This originally started out as a blog to provide more details about the music on Iowa Music Showcase.. But now it also features tags that have to do more with the individual artists and bands.
From time to time, instead of presenting the podcast of "Iowa Basement Tapes", we'll present an album or two from their Bandcamp site which is set up to "preserve and circulate" older Iowa material.
Afraid I couldn't find much information on this band. If anybody knows anything about them, feel free to write me at iowamusicshowcase@gmail.com.
released January 1, 1997
Location: Forest City, Iowa
A Phuk'n' G.T. Production
All songs were written by B-'Cide.
Music for Apathiphyx
Writhe Guy Drawing by Krinlock.
All Material is Copyright 1995-1997
The Goldblums are Des Moines area shapeshifting reptilian overlords. This Iowa Music Showcase page is for their dead homie.
The Vahnevants are Criminals and about death rattling.
The first ever two band appearnce has happened! And I had a blast hanging out with both of them. We laughed, we cried, we bleed, it was long and crazy experience. Both The Vahnevants and Goldblumes played sets and we all sat down and had a goofy conversation afterwards! This was an episode I will cherish for a long time
This is the first of a new feature we will be presenting on the Iowa Music Showcase website. It's an interview podcast where Peter Stockdale of Des Moines band, 3 Finger Betty, and Iowa band, Unity, interviews a fellow musician.
Cobey Murray is the bassist in the Des Moines area punk band The Astro Bastards. He is also the show promoter for New Revolt Promotions. We sit down and talk about how he got started playing instruments, the formation of The Astro Bastards, tattoos, and more!
Anybody who knows me (Dan OlderMusicGeek) knows that I am a huge fan of punk rock. My favorite Iowa band is the underrated pop punk outfit, Lipstick Homicide.
So I was superexcited when I stumbled upon this site! Unfortunately, by the time I found it, it was already defunct.
But from 2010 to 2013, it presented to Iowans, and the world, the various punk bands from out state! It covered 16 bands in the time it ran. And with free downloads that you can still get!
And then for their swansong, they put together a compilation albums featuring Iowa punk music going as far back as the 80s!
So if you're into punk or hardcore music, then this is definitely a website you want to check out!
Last Thursday, I sat down with Mississippi Jake. Who is actually from Missouri! We had a great talk about his punk rock and southern gospel roots, he told some very personal and heartfelt stories and played us some fantastic accoustic jams. It was really nice getting to know Jake better, and learning about his songwritting style.
This podcast is powered by ZenCast.fm All Recordings done in the Studio at [88.5 KURE Ames Alternative]
"Formed in 1981 by Factory Records aficionados Paul Standard and Dave Edwards, A Testament of Youth or ATOY (pronounced AE-TOI) were Iowa's first Post-Punk band. ATOY were Paul and Dave's response to the bland Styx and Journey-inspired rock that was prevalent throughout the midwest during the late 70s and early 80s. Looking to do something darker and more arty, guitarist Paul and producer Dave set out to forge a new midwest sound. Brad Roth, who was then singing in and playing bass for the power-pop trio The Blue Cruisers was recruited as a front man. With the addition of newcomers Mark Penner on bass and Lonnie Urich on drums, ATOY was set to play the now legendary 1981 2 day Iowa punk/new wave festival, Music For No-Man's Land. A surprise hit at the festival, ATOY contributed two songs to the 'Music For No-Man's Land' release, Roth's Television-inspired "Chemical Boys" and Standard's epic dirge "Requiem for a Priest". ATOY were soon playing gigs throughout Iowa. Due to differences in vision, Dave Edwards soon left the group. ATOY's music at the time was thin, brittle and experimental using rhythm machines, tape loops and incorporating short-wave radio broadcasts into their live shows. Brad's onstage antics were legendary, often getting the group banned from some of the more mainstream rock clubs. Paul decided to return to college late in 1981, leaving the band looking for a new guitarist. Greg Owen, who had played with Brad Roth previously in the Blue Cruisers joined in early 1982. Owen brought a tough, shredding guitar style to ATOY which propelled their sound into a more aggressive stance. Penner and Urich similarly toughened up their sound and Roth's wild stage persona evolved into a dadaist Iggy Pop. Brad's lyrics began to take a darkly poetic turn and led to him being called 'the Baudelaire of the heartland'. Over the next year and a half, the band began touring around the midwest to ever increasing crowds. During that period, many of ATOY's most popular songs, such as 'Stickmen', 'Creeps with Forks' and 'Cut and Restored' were written. The group gained in popularity and the now defuct nightclub So's Your Mothers, opened another venue, Mother's Underground, to regularly showcase ATOY and other Iowa underground bands. The volatile mix of personalities in the band began to take it's toll and in the Spring of 1983 ATOY decided to call it quits. Their final show was recorded and release on CD many years later. A videotape of that last show called "The Final Plunge" was aired on Des Moines TV... In 2005 ATOY were asked to do a reunion show. The success of that show surprised them as much as their fans. This led to the band resuming playing again. The volatile mix of personalities did lead to a couple of false starts, but ATOY is officially back together, writing new material and playing to new fans as well as old. Since ATOY never really sounded like anyone else, the band's music doesn't sound dated to new fans. New material has been written as well as a number of Buick McSnake songs being reworked into ATOY's sound...and then after a dozen or so gigs it all came crashing down. The volatile chemistry of the band once again blew up. As a longtime fan of the band remarked 'If everyone were mature and responsible, it wouldn't be ATOY. You guys have broken up for good before. Hopefully you'll do it again.' Here's to hoping that it'll happen again."
- from their Underground Archives entry
Fester Rage was an amateur videographer who from August, 2007, to September, 2015, recorded various live shows here in Des Moines, both from local acts and national. On this website, we will be only featuring the Iowa artists. But you can watch all his videos on his YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/unclefesterrage.
Back in September Maximum Ames happened, adnit was a great year of shows. One of my favorite bands to perform was Dear Rabbit, and I was able to sit down with there front man and conduct an interview as well as record some of his solo set.* The entire band which played later that day came into the studio and did a rehersal of sorts with me before playing that night. Here is the compilation of Dear Rabbit tuns while they were in Ames.
This podcast is powered by ZenCast.fm All Recordings done in the Studio at [88.5 KURE Ames Alternative] *Recordings done at the Vinyl Grind
Okay, this is the first in a new monthly series we will have on Iowa Music Showcase.
Fester Rage was an amateur videographer who from August, 2007, to September, 2015, recorded various live shows here in Des Moines, both from local acts and national. On this website, we will be only featuring the Iowa artists. But you can watch all his videos on his YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/unclefesterrage.
The first show he recorded was actually a reunion show from a popular 80s Des Moines punk band, A Testament of Youth, or ATOY as they were commonly called.
"Formed in 1981 by Factory Records aficionados Paul Standard and Dave Edwards, A Testament of Youth or ATOY (pronounced AE-TOI) were Iowa's first Post-Punk band. ATOY were Paul and Dave's response to the bland Styx and Journey-inspired rock that was prevalent throughout the midwest during the late 70s and early 80s. Looking to do something darker and more arty, guitarist Paul and producer Dave set out to forge a new midwest sound. Brad Roth, who was then singing in and playing bass for the power-pop trio The Blue Cruisers was recruited as a front man. With the addition of newcomers Mark Penner on bass and Lonnie Urich on drums, ATOY was set to play the now legendary 1981 2 day Iowa punk/new wave festival, Music For No-Man's Land. A surprise hit at the festival, ATOY contributed two songs to the 'Music For No-Man's Land' release, Roth's Television-inspired "Chemical Boys" and Standard's epic dirge "Requiem for a Priest". ATOY were soon playing gigs throughout Iowa. Due to differences in vision, Dave Edwards soon left the group. ATOY's music at the time was thin, brittle and experimental using rhythm machines, tape loops and incorporating short-wave radio broadcasts into their live shows. Brad's onstage antics were legendary, often getting the group banned from some of the more mainstream rock clubs. Paul decided to return to college late in 1981, leaving the band looking for a new guitarist. Greg Owen, who had played with Brad Roth previously in the Blue Cruisers joined in early 1982. Owen brought a tough, shredding guitar style to ATOY which propelled their sound into a more aggressive stance. Penner and Urich similarly toughened up their sound and Roth's wild stage persona evolved into a dadaist Iggy Pop. Brad's lyrics began to take a darkly poetic turn and led to him being called 'the Baudelaire of the heartland'. Over the next year and a half, the band began touring around the midwest to ever increasing crowds. During that period, many of ATOY's most popular songs, such as 'Stickmen', 'Creeps with Forks' and 'Cut and Restored' were written. The group gained in popularity and the now defuct nightclub So's Your Mothers, opened another venue, Mother's Underground, to regularly showcase ATOY and other Iowa underground bands. The volatile mix of personalities in the band began to take it's toll and in the Spring of 1983 ATOY decided to call it quits. Their final show was recorded and release on CD many years later. A videotape of that last show called "The Final Plunge" was aired on Des Moines TV... In 2005 ATOY were asked to do a reunion show. The success of that show surprised them as much as their fans. This led to the band resuming playing again. The volatile mix of personalities did lead to a couple of false starts, but ATOY is officially back together, writing new material and playing to new fans as well as old. Since ATOY never really sounded like anyone else, the band's music doesn't sound dated to new fans. New material has been written as well as a number of Buick McSnake songs being reworked into ATOY's sound...and then after a dozen or so gigs it all came crashing down. The volatile chemistry of the band once again blew up. As a longtime fan of the band remarked 'If everyone were mature and responsible, it wouldn't be ATOY. You guys have broken up for good before. Hopefully you'll do it again.' Here's to hoping that it'll happen again."
- from their Underground Archives entry
"Horrorshow Hoods was a psyco-billy band from Des Moines that was founded during the late 1990s."
- from their entry in The Underground Archives
"Horrorshow Hoods (the EP) was issued as a 4-song 7-inch on transparent green vinyl. These were basically the first songs we wrote and were our core rockabilly/psychobilly songs at all of our shows. We recorded up in Ames with one of the guys from Grubby Ernie. This has our full 6-piece band including keys and sax. I don't know if you are familiar with our live shows, but we always switched to a more horror-punk sound at the end and closed out with B.R.A.I.N.S.
"Screams from the Basement was issued to capture those songs separately from our other stuff. We recorded it in DSM at Scott/Billy's basement. I think we were down to a 4-piece at that time and Clint/Eddie took over on bass. It's a little bit of a concept album with some movie clips worked in and bleeding between tracks."
- from an email by Brendan "Jimmy Kill" Sapienza sent to us
"i had a 60-something year old lady bring her granddaughter into the ED. she (the grandmother) was wearing a Horrorshow Hoods shirt. i got excited and she was like, 'i got this shirt at Goodwill. what is Horrorshow Hoods?'
"Des Moines area shapeshifting reptilian overlords, ft. World Heavyweight Champion Brandon Paul Moses of Deep Sleep Waltzing"
- from their Facebook page
"Their songs are grimy and gross garage punk.
"They last about 90 seconds.
"They’re rad as hell...
"I often find myself completely unclear on what is happening in the songs.
"Joshua and his brother escaped along Jimmy Hudson from a mutant concentration camp and brought the injured Jimmy to the Morlock Tunnels, where they found the X-Men."
- from his entry in the Marvel Database
Josh Mutant of our world is a punk musician in Ames, Iowa, who is in The Disasters and was a member of Personal Vendetta. He also runs the music venue, Mutant's Lair, which specializes and often features punk rock music.
"Dark punk conceived during your hottest nightmares...Songs of Love, Murder and Vengeance ..When there's nothing left to fight for we fight for salvation...
"Conceived in fire, from the ashes of The Albino Spiders, is the cult- Switchblade Saturdays. An ambitiously hard-hitting band, well-traveled, with a strong foundation within their home base, Des Moines, IA. Switchblade Saturdays is known for their amazing live show, dark imagery and stage presence with a passionate background anthem haunting of love, loss, death, and life. Switchblade has woven their blood into every lyric and every melody, 'We bring the crowd into our music the way a phantom entices it’s prey...we play every show as if it were our last, with a vengeance!' hisses Zarrie Solum, lead vocalist/bassist and founding member. 'Our fans are our family and blood!!' says Switchblade, who’s fans are reminiscent of a cult or gang displaying the Switchblade Saturdays logo patches, buttons, and bandanna’s. Pumping fists, chanting, singing, fans hang onto every harrowing word of talented lead singer Zarrie. The music is brought into harmonious alignment with Josh Darnell on guitar / background vocals and rounded out with Ben Watson thundering rhythms only ones’ heart could dream.
"The Switchblade sound was formed by the take of various influences, Misfits, The Damned, AFI, Alkaline Trio, Dillinger 4, Guns n Roses and Social Distortion. 'I took a little influence from each band and wanted to have a live show reminiscent of the old days of Alice Cooper, Kiss, and Iron Maiden' hails Solum. 'Our sound is shedding it’s skin and being reborn.'...
Switchblade storms, “We are preparing for war! KNIVES OUT!!!"
- from their Facebook page
Lineup:
Zarrie Solum - Vox/Bass
Josh Darnell - Vox/Strings
Ben Watson- Drums
