Premier Rock Forum

Thanks for the kind words, y'all. There may or may not be a live record coming. Don't hold me to that, though.

Nice! Missed this stuff the first time around. This is some high-quality rock and roll, gents -- well done!

Really glad that James posted this and more people are checking it out. Here's a thing I wrote earlier this year for a look back at a bunch of Bellingham bands for the local music rag:I can think of maybe two or three other records made by Bellingham bands during my tenure in town (2000-09) that may be better, but USS Horsewhip s Wants You Dead will always be my favorite. With this record, Horsewhip s only full-length and made with their strongest lineup (James Burns, vocals/guitar; Brian Slodysko, guitar/vocals; Richy Boyer, drums; Ryan Greer, bass/vocals), these four self-proclaimed œassholes captured everything about living and making music in Bellingham at that time.What really makes this record standout then and now is that Horsewhip was lucky to feature one of the finest lyricists to ever call Bellingham home. You have songs about the encroaching gentrification of downtown ( œThree Dog Nightmare ); working a shitty retail job because what the fuck other jobs are you going to find in this town ( œ1-800-PUPPIES ); brutally rocking songs defining both the line in the sand drawn by the band ( œAmish Rake Fight ) and the harsh reality of being a no-name band on the road ( œJeff Mitchell vs. Robocop ). Yeah, you can put your fist in the air and throw cans of beer at them while Brian is climbing the speaker columns, but there is a lot more to these songs than could be picked up from a couple of pummelings at the 3B or D Street.But the boldest song on Wants You Dead is without a doubt œBreak Out The Make Out . With the exception of Federation X s œGone Too Long, there isn t another song on a Bellingham rock album that hits as hard emotionally. James perfectly captured moments from the bar scene of our mid-20s, from the after effects of a long night of drinking Sparks ( œSpinning from the alcohol/Wide awake from the caffeine ) and the regrets of one too many drunken nights downtown ( œI left my heart on Chestnut Street in the alley/When the cab came I checked for cameras ).Yes, these guys were œassholes with funny song titles, but there is a lot more to this record that still brings me back to it eight years later. Do yourself a favor and head down to Everyday and find one of the scuffed used copies for $0.99 that Richy likely sold them. Do YOU remember when the songs we sang were how we really felt? I m glad I still do, and have Wants You Dead to prove it.

DrAwkward wrote:Judging from that tour journal, we best be ready to party on Friday. Oh mys.Um, I must say, with out a doubt we were ready to party that Friday ¦ good god did we kill braincells and more, I almost got stabbed, hippys stole us pizza, furniture was thrown off a balcony, DJ lost some teeth, we cleared a bottle of ever clear, shit got DE-FUCKING-BAUCHED

Sometimes people give me crap about that photo, but at least I'm not the one wearing a fuckin' cape.

As we were a pretty popular live band in a small-ish college town playing this really aggressive, testosterone-soaked music, we had a contingent of sports-oriented WWU dude-bros coming to see us. They would push-mosh, knock mic stands into our teeth, start fights, and scare all the girls away. Eventually we got tired of it, so we would start making out with each other and fondling each others' asses onstage. Those dude-bros were all like "ew, faggots" and stopped coming to our shows. I was kind of hoping that bears would start getting into us, but that didn't end up happening. Played a couple good shows at the gay bar, though.

It really is.

why would anyone give you crap for that? That photo is fantastic!

Genuinely excellent music. I hear what the Teefs became and an otherworldly cathartic plot for world domination. Congrats.

Another good one: