Decrepit, from Seattle, was one of those bands that played at the Perot House in Fargo, ND in the summer of 1997. We had tons of bands coming through that whole summer. Too many, if you ask me. Our scene was small, too many shows meant low attendance. It was impossible to go to them all (unless you lived in the house they were happening in, that is).
I honestly don’t remember if the Decrepit show was well attended or not, but I do know that one of the bands I was playing in at the time (the short-lived and unfortunately named, Big Schmoozer and the Dung Beatles) opened for them. For some reason, we ended up going with them to play a show in Bismarck, ND as well. They were a bit older and more experienced than us, but they were really nice and encouraged us even though we were pretty bad. I was, and still am, really into this kind of hardcore. Fuzzed out, raw, raging, and politically charged.
I hadn’t listened to this one in a while, but it hits all the marks for me. It very well may mean more to me now than it did 20 years ago, to tell you the truth. When I got this record back in ’97, it got blended in with all the other records that my friends and I were all constantly scrounging money to buy. Even though they were really cool to us, this one sat on the shelf for a long time nearly un-listened to. Sitting down to listen to it again all these years later, I wonder why I didn’t include it on more mixtapes. Now I make podcasts, so watch out.
James is a writer, record collector, wrestling nerd, and tabletop gamer living with his family in Asheville, North Carolina. He is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association, the North Carolina Film Critics Association, and contributes to The Daily Orca, Razorcake Magazine, Mountain Xpress, and Asheville Movies.