Subterranean Music World Atlas
Texas is not what we first recall when we speak about alternative culture but the truth is there are some amazing bands, most of them hailing from Austin and some from Houston. Dicks were the first name, releasing in 1980 their classic singles The Dicks Hate The Police and Lifetime Problems and of course their…
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Subterranean Music World Atlas
Texas is not what we first recall when we speak about alternative culture but the truth is there are some amazing bands, most of them hailing from Austin and some from Houston.

Dicks were the first name, releasing in 1980 their classic singles The Dicks Hate The Police and Lifetime Problems and of course their album Kill from the Heart (1983). Other eternal groups are MDC (Millions of Dead Cops, 1982), DRI (Dirty Rotten, 1982) and the less known Degenerates (1981), also some other bands deserve a mention: the post-punk Really Red (Teaching You The Fear, 1981), and the noise-experimental Culturcide (Year One, 1982). The latter split in 1990 but became a cult band, the singer Mark Flood became a renowned artist and the drummer David Parker got involved with Pain Teens. The most prominent Dallas band was Stick Men with Ray Guns (1981-88), know for the cult song Christian Rat Attack. The vocalist Bobby Soxx died in 2000

Butthole Surfers are an eminent underground band nationwide, they began playing in San Antonio in 1981 as a hardcore band (EP in 1983) and later developed their weirdo psychedelic sound (Psychic… Powerless… Another Man’s Sac, 1984 and Bar-B-Que Movie, 1988) and became alternative rock heroes (Electriclarryland, 1996). Their original line up consists of Gibby Haynes (vocals), Paul Leary (guitar), and King Coffey (drums). During the 80’s they had also a second drummer (Teresa Nervosa) and a naked dancer (Kathleen Lynch, later singer for Beme Seed).

Scratch Acid formed in Austin in 1982 by David Yow and bass player David Sims,They released two EPs and an album before splitting up in 1987. They relocated to Chicago where they formed Jesus Lizard.

Pain Teens were an important experimental noise rock / no wave band from Houston, formed by scott ayers and Bliss blood. Their first work was a split with Ayers’ other band Anrchitex in 1985 (You Can’t Fight City Hall / Psychoactive). In 1987 they released 3 cassettes (IV, Manmade Disasters and Cathy) which formed their debut album Pain Teens, released in 1988. They reached an underground success with Case Stories (1989) and Born in Blood (1990) and finally splitted in 1995. Scott Ayers kept playing noise rock in Houston, while Bliss Blood moved to NYC to play jazz and ukulele.

Another 80’s remarkable band were Fearless Iranian From Hell. Actually they were from San Antonio and only their original singer (Amir Mamori) is Iranian. FIFH played hardcore-punk with crossover / thrash influence. They recorded the self-released self-titled cassette in 1986 and the song Blow Up The Embassy blows minds and ages. The next year they released another gem, Die for Allah and then Holy War (1988). They disbanded in 1990 after recording their last work, Foolish Americans. FIFH were one of the few open anti-American sentiment bands and their pro-terrorist lyrics were a blast and today they sound even more sacrilegious and non-political correct at all.

Some of the best 90’s bands are Cherubs (Icing, 1992), Fuckemos (Can Kill You, 1994) and Texas Terri & The Stiff Ones (Eat Shit!, 1997). Today the Texan underground scene is still alive. Noise rock bands like White Drugs (Harlem, 2007) kick ass.

Outside the main counter-cultural focal points there are also some good bands and the scene is thriving in many other cities and states.

Maryland is home of No Trend, a cult noise rock and considered anti-hardcore band. They debuted with Too Many Humans… (1982). A couple of years later, the guitarist Frank Price left the band and in 1989 he committed suicide. The band changed their sound to more no wave and the singer Jeff Mentges collaborated with Lydia Lunch. They dissapointed the audience with their last too weird and electronic work.

Another Maryland’s band was Lollipop.They played a brilliant noise-rock / alternative rock and released Dog Piss On Dog (1996) and disbanded after the second album in 1997.

North Carolina and its Chapel Hill scene has a long rock ‘n’ roll tradition. The most powerful indie rock act is Superchunk. Their self-titled debut album (1990) included the song ‘Slack Motherfucker’, one of the first indie / lo-fi anthems that created the term slacker culture. Singer Mac McCaughan and bassist Laura Ballance founded the label Merge Records in 1989.

Antiseen is a different North Carolina’s group from Charlotte. Founded in 1983 by Jeff Clayton, Antiseen has been a satirical but also highly confrontational band. They debuted with The Drastic EP (1985) and they released hate-fuelled albums like Honour Among Thieves (1988) and Southern Hostility (1991).

Georgia is famous for REM, started in 1980 by Michael Stipe and Peter Buck in Athens. They were one of the pioneers of the alternative rock, releasing Murmur (1983) and went mainstream with Document (1987), Green (1988) and of course Out of Time (1991).

Nashville Pussy play a blend of hard rock, southern rock, garage rock and cow punk but they became an underground icon, playing extensively their rock ‘n’ roll around the world. The singer and founder Blaine Cartwright played guitar in Nine Pound Hammer (The Mud, The Blood, And The Beers, 1988), a cow punk band from Kentucky. His wife is the guitarist Ruyter Suys. Nashville Pussy debuted with Let Them Eat Pussy (1997). Kinda related is the parody rock band Dick Delicious And The Tasty Testicles (1995).

A remarkable contemporary band is Whores., a noise rock/sludge band from Atlanta who released Ruiner. EP (2011).

Servotron was a sci-fi influenced new wave / synth-rock band formed by drummer Brian Teasley (from Man or Astro-man?), guitarist Hayden Thais (from Supernova) and singer Ashley Moody. They recorded No Room for Humans (1996), about robot domination and human extinction.

Man or Astro-man? are Alabama’s surf / space rock band.Their masterpiece is Is It … Man Or Astroman? (1993).

Florida is the birthplace of death metal (Death, Morbid Angel, Obituary), also is home to industrial metal bands like Genitorturers (120 Days Of Genitorture, 1993) and Marilyn Manson. Probably Florida is not well known for punk music but there were some good bands around. In the underground one of the first bands were Sheer Smegma (Audio Suicide EP, 1980), a punk rock / no wave all-girl band. Roach Motel (Roach & Roll EP, 1982) and Hated Youth (1982) are the punk pioneers, the mostly girl group and kinda new-wavish Morbid Opera (Jesus Loves You-So Give Us Your Money!, 1983), Broken Talent (Blood Slut EP, 1984), No Fraud (1984) and F (You Are En E.P. EP, 1984) are also influential bands from the early 80’s.

Louisiana is the cradle of the sludge metal (Eyehategod and Soilent Green).

Missouri has Drunks with Guns, a genial noise punk act. Their debut album was Drunks with Guns (1987) but their masterpiece without a doubt is Second Verses (1990). In 1990 Drunks with Guns recorded a version of Zombie with 12 years old Melissa (guitarist’s Stan Seitrich niece) singing. The singer Mike Doskocil used to play in a short-lived hardcore band called White Pride (1982-83), despite the name they were a joke band, formed to piss-off and provoke everyone.

Tennessee is the capital of early rock and roll (Elvis) and country music but has a small alternative scene. It’s home of Today is The Day, an influential noise rock / experimental metal band, forted by Steve Austin. They edited the noise rock album Supernova in 1993 and their second work (Willpower, 1994) was a blend between noise and metal. In 1997 Today Is The Day signed with Relapse and released Temple of the Morning Star, confirming their metal sound.

Arizona’s Supersuckers were formed by Eddie Spaghetti in 1988. The next year they moved to Seattle where they recorded their early singles Gravity Bill (1990), Junk and Saddle Tramp (1991) and their influential debut, The Smoke of Hell (1992).They are still around, recording and touring.

Feederz are the pioneers of Arizona punk sound. They released their first recording Jesus EP (1980) and later DH Peligro (from Dead Kennedys) joined on drums and Ever Feel Like Killing Your Boss? (1984) came out. Another notorious band were hardcore / skate punk JFA (Blatant Localism EP, 1981). Meat Puppets are also from Arizona, they released 2 punk albums (1982-84) and then turned into the psychedelic and alternative rock sound, becoming superstars with Too High to Die (1994).

Colorado is another state not typically associated with subcultures but is home to a couple of big artists: Frantix (1982) and Anti Scrunti Faction (Damsels in Distress, 1986), a legendary queercore band with Leslie Mah, later in Tribe 8.