PLATYPUS SCOURGE

It's so much harder to find this combination of influences and approaches in one band playing in any kind of modern era, but bands like PLATYPUS SCOURGE weren't uncommon in North American punk's second solid DIY wave. Kicking around Sacramento starting in the late 1980s, these kids have (had) elements of emo/posi-era 7 SECONDS, the lazy, jangly Jasper Thread guitars, and California punk all with a pervasive high school punk band awkwardness. I would stop short of calling PLATYPUS SCOURGE good, but the chorus of "Sunny Disposition" is undeniable, and the endearing "If I Had The Nerve" is an over the top example of unrequited teenage adoration. "No Nukes" is an actual rocker, and  the occasional pop bass, the unnecessary whoas and the clueless Guitar Center EQs combine to make an entertaining, nostalgic aural excursion. I mean, "Fundamental Blues" is a garage blues metal admonishment of their school district. 

Two demos included in the link below - the orange sleeved self titled ten song cassette from 1989 (that closes with the most adorable and expendable SHAM 69 cover) features the tracks mentioned in the above paragraph, while the Destroyed demo from 1990 shows PLATYPUS SCOURGE start to come into their own. The slap bass is more proficient and higher in the mix (it was the time, man...I don't know what to say) but the songs are more aggressive, and tracks like "Used To Be Friends" could stand alongside any number of contemporary East Bay or Midwest DIY bands. There were two EPs that followed these demos...both are (not surprisingly) readily available for typically reasonable prices in used bins across the United States. Members went on to play in AMBER INN, EXHALE and a host of other bands, including the current act WET THE ROPE, who sound like well-tuned emo/hardcore juggernaut...just all grown up. 

PLATYPUS SCOURGE