So I decided to blog about some of my favorite albums, and put them up for download (or at least, the ones that are ridiculously hard to find, or are out of print)
The first album I want to write about is one of the first records I ever bought, and one of my favorites to this day.
In 1994 or 1995, I saw a east-side pop punk band whose bass player had a couple stickers on his bass, and one of those stickers was J Church. A little while later I went to Cellophane Square in Bellevue (way back when it was in the mall) and found a J Church record - a picture-disk version of Camels, Spilled Corona, and the Sound of Mariachi Bands. I also bought a Husker Du record (Candy Apple Gray), but I hardly ever listened to it because I couldn't bear to take the J Church record of the record player that I inherited from my grandma.
This record is a compilation of their early 7"s, though it feels as cohesive as any other album I own. All the songs could definitely be considered "pop punk" but stands apart from most others in that genre - there's no whiny vocals, the songs aren't lamentation about girls, it's not something that blathers on about pogo-ing, or getting drunk, or silly shit like bananas... rather the songs are as political as you might expect from any hardcore band of that era. In fact, singer/guitarist Lance Hahn had been a long time anarchist and vegan, and wrote incredibly catchy and thought-provoking songs for the entire 15 years of J Church's existence.
This is one of the few albums that I've memorized most of the lyrics to, and they periodically pop up in my head to this day. Just a few months ago I was hanging out in San Francisco, walking in the rain with soggy feet in the Mission district, and I start singing the song November: "As the rain falls hard it fills the cracks on Mission Street, There's a hole in my shoe and it’s letting water soak my feet."
The song Kathi especially influenced me over the years - a song about having a conversation with a friend about vegetarianism, specifically about hearing meat-eating friends' opinions and trying to listen and be respectful, but at the same time not compromising deeply held values and not being passive with your most important beliefs. And as a bonus, it has Blake Schwartzenbach from Jawbreaker singing backup vocals.
Kathi tells me that she doesn't care and its not as if she's dumb or unaware,
Kathi tells me there's no reason why but she doesn't feel that eating meat applies,
Kathi says she doesn't understand why I do not want to eat at Burger King
And I try (I try), I can see that it makes no sense,
'Cause I try (I try), I can see the difference,
And it's something that I felt in side that will remain there,
Something that I can't hide
Kathi tells me everything must die but I don't get what she implies,
I think about the things she has to say all the time, I don't see how she can close her eyes,
'Cause it makes me sick to think of every cage and it makes me sick to think of life wasting away
And I try (I try), I can see that it makes no sense,
'Cause I try (I try), I can see her innocence,
And it's something that I felt inside that will remain there,
Something that I can't hide
Kathi says a lot of things but it all has that familiar ring,
Kathi says a lot of things and it all has that familiar ring
These mp3s are all ripped straight from my record. There might be a skip or two - but hey, it's an old copy that got a lot of wear. Adds character.
J Church - Camels, Spilled Corona, and the Sound of Mariachi Bands <- download! http://www.interpunk.com/item.cfm?Item=999& <- buy!
3 comments:
This is awesome Benji!
Yarrow
Nice blog Ben. I'm still a major music nerd - tracking down 90's bands from my younger years has become a bit of an obsession.
You just got me hooked on a J Church kick. Haven't listened to them in forever. With so many albums and so many tunes (and other bands and changing members!) it's amazing how consistently good they remained over the years.
I saw them years ago at the Velvet Elvis (with Sicko and Wat Tyler I think), and I swear I saw them at the Old Fire House too, but can't remember who with. The Green maybe? (speaking of - love to track down mp3's from The Green, George's Wall, or Pillow)
Boy, J Church were such a staple cool punk band from the 90's. The singers first band was Cringer also great, witty, short n catchy punk. One of members of J Church painted the picture Jawbreaker used on Bivouac, guess they were friends, and both bands music were similar i.e Church's record Quezacoatl. J Church was a hard band to be fan of if you were into record collecting as they were super prolific releasers: several albums a year amidst scores of EP's and singles (better now with MP3's if you wanna hear all their music)But they made up for it in touring they came thru my dump of a city every year, and I imagine yours as well. Wish I would have seen'em more, as Lance is dead now RIPP{:-(
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