New Wet Kojak


New Wet Kojak began in 1995 in Washington D.C. Two members, Scott McCloud and Johnny Temple, also play in New York City’s Girls Against Boys. Geoff Turner did time with Gray Matter and Nick Pelleciotto, the fourth member of the group, came from Edsel. Charles Bennington and Nathan Larson (Shudder To Think) also contributed heavily to their sound by supplying the horn section. New Wet Kojak created an overtly seductive aesthetic on both of their records- utilizing the saxophone, whispered vocals, and reserved instrumentation.

Self-titled (1995)
Nasty International (1997)
Do Things (2000)
No. 4 (2001)
This Is the Glamorous (2003)

Stanford Prison Experiment

A lot of bands come up with names they live to regret (Hootie and the Blowfish, Moonpools and Caterpillars, Beatles), but you'd have to search around to top the stylistic misapprehension conveyed by the handle (the title of a classic sociology project) attached to this at-large Los Angeles rock group. Carefully covering the Minutemen's "It's Expected I'm Gone" but otherwise playing tunefully thrusting Rage Against the Tool Jam riffrock on its debut album, the quartet racks up a big, buzzing guitar noise with intelligent excoriating anti-authority and anti-personal lyrics sung by Mario Jimenez. Co-produced by World Dom label owner (and former Gang of 4, Shriekback and Low Pop Suicide bassist) Dave Allen, songs like "Written Apology," "Sheepshit" and "Super Monkey" thunder along tightly, avoiding bluster while managing ferocious pressure. The only thing missing is any individual style.

With ace producer Ted Nicely's help, Stanford Prison Experiment hit upon a more focused plan for its second album, and set about becoming a West Coast Fugazi on The Gato Hunch. Guitarist Mike Starkey's clangorous feedback-edged razor burns and the Davey Latter/Mark Fraser rhythm section's steady foot-shifting power clearly set the sonic agenda, while Jimenez — tilting his voice at a familiar semi-melodic D of C angle — sings out impressionistically expressed anger at everything from God to conformists to "Hardcore Idiot." For all the derivation, The Gato Hunch is a much more focused and compelling album than the debut and leaves the impression than this Experiment might ultimately discover something worth knowing.[Ira Robbins]

Self-Titled (1994)
The Gato Hunch (1995)
Wrecreation (1998)

C-Clamp


Sometimes referred to as slowcore, C-Clamp placed emphasis on mood, texture and rhythm. Known for their dense layering and simple, yet beautiful vocal harmonies, C-Clamp released only two full length albums in their career. Although they performed live infrequently, they managed to share the stage with many noteworthy bands of that era, including Braid, Castor, Dianogah, Karate and Hum.
Nick Macri went on to perform in the bands Heroic Doses, Euphone, Sunny Day Real Estate, The Lonesome Organist, The Analog Reception, and The Zincs, as well as with the artists Bobby Conn and Jeremy Enigk.


The Meta-Matics




The Meta-Matics formed in Washington, DC during the summer of 1994 with the intention of cultivating their own musical language. Influenced by ethnic folk music, jazz, classical, and no-wave; they solidified their unique sound quickly, impressing upon bands such as Bikini Kill and Fugazi to take them along on tour. The raw energy and the joy of the music was the heartbeat of The Meta-Matics. They lived up to their name, destroying themselves after 1 1/2 years. The music continues to influence those coming from the punk idiom who want to break free of the self-imposed constraints. A truly groundbreaking band, and historical artifact. This discography contains their LP, which was released on vinyl only on Slowdime Records (and has been out of print for over 2 years), their tracks from their split 7" with The Make-Up, as well as a few compilation tracks.

Members:

Aaron Brenner: Guitar
Franke Vogl: Bass
Malcolm McDuffie: Drums
Chuck Bettis: Vocals

Aaron went on to Airport Bar. Franke went on to Rarafre+Am, Et At It, and Heth. Malcolm went on to Crom-Tech and Hollow . Chuck went on to All Scars, Trance , and founded Mass Particles Records.

Complete Discography

Beat Happening



Beat Happening is an underground pop band, formed in Olympia, Washington in 1982. The line-up consists of Calvin Johnson on guitar and vocals, Bret Lunsford on guitar and drums, and Heather Lewis on drums, guitar, and vocals. They democratically rotated instruments. The members met while attending The Evergreen State College and decided to tour Japan, armed with more charisma than musical studies, they recorded their first release (Three Tea Breakfast) in Japan in 1983. Those recordings were released by K on cassette in 1984. In 1985 Beat Happening recorded their first LP Beat Happening. Beat Happening’s first few releases were split between K and other labels such as Sub Pop, Rough Trade and Homestead Records until 1996, when the re-issues kept only the K shield. The fruitful output from 1987 to 1992 included two additional EPs (including a split with Ellensburg, WA’s The Screaming Trees), four singles, a cassette tape and four albums (Jamboree, Dreamy, Black Candy, and You Turn Me On). In 2000, Beat Happening regrouped to record the single “Angel Gone” for K’s International Pop Underground series of 7-inch records. In 2001 the band was profiled in Michael Azerrad’s book Our Band Could Be Your Life, written about bands who were hugely influential in establishing the current landscape of independent record labels. In 2002, K released Crashing Through, a compilation of Beat Happening's work in the form of a 7-disc box set. In addition to his solo albums and performances, Calvin Johnson followed Beat Happening with Dub Narcotic Sound System, Sons of the Soil, and currently plays with The Hive Dwellers and DJs as Selector Dub Narcotic, and continues to wear a lab coat, engineer, mix and make music in the Dub Narcotic Studios. Bret continues to operate Knw-Yr-Own Records, an independent label based in Lunsford’s hometown of Anacrotes, Washington – where he also manages What the Heck Fest, an annual music festival and continues to play with D+.

Beat Happening (1985)
Jamboree (1988)
Split with Screaming Trees
Black Candy (1989)
Split with The Vaselines (1991)
You Turn Me On (1992)
Music to Climb the Apple Tree (2003)