Difference between revisions of "Hammerhead"
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Emerging from the Midwest (Minneapolis via Fargo, North Dakota, to be exact) with a brittle, pop-culture-inspired worldview, Hammerhead once told a journalist that Robert De Niro's Taxi Driver character, Travis Bickle, was the "spirit of the band." Paul Sanders (guitar, vocals), Paul Erickson (bass, vocals) and Jeff Mooridian Jr. (drums) sure play as if his spirit has collectively possessed the trio. While Ethereal Killer isn't strictly a concept album, it's no Sunday drive through the park, either. Hammerhead plows a claustrophobic, minimalist soundfield with terrifyingly riveting precision, sharing — among the few decipherable lyrics — tales of child abuse ("Tuffskins"), murder (the title track, for one) and psychosis ("American Rampage"). On "Moleboy," Hammerhead resembles equal parts Unsane, Didjits, Wire, Helmet and Hüsker Dü in a savage, darkly melodic pummeling any of the aforementioned bands would've been pleased to pen. Hell no, it's not "fun" — it's a proficient, relentless beast. | Emerging from the Midwest (Minneapolis via Fargo, North Dakota, to be exact) with a brittle, pop-culture-inspired worldview, Hammerhead once told a journalist that Robert De Niro's Taxi Driver character, Travis Bickle, was the "spirit of the band." Paul Sanders (guitar, vocals), Paul Erickson (bass, vocals) and Jeff Mooridian Jr. (drums) sure play as if his spirit has collectively possessed the trio. While Ethereal Killer isn't strictly a concept album, it's no Sunday drive through the park, either. Hammerhead plows a claustrophobic, minimalist soundfield with terrifyingly riveting precision, sharing — among the few decipherable lyrics — tales of child abuse ("Tuffskins"), murder (the title track, for one) and psychosis ("American Rampage"). On "Moleboy," Hammerhead resembles equal parts Unsane, Didjits, Wire, Helmet and Hüsker Dü in a savage, darkly melodic pummeling any of the aforementioned bands would've been pleased to pen. Hell no, it's not "fun" — it's a proficient, relentless beast. | ||
Revision as of 19:48, 22 August 2005
Members
- Paul Sanders (guitar, vocals)
- Paul Erickson (bass, vocals)
- Jeff Mooridian (drums)
--
- Hungness, Brannon (guitar)
- Andy Bahn
- Joel Longtide (vocals)
About
Someone can probably do a better job explaining this than I can (and please do)... the band got their start in Fargo, hooked up with Amphetamine Reptile Records somewhere along the way and then moved to Minneapolis, toured like mad, released a bunch of records and broke up. Paul Sanders started a band called moreRAM (which released a 7-inch on Meat Records) and Paul Erickson and Jeff Mooridian started up Vaz.
Highlights
- There was a show in the early 90s at the Elk's Lodge in Fargo that was just insane. The place was packed and the band threw down like there was no tomorrow. If I didn't know better, I'd have thought that Hammerhead was involved with the wrecking-ball that took down the Elk's Lodge. -ryan
Shows
Discography
- "Peep" 7-inch, Amphetamine Reptile
- "Load King" Tour-only 7-inch, Amphetamine Reptile
- "Evil Twin" Tour-only 7-inch, Amphetamine Reptile
- "Earth I Won't Miss" Tour-only 7-inch, Amphetamine Reptile
- Split 7-inch with godheadSilo, Oxo Records
- Split 7-inch with Halo of Kittens, Amphetamine Reptile Records
- "Ethereal Killer" Amphetamine Reptile
- "Evil Twin" EP Amphetamine Reptile
- "Into The Vortex" Amphetamine Reptile
- "Duh, The Big City" Amphetamine Reptile
- V/A "Dragon Tracks 4" MSU Music Production Class compilation
- V/A "Dü Hüskers: The Twin Cities Replay Zen Arcade" Synapse Records
- V/A "Jabberjaw No. 1" 7-inch, Mammoth Records
- V/A "Jabberjaw No. 5 Good To The Last Drop" Mammoth
- V/A "Amrep Equipped" Amphetamine Reptile
- V/A "Dope, Guns 'n' Fucking In The Streets volume 6" 7-inch Amphetamine Reptile
- V/A "Dope, Guns 'n' Fucking In The Streets volume 4-7" Amphetamine Reptile
- V/A "Amphetamine Records Sampler 1993" Amphetamine Reptile
- V/A "AmRep Motors 1995 Models Sampler" Amphetamine Reptile
- V/A "Screwed-The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack" Amphetamine Reptile
Press
From Trouser Press... Emerging from the Midwest (Minneapolis via Fargo, North Dakota, to be exact) with a brittle, pop-culture-inspired worldview, Hammerhead once told a journalist that Robert De Niro's Taxi Driver character, Travis Bickle, was the "spirit of the band." Paul Sanders (guitar, vocals), Paul Erickson (bass, vocals) and Jeff Mooridian Jr. (drums) sure play as if his spirit has collectively possessed the trio. While Ethereal Killer isn't strictly a concept album, it's no Sunday drive through the park, either. Hammerhead plows a claustrophobic, minimalist soundfield with terrifyingly riveting precision, sharing — among the few decipherable lyrics — tales of child abuse ("Tuffskins"), murder (the title track, for one) and psychosis ("American Rampage"). On "Moleboy," Hammerhead resembles equal parts Unsane, Didjits, Wire, Helmet and Hüsker Dü in a savage, darkly melodic pummeling any of the aforementioned bands would've been pleased to pen. Hell no, it's not "fun" — it's a proficient, relentless beast.
The seven-song Evil Twin supplies the same throttling energy, as the trio builds a dynamic assault with one solid instrumental ("Anvil"), the sudden fury of "Washout," the sweeping aggression of "Peep" and the lumbering "Load King." The more sharply honed — refined, even — Into the Vortex spirals satisfyingly into a thicket of dense sound, with lyrics that are more intelligible and less obsessed with violence (although "Somebody should clean this dirty world/Someone should save all the pretty girls," from "All This Is Yours," sounds suspiciously Travis Bickle-like). While some songs convey alienation and discord, there's a sci-fi thread running through "The Starline Locomotive," "Journey to the Center of Tetnus 4" and the instrumental "Galaxy 66."
More experimental than previous efforts, Duh, the Big City redefines Hammerhead's sonic heaviness with a dark melodicism underlying such sci-fi inventions as "Earth (I Won't Miss)" and "Mission: Illogical." Especially unrelenting: "Meanderthal" and the terrifying noise abstract "Mr. Bizmuth." Mysteriously hummable: "I Don't Know...Texas." Both: "Monkey Mountain," "Mune." After recording the album, Paul Sanders left and was replaced by Craig Klaus (ex-Crown Roast).
