in the van for many tours to come, and we were happy to spread the word to friends back home. Their sound is dredged through '90s poppy punk, but their delivery is all adrenaline and alcohol, placing them somewhere between HICKEY and SUPERCHUNK on my "awesome melodic bands from the '90s" meter. These tracks became WHITE TRASH SUPERMAN's only two EP's, Punk Rock Hero and Couldn't (If I Tried) b/w Wheaties, both released in 1995 or so. "Couldn't (If I Tried)" is as close to a perfect song as I've ever heard, and the words still get stuck in my head on a regular basis. The other two songs on this tape, "Can Man" and "Staring At Your Walls," never made it to wax, but they are both brilliant in the same innocently mature manner as "Couldn't (If I Tried)," and shows a band years more advanced than their actual years. In a different world, WHITE TRASH SUPERMAN would have (should have) been playing to hundreds of college punk fans for the last half of the decade, but in our world, they recorded brilliant songs themselves on a 4-track, released the songs themselves on cassette and EP (using the imprint Did It Ourselves Records), and filled a handful of lives with memories. That's a pretty nice legacy.


7 comments:

Aesop said...

I think I have listened to "Couldn't If I tried" more than any other song ever made. You are so right about it's inherent perfection. Thanks for posting this.

Stereo Stations said...

There's only the album covers in the folder.

Andrew TSKS said...

Stereo Stations is right--no actual songs in the file.

the wizard said...

Home from tour - obviously haven't slept enough. Songs are there now, and yes, Aesop, "Couldn't" is about as perfect as they come.

Harvester said...

Yeah! Fuck yeah! Thanks for putting this on here. I've said many times that "Couldn't" is the perfect song. On the tape that I have, "Staring at your Walls" is called "Clock". Maybe I'll put up the tape that I have too, which has a few different songs....

zhollows said...

Thanks Robert. You know I feel the same way about this band (and "Couldn't If I Tried" as well). SO SO GOOD!

Patrick M said...

Fuckface and White Trash Superman on the same show sounds like a dream!