Once a week, Wayward Blog brings to you sounds of the area's musical past.
Olsen Terror existed during a hardcore heyday in the Kansas City/Lawrence area. It seemed that you could see bands playing everywhere for a few years around the turn of the century: house shows, community centers, and even the Lawrence Visitor's Center.
Hell, if you look at Olsen Terror's lineup, it's a veritable who's who of the local punk scene:
Justin Betterton on vocals -- current host of KC-DIY Radio, owner of Big Brown Shark Records.Mike Tuley on guitar -- Short Bus Kids, Or Die Trying, the Madd Scientists, and this little band called Ad Astra Per Aspera. I think we could do an entire month of Throwback entrees devoted to bands Tuley used to play in.
Luke Stemmerman on bass -- also known as "Loco Luke-o Concern" of straight-edge hardcore legends One Concern. Show promoter extraordinaire.
Kurt Lane on drums -- Ad Astra Per Aspera (when back from Brooklyn, where he currently lives with his wife and AAPA member Julie Lane). Has also drummed for Ssion.
Their shows were notable for being something like five minutes long. Kind of like an extended string of firecrackers, the band would show up, go off, and leave you wondering what the hell just happened. You'd be slightly dazed and blinking, wondering if you could get the license of that truck that hit you. You can get a much better-phrased review of one of their shows over at Too Much Rock.
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Woooah. Good throwback. Unfortunately this was a mini cd that got stuck in the cd player of a car that got impounded many years ago. I think I still have the sleeve (designed by one Mr. Galloway of Brine/The Syndicate fame.)
Bettorton has some photos on his facebook of the last Olson Terror show at the Visitor's center (w/DS-13 from Sweden and Salt the Earth) with a much younger version of all of us circle pitting. The last song they played was Salad Days and it was one of the fondest memories of my young punk memory.
The track listing:
Complacency Is Complicity
Taking Off the Blinders
Anti-Capitalist Fight Song
An Open Letter to the Historically Challenged Moralist
Autobiography of An American Drone
And Lushbox is a good call. I'll do that next week. The others...I MIGHT have an El Fontain track around here somewhere.
theres a band i didn't expect to see written about ever again. don't have a copy of this, whats the track listing on it? i guess i have a 5 track demo, but i don't have a track listing.
future throwback requests:
annie on my mind
the wilmas
el fontain
lushbox
psychoviolets
idiots delight
that last one i haven't the slightest clue on. picked up their 7" from prospero's a few years back, not sure on any details of the band at all other than they were from here. good ep, though. i can e-mail you a rip of it, if you don't already have it.
good read, thanks.
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