STEVE MERIT BAND

 

I posted an unearthed S.M.B. demo/rehearsal tape a few years ago - a nugget from a Mission District that helped mold a significant chunk of my young adult life. When Scott passed a few years ago, I unearthed this STEVE MERIT BAND tape from his collection and I just sat there holding it for a minute. It wasn't the sounds (more on the sounds in a sentence or two) - it was holding the past itself in my hand that gave me pause. The nights and mornings at 109, surrounded by creativity and (and in) darkness. The casual conversations with friendly acquaintances with people who would become legends. The fucking music. SMB were like an outtake from the scene, a side project from a bit player - both of which flew almost entirely under an already very low radar - but listen to this tape with 2023 ears and it's nothing short of brilliant. Dark and addictive pop constructs that bring up late '80s Homestead and Alex Chilton without ever leaving the streets of of the neighborhood...and never seeing the sun. 

S.M.B.
*******
San Francisco readers will understand why I posted this relic today, and I reckon I'll see many of you tonight at the Thee Knockout. Hard to imagine that the HICKEY 12" is old enough to drink, right?