Oh Messy Life – 6/9/2022 Show Notes

Track 1: Cap’n Jazz – Oh Messy Life

In the times before I came to KZSU, before finding that endless ocean of new sounds, my musical universe was much more limited. I had a couple crates of records I had picked up from various dingy stores across the country. I’d dub the records I wanted to listen to the most on cassette tape, and play those tapes again and again. In that smaller universe, without something new to listen to around every corner, it was possible to narrow things down enough to actually pick a favorite band.

The first Cap’n Jazz song I ever heard was “Scary Kids Scaring Kids” from a compilation of Chicago bands called It’s a Punk Thing, You Wouldn’t Understand. I bought the comp at Epicenter records, most likely because it had Screeching Weasel on it. I was spending the summer at my grandmother’s house in Redwood City, so I had even less music available than usual, and I ended up playing that record over and over again all summer long. Most of the songs were standard pop punk, but there was one that sounded really different. It started out with quiet guitars, then subdued drumming comes in, joined by plaintive vocals, building to louder, all with an air of melancholy. When I first heard that song, all I knew was it didn’t sound like the music I wanted to hear when I had bought the complation. But over the summer, as I played the record again and again, I found myself waiting for that one song to come on, I felt myself pulled deeper and deeper into the music.

After that came a period of trying to track down Cap’n Jazz tracks on other compilation records. I remember finding How the Midwest Was Won…” and Ghost Dance on the same day, taking them home, and seeing “The midwest was stolen” etched into the center of the Ghost Dance 7″ vinyl. Then, back at college in Ohio, one of the Chicago kids came by with a new full length Cap’n Jazz CD. I copied it onto a cassette (on the other side of the cassette I recorded an Xavier Cugat album, a nascent taste for freeform radio beginning to bud), and played the tape over and over. Every song was amazing. There it was, my new favorite band. Little did I know they would also be my last favorite band.

Track 2: The Cosmos – Ramos

The Cosmos was a band started by three people working at a health food store. Phil had previously been in an emotional hardcore band and another band where everyone dressed up as made-up superheros. Only half the band members played instruments, the rest just jumped around and their shows were amazing. Corey had just moved to California from back east and knew a lot about indie rock. And Jerry had played in the legendary west bay power violence bands 976 and Evolved to Obliteration and had DJ’ed at KZSU under the air name Pig In A Blanket. A somewhat unlikely pairing of folks, but they got together and made some wonderful music.

Track 3: Terry Malts – I Do

After The Cosmos, Phil and Corey were in a band called Magic Bullets with a bunch of their friends. After Magic Bullets, they started a three piece called Terry Malts, playing shows all over the bay area.

Track 4: Neutrals – Bus Stop Nights

Simultaneous with playing in the Terry Malts, Phil started playing in Neutrals, with another guy name Phillip and Alan. Alan did a lot of stuff with Maximum Rock’n’Roll and had previously been in some bands with another guy named Alan called Giant Haystacks and Airfix Kits who were also quite fun to go see.

Track 5: Cloakroom – A Force At Play

Found this one in the KZSU A-File via the review by DJ Away.

Track 6: BODY DOUBLE – Embrace The Bomb

BODY DOUBLE are a newish local bay area band. Embrace The Bomb is from the album Milk Fed, on the Zum record label run by George Chen who also co-hosts a podcast about documentary films called Sup Doc.

Track 7: Warning Light – Evening Decks

Every time Stickfigure Records puts out something new, I try and check it out, and this track caught my ear.

Track 8: Jihad the Roughneck MC – Legit Spit

I first met Jihad back when I was a newish DJ at KZSU, maybe around 1998? I had agreed to do a fill in radio show for one of the weekday Hip Hop show hosts. I thought I would try and fill in with Hip Hop, despite not really knowing very much about the genre at the time. Jihad showed up with Flash to drop off a record for the station, expecting to see the usual host for the show. I explained that I was filling in, and that I didn’t really know what I was doing. Jihad looked at Flash like “Should we? Why not?” and Flash proceeded to take over the DJ turntables for a mix set while Jihad got on the mic to drop rhymes and the phone started ringing and ringing with folks calling in.

Track 9: Horseface – Nakutus

I think I found this one via one of those many many emails Bandcamp sends you “Because you bought X, we think you might like Y”

Track 10: Sudan Archives – Selfish Soul

Heard some stuff I liked from Sudan Archives a few years ago, so I was happy to check out this newish single.

Track 11: Melody’s Echo Chamber – Pyramids in the Clouds

Another track from the KZSU A-File, this time reviewed by Super Chuck.

Track 12: Juanita Euka – Baño de Oro

Another one I found via a Bandcamp promotional email. The other tracks on the album felt too slick for my ears, but this one I liked.

Track 13: Mogwai – To The Bin My Friend, Tonight We Vacate Earth

I saw that Mogwai had something new in the a-file and I thought I would see what they were up to nowadays.

Track 14: Grayceon – The Lucky Ones

Max moved out to California from D.C. when he was in high school. At that time he was really into Sepultura. Jackie has also played in the band Amber Asylum, and Zach has been in a handful of Half Moon Bay based bands.

Track 15: gabriel seaver – primative

One more Bandcamp find. I threw this one on the show because it sounded like the kinda stuff DJ Away, who’s show I was filling in for, would like.