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Today - April 5th, 2024 - we release our newest album: Midwestless. Available in Standard Edition vinyl, Deluxe Edition vinyl, and various downloadable formats of your choice. It is brought to you by the finest label in the world: @cmptrstdnts.

Today is also Bandcamp Friday, in which the usual Bandcamp revenue share is waived and artists/labels receive 100% of the money.

On our Bandcamp page you can order the Standard Edition vinyl, and you’ll find a link to order the Deluxe Edition vinyl directly from Computer Students™ (ignore the “sold out” part - that’s a lie, because I didn’t know how else to set it up the way I wanted to).

Soon, we’ll be officially announcing European tour dates with the excellent band Tiznao (@tiznaobcn) from Barcelona. They also have a new album out, called Procesos, and you can get it here: tiznao.bandcamp.com

A MASSIVE debt of gratitude goes to Julien Fernandez (@chimioromeo), who helped us with this thing in so many ways large and small, we wouldn’t even know where to start thanking him.

Cheers,
-The Conformists

callahan & witscher
'sorry to hear that' record release

with
@theconformists (from st. louis, mo celebrating their 30th anniversary)
@sunburnedhandoftheman (legendary masshole freaks)
@xoxopregnancy (nyc hardcore, no, not straightedge)

friday, may 29th
10 pm
@night_club_101

Announcing / on sale now - @minibeast_ism @theconformists @canapostrophet
Tuesday, May 19th

Minibeast (Providence, RI)

Minibeast is a three-piece band comprised of Peter Prescott (formerly of Mission of Burma, Volcano Suns, Kustomized) playing guitar, keys, noises (mouth & other) & the mind bending rhythm section of Keith Seidel on drums n’ percussion and Niels LaWhite on bass. It’s liquid music...always moving. They gratefully accept influences from Fela Kuti, Can, and the Stooges.

w/

The Conformists (St. Louis)

Legends of the Midwest noise rock producing punishing experiments in sound

CAN’T (St. Louis)
Fresh experimental drone post rock

8PM - $15adv/$17dos - All Ages

May 7, 2000
"Black Dahlia" locked-groove excerpt. Commerce Bank parking lot west of Vintage Vinyl / St. Louis, MO.

"Really, the Conformists and the Ruckus Crew turned it into an event. Both acts were nominated for Slammies (the Conformists in the Best Punk Band category, the Ruckus Crew for Best Hip-Hop Artist) but, for reasons of space, were not invited to perform on Sunday. That sucks, being nominated yet remaining uninvited. Rather than grumble and cuss (though they probably did some of that, too), both groups showed up and performed anyway. The Conformists rented (or, given their reputation, hot-wired) a flatbed truck, spray-painted "The Conformists" on it and powered their punk with a generator, jamming econo-style. They sabotaged the official event by pulling into Commerce Bank's west parking lot and cranking out their music. They then went mobile and drove up and down Delmar -- and, apparently, over to the Hi-Pointe -- making their own showcase parade."
-Randall Roberts, "Slam Dunk," Riverfront Times (May 10, 2000)

🎥: @the.devils.shoestring

Dec. 14, 2001
Mississippi Nights / St. Louis, MO

"These Are Not Flowers" newly written/played for fours of raving fans as they indoor-smoke.

This historic St. Louis music venue is sorely missed, sure, but you should see the absolutely gorgeous parking lot in its place.

🎥: ???

THUR. SEP. 25TH!

Join us at @sinkholestl as the mind-blowing Nape Neck play their first show in St. Louis, along with a rare set from 1,009-miles-apart duo @termsmusic.

NAPE NECK
“UK-based art-punk trio Nape Neck... [hit] like a head-on collision between the razor-edged clang and clamor of the Ex or Dog Faced Hermans and the untamed neo-no wave jabbing and scrabbling of the Scissor Girls and Erase Errata... Bobby Glew’s guitar is strangled Andy Gill-style, splintering the taut, locked-in rhythms from bassist Claire Adams and drummer Kathy Gray with shards of serrated noise. Each member of the band contributes vocals, with their lines crossing and overlapping in a highly coordinated exchange of calls and responses... [Nape Neck] slash and burn like DNA if they’d been a Ron Johnson band. A total knockout — the first half of this decade belonged to Nape Neck, and chances are that the second half will be all theirs, too.”
–Maximum Rocknroll

TERMS
“ ‘All Becomes Indistict’ is the second full-length album from Chris Trull (YOWIE / GRAND ULENA) and Danny Piechocki (AHLEUCHATISTAS / JITTERS). Terms, arriving by way of Tampa Bay, Florida and St. Louis, Missouri surfaced during the pandemic as a socially distanced band dealing in dissonance, atonality and the unknown... The duo commands a math rock nuclear reaction that manages to fit more riffs into a single song than most bands do throughout their entire discography.”
-Riverfront Times

THE CONFORMISTS
“Do you play jazz? Do you perform at weddings?”
-my dad

7:30 doors / 8 show
all ages except 44, 28, & 35

FRI. JULY 25th!

Playing with our pals Big Drama (Fayetteville noise rock duo) at CBGB next week. Ear/liver damage, neon, sweat, your failed attempts at heckling: all the good stuff in life.

Flyer: @ilikebigdrama

Hey, we made a new shirt. Based on an old flyer design, it’s pink ink on a black shirt (100% combed ringspun cotton Gildan 64000 Softstyle tee), printed with love & care right here in St. Louis by Reid Maynard at @proconprinting.

Sizes S, M, L, XL, & XXL.

We’ll be selling these at the @prfbbq this weekend if you’d like to grab one in person.

Please note: available to purchase on bandcamp, but they won’t ship until July 14th.

💋,
The Conformists

Hey, we made a new shirt. Based on an old flyer design, it’s pink ink on a black shirt (100% combed ringspun cotton Gildan 64000 Softstyle tee), printed with love & care right here in St. Louis by Reid Maynard at @proconprinting.

Sizes S, M, L, XL, & XXL.

We’ll be selling these at the @prfbbq this weekend if you’d like to grab one in person.

Please note: available to purchase on bandcamp, but they won’t ship until July 14th.

💋,
The Conformists

Friends! We’re playing this year’s PRFBBQ in Chicago. Our set is Sat. July 12 at 11:00 pm, but the entire weekend is stacked. Ticket link in bio for day/weekend passes. More below:

- July 10 & 11 at @illuminatedbrewworks
- July 12 & 13 at @fallenlog
ALL AGES!

🎟️ Tickets and set times at PRFBBQ.com

🔊 Bandcamp sampler: PRFBBQ.bandcamp.com

🎧 Spotify playlist: search “PRFBBQ 2025”

𝐓𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐉𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝟏𝟎: 𝟕:𝟎𝟎-𝟏𝟎:𝟎𝟎𝐩𝐦
Photo-Curio
Stick Horse
The End of Music
Light Coma

𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐉𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝟏𝟏: 𝟕:𝟎𝟎𝐩𝐦-𝟏:𝟎𝟎𝐚𝐦
Arts & Letters
Deady
Moral Stories
Bronson Arm
Fuzzbox DJs

𝐒𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐉𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝟏𝟐: 𝟐:𝟎𝟎-𝟏𝟏:𝟒𝟎𝐩𝐦
Tum
Feral Tact
Future Ghost Club
Impulsive Hearts
Sprite
Jerk Math
Chanteymen
The Most Distant Object
Risk/Reward
Bimbo
The Conformists

𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐉𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝟏𝟑: 𝟐:𝟎𝟎-𝟏𝟎:𝟏𝟎𝐩𝐦
snwv
Fridge Buzz
Maurice Nouvelle
Vacancy Chain
Deep Tunnel Project
Moontype
Pasha Detecto
IfIHadAHiFi
Nonagon

Poster: Chris Williams @plasticflame

Steve Albini died one year ago today. We were in Europe on tour, having just finished a soundcheck in Mouscron, Belgium, when we heard the news. Calling it a shock is a wild understatement- it didn’t feel real then and it still doesn’t now. Steve was (and remains) a massive influence for this band, like probably thousands of others. We didn’t post much about it last May, or again in July for his birthday when the tributes were rolling in, because it all felt inadequate. This won’t be enough, either- the loss is just that huge.

In early 2002, we had contacted Shellac asking if they’d play with us here in town and, to our total surprise, they said yes. We organized a show at a VFW hall in Fairview Heights, Illinois for October that year. Due to an injury they had to cancel that date, but came back in June 2004 to honor a postponed make-up show at a different VFW hall in Collinsville, Illinois. The “contact” at the VFW (I’m not sure they’d ever had a rock band rent out the space for a show) was a sweet elderly woman who was approximately 135 years-old. We made our own tickets. Our friends worked the door. Shellac arranged for a voter registration table off to the side in advance of the November election. The room was large and had beautiful wood flooring with surprisingly good acoustics. There was a goddamn disco ball. We opened, and then Shellac came out and played one of the best shows I’ve ever witnessed (and I’ve seen them a lot). It was unreal. (cont.)

Steve Albini died one year ago today. We were in Europe on tour, having just finished a soundcheck in Mouscron, Belgium, when we heard the news. Calling it a shock is a wild understatement- it didn’t feel real then and it still doesn’t now. Steve was (and remains) a massive influence for this band, like probably thousands of others. We didn’t post much about it last May, or again in July for his birthday when the tributes were rolling in, because it all felt inadequate. This won’t be enough, either- the loss is just that huge.

In early 2002, we had contacted Shellac asking if they’d play with us here in town and, to our total surprise, they said yes. We organized a show at a VFW hall in Fairview Heights, Illinois for October that year. Due to an injury they had to cancel that date, but came back in June 2004 to honor a postponed make-up show at a different VFW hall in Collinsville, Illinois. The “contact” at the VFW (I’m not sure they’d ever had a rock band rent out the space for a show) was a sweet elderly woman who was approximately 135 years-old. We made our own tickets. Our friends worked the door. Shellac arranged for a voter registration table off to the side in advance of the November election. The room was large and had beautiful wood flooring with surprisingly good acoustics. There was a goddamn disco ball. We opened, and then Shellac came out and played one of the best shows I’ve ever witnessed (and I’ve seen them a lot). It was unreal. (cont.)

Steve Albini died one year ago today. We were in Europe on tour, having just finished a soundcheck in Mouscron, Belgium, when we heard the news. Calling it a shock is a wild understatement- it didn’t feel real then and it still doesn’t now. Steve was (and remains) a massive influence for this band, like probably thousands of others. We didn’t post much about it last May, or again in July for his birthday when the tributes were rolling in, because it all felt inadequate. This won’t be enough, either- the loss is just that huge.

In early 2002, we had contacted Shellac asking if they’d play with us here in town and, to our total surprise, they said yes. We organized a show at a VFW hall in Fairview Heights, Illinois for October that year. Due to an injury they had to cancel that date, but came back in June 2004 to honor a postponed make-up show at a different VFW hall in Collinsville, Illinois. The “contact” at the VFW (I’m not sure they’d ever had a rock band rent out the space for a show) was a sweet elderly woman who was approximately 135 years-old. We made our own tickets. Our friends worked the door. Shellac arranged for a voter registration table off to the side in advance of the November election. The room was large and had beautiful wood flooring with surprisingly good acoustics. There was a goddamn disco ball. We opened, and then Shellac came out and played one of the best shows I’ve ever witnessed (and I’ve seen them a lot). It was unreal. (cont.)

Steve Albini died one year ago today. We were in Europe on tour, having just finished a soundcheck in Mouscron, Belgium, when we heard the news. Calling it a shock is a wild understatement- it didn’t feel real then and it still doesn’t now. Steve was (and remains) a massive influence for this band, like probably thousands of others. We didn’t post much about it last May, or again in July for his birthday when the tributes were rolling in, because it all felt inadequate. This won’t be enough, either- the loss is just that huge.

In early 2002, we had contacted Shellac asking if they’d play with us here in town and, to our total surprise, they said yes. We organized a show at a VFW hall in Fairview Heights, Illinois for October that year. Due to an injury they had to cancel that date, but came back in June 2004 to honor a postponed make-up show at a different VFW hall in Collinsville, Illinois. The “contact” at the VFW (I’m not sure they’d ever had a rock band rent out the space for a show) was a sweet elderly woman who was approximately 135 years-old. We made our own tickets. Our friends worked the door. Shellac arranged for a voter registration table off to the side in advance of the November election. The room was large and had beautiful wood flooring with surprisingly good acoustics. There was a goddamn disco ball. We opened, and then Shellac came out and played one of the best shows I’ve ever witnessed (and I’ve seen them a lot). It was unreal. (cont.)

Steve Albini died one year ago today. We were in Europe on tour, having just finished a soundcheck in Mouscron, Belgium, when we heard the news. Calling it a shock is a wild understatement- it didn’t feel real then and it still doesn’t now. Steve was (and remains) a massive influence for this band, like probably thousands of others. We didn’t post much about it last May, or again in July for his birthday when the tributes were rolling in, because it all felt inadequate. This won’t be enough, either- the loss is just that huge.

In early 2002, we had contacted Shellac asking if they’d play with us here in town and, to our total surprise, they said yes. We organized a show at a VFW hall in Fairview Heights, Illinois for October that year. Due to an injury they had to cancel that date, but came back in June 2004 to honor a postponed make-up show at a different VFW hall in Collinsville, Illinois. The “contact” at the VFW (I’m not sure they’d ever had a rock band rent out the space for a show) was a sweet elderly woman who was approximately 135 years-old. We made our own tickets. Our friends worked the door. Shellac arranged for a voter registration table off to the side in advance of the November election. The room was large and had beautiful wood flooring with surprisingly good acoustics. There was a goddamn disco ball. We opened, and then Shellac came out and played one of the best shows I’ve ever witnessed (and I’ve seen them a lot). It was unreal. (cont.)

Steve Albini died one year ago today. We were in Europe on tour, having just finished a soundcheck in Mouscron, Belgium, when we heard the news. Calling it a shock is a wild understatement- it didn’t feel real then and it still doesn’t now. Steve was (and remains) a massive influence for this band, like probably thousands of others. We didn’t post much about it last May, or again in July for his birthday when the tributes were rolling in, because it all felt inadequate. This won’t be enough, either- the loss is just that huge.

In early 2002, we had contacted Shellac asking if they’d play with us here in town and, to our total surprise, they said yes. We organized a show at a VFW hall in Fairview Heights, Illinois for October that year. Due to an injury they had to cancel that date, but came back in June 2004 to honor a postponed make-up show at a different VFW hall in Collinsville, Illinois. The “contact” at the VFW (I’m not sure they’d ever had a rock band rent out the space for a show) was a sweet elderly woman who was approximately 135 years-old. We made our own tickets. Our friends worked the door. Shellac arranged for a voter registration table off to the side in advance of the November election. The room was large and had beautiful wood flooring with surprisingly good acoustics. There was a goddamn disco ball. We opened, and then Shellac came out and played one of the best shows I’ve ever witnessed (and I’ve seen them a lot). It was unreal. (cont.)

Steve Albini died one year ago today. We were in Europe on tour, having just finished a soundcheck in Mouscron, Belgium, when we heard the news. Calling it a shock is a wild understatement- it didn’t feel real then and it still doesn’t now. Steve was (and remains) a massive influence for this band, like probably thousands of others. We didn’t post much about it last May, or again in July for his birthday when the tributes were rolling in, because it all felt inadequate. This won’t be enough, either- the loss is just that huge.

In early 2002, we had contacted Shellac asking if they’d play with us here in town and, to our total surprise, they said yes. We organized a show at a VFW hall in Fairview Heights, Illinois for October that year. Due to an injury they had to cancel that date, but came back in June 2004 to honor a postponed make-up show at a different VFW hall in Collinsville, Illinois. The “contact” at the VFW (I’m not sure they’d ever had a rock band rent out the space for a show) was a sweet elderly woman who was approximately 135 years-old. We made our own tickets. Our friends worked the door. Shellac arranged for a voter registration table off to the side in advance of the November election. The room was large and had beautiful wood flooring with surprisingly good acoustics. There was a goddamn disco ball. We opened, and then Shellac came out and played one of the best shows I’ve ever witnessed (and I’ve seen them a lot). It was unreal. (cont.)

Steve Albini died one year ago today. We were in Europe on tour, having just finished a soundcheck in Mouscron, Belgium, when we heard the news. Calling it a shock is a wild understatement- it didn’t feel real then and it still doesn’t now. Steve was (and remains) a massive influence for this band, like probably thousands of others. We didn’t post much about it last May, or again in July for his birthday when the tributes were rolling in, because it all felt inadequate. This won’t be enough, either- the loss is just that huge.

In early 2002, we had contacted Shellac asking if they’d play with us here in town and, to our total surprise, they said yes. We organized a show at a VFW hall in Fairview Heights, Illinois for October that year. Due to an injury they had to cancel that date, but came back in June 2004 to honor a postponed make-up show at a different VFW hall in Collinsville, Illinois. The “contact” at the VFW (I’m not sure they’d ever had a rock band rent out the space for a show) was a sweet elderly woman who was approximately 135 years-old. We made our own tickets. Our friends worked the door. Shellac arranged for a voter registration table off to the side in advance of the November election. The room was large and had beautiful wood flooring with surprisingly good acoustics. There was a goddamn disco ball. We opened, and then Shellac came out and played one of the best shows I’ve ever witnessed (and I’ve seen them a lot). It was unreal. (cont.)

Steve Albini died one year ago today. We were in Europe on tour, having just finished a soundcheck in Mouscron, Belgium, when we heard the news. Calling it a shock is a wild understatement- it didn’t feel real then and it still doesn’t now. Steve was (and remains) a massive influence for this band, like probably thousands of others. We didn’t post much about it last May, or again in July for his birthday when the tributes were rolling in, because it all felt inadequate. This won’t be enough, either- the loss is just that huge.

In early 2002, we had contacted Shellac asking if they’d play with us here in town and, to our total surprise, they said yes. We organized a show at a VFW hall in Fairview Heights, Illinois for October that year. Due to an injury they had to cancel that date, but came back in June 2004 to honor a postponed make-up show at a different VFW hall in Collinsville, Illinois. The “contact” at the VFW (I’m not sure they’d ever had a rock band rent out the space for a show) was a sweet elderly woman who was approximately 135 years-old. We made our own tickets. Our friends worked the door. Shellac arranged for a voter registration table off to the side in advance of the November election. The room was large and had beautiful wood flooring with surprisingly good acoustics. There was a goddamn disco ball. We opened, and then Shellac came out and played one of the best shows I’ve ever witnessed (and I’ve seen them a lot). It was unreal. (cont.)

Steve Albini died one year ago today. We were in Europe on tour, having just finished a soundcheck in Mouscron, Belgium, when we heard the news. Calling it a shock is a wild understatement- it didn’t feel real then and it still doesn’t now. Steve was (and remains) a massive influence for this band, like probably thousands of others. We didn’t post much about it last May, or again in July for his birthday when the tributes were rolling in, because it all felt inadequate. This won’t be enough, either- the loss is just that huge.

In early 2002, we had contacted Shellac asking if they’d play with us here in town and, to our total surprise, they said yes. We organized a show at a VFW hall in Fairview Heights, Illinois for October that year. Due to an injury they had to cancel that date, but came back in June 2004 to honor a postponed make-up show at a different VFW hall in Collinsville, Illinois. The “contact” at the VFW (I’m not sure they’d ever had a rock band rent out the space for a show) was a sweet elderly woman who was approximately 135 years-old. We made our own tickets. Our friends worked the door. Shellac arranged for a voter registration table off to the side in advance of the November election. The room was large and had beautiful wood flooring with surprisingly good acoustics. There was a goddamn disco ball. We opened, and then Shellac came out and played one of the best shows I’ve ever witnessed (and I’ve seen them a lot). It was unreal. (cont.)

Steve Albini died one year ago today. We were in Europe on tour, having just finished a soundcheck in Mouscron, Belgium, when we heard the news. Calling it a shock is a wild understatement- it didn’t feel real then and it still doesn’t now. Steve was (and remains) a massive influence for this band, like probably thousands of others. We didn’t post much about it last May, or again in July for his birthday when the tributes were rolling in, because it all felt inadequate. This won’t be enough, either- the loss is just that huge.

In early 2002, we had contacted Shellac asking if they’d play with us here in town and, to our total surprise, they said yes. We organized a show at a VFW hall in Fairview Heights, Illinois for October that year. Due to an injury they had to cancel that date, but came back in June 2004 to honor a postponed make-up show at a different VFW hall in Collinsville, Illinois. The “contact” at the VFW (I’m not sure they’d ever had a rock band rent out the space for a show) was a sweet elderly woman who was approximately 135 years-old. We made our own tickets. Our friends worked the door. Shellac arranged for a voter registration table off to the side in advance of the November election. The room was large and had beautiful wood flooring with surprisingly good acoustics. There was a goddamn disco ball. We opened, and then Shellac came out and played one of the best shows I’ve ever witnessed (and I’ve seen them a lot). It was unreal. (cont.)

Steve Albini died one year ago today. We were in Europe on tour, having just finished a soundcheck in Mouscron, Belgium, when we heard the news. Calling it a shock is a wild understatement- it didn’t feel real then and it still doesn’t now. Steve was (and remains) a massive influence for this band, like probably thousands of others. We didn’t post much about it last May, or again in July for his birthday when the tributes were rolling in, because it all felt inadequate. This won’t be enough, either- the loss is just that huge.

In early 2002, we had contacted Shellac asking if they’d play with us here in town and, to our total surprise, they said yes. We organized a show at a VFW hall in Fairview Heights, Illinois for October that year. Due to an injury they had to cancel that date, but came back in June 2004 to honor a postponed make-up show at a different VFW hall in Collinsville, Illinois. The “contact” at the VFW (I’m not sure they’d ever had a rock band rent out the space for a show) was a sweet elderly woman who was approximately 135 years-old. We made our own tickets. Our friends worked the door. Shellac arranged for a voter registration table off to the side in advance of the November election. The room was large and had beautiful wood flooring with surprisingly good acoustics. There was a goddamn disco ball. We opened, and then Shellac came out and played one of the best shows I’ve ever witnessed (and I’ve seen them a lot). It was unreal. (cont.)

Steve Albini died one year ago today. We were in Europe on tour, having just finished a soundcheck in Mouscron, Belgium, when we heard the news. Calling it a shock is a wild understatement- it didn’t feel real then and it still doesn’t now. Steve was (and remains) a massive influence for this band, like probably thousands of others. We didn’t post much about it last May, or again in July for his birthday when the tributes were rolling in, because it all felt inadequate. This won’t be enough, either- the loss is just that huge.

In early 2002, we had contacted Shellac asking if they’d play with us here in town and, to our total surprise, they said yes. We organized a show at a VFW hall in Fairview Heights, Illinois for October that year. Due to an injury they had to cancel that date, but came back in June 2004 to honor a postponed make-up show at a different VFW hall in Collinsville, Illinois. The “contact” at the VFW (I’m not sure they’d ever had a rock band rent out the space for a show) was a sweet elderly woman who was approximately 135 years-old. We made our own tickets. Our friends worked the door. Shellac arranged for a voter registration table off to the side in advance of the November election. The room was large and had beautiful wood flooring with surprisingly good acoustics. There was a goddamn disco ball. We opened, and then Shellac came out and played one of the best shows I’ve ever witnessed (and I’ve seen them a lot). It was unreal. (cont.)

Steve Albini died one year ago today. We were in Europe on tour, having just finished a soundcheck in Mouscron, Belgium, when we heard the news. Calling it a shock is a wild understatement- it didn’t feel real then and it still doesn’t now. Steve was (and remains) a massive influence for this band, like probably thousands of others. We didn’t post much about it last May, or again in July for his birthday when the tributes were rolling in, because it all felt inadequate. This won’t be enough, either- the loss is just that huge.

In early 2002, we had contacted Shellac asking if they’d play with us here in town and, to our total surprise, they said yes. We organized a show at a VFW hall in Fairview Heights, Illinois for October that year. Due to an injury they had to cancel that date, but came back in June 2004 to honor a postponed make-up show at a different VFW hall in Collinsville, Illinois. The “contact” at the VFW (I’m not sure they’d ever had a rock band rent out the space for a show) was a sweet elderly woman who was approximately 135 years-old. We made our own tickets. Our friends worked the door. Shellac arranged for a voter registration table off to the side in advance of the November election. The room was large and had beautiful wood flooring with surprisingly good acoustics. There was a goddamn disco ball. We opened, and then Shellac came out and played one of the best shows I’ve ever witnessed (and I’ve seen them a lot). It was unreal. (cont.)

Steve Albini died one year ago today. We were in Europe on tour, having just finished a soundcheck in Mouscron, Belgium, when we heard the news. Calling it a shock is a wild understatement- it didn’t feel real then and it still doesn’t now. Steve was (and remains) a massive influence for this band, like probably thousands of others. We didn’t post much about it last May, or again in July for his birthday when the tributes were rolling in, because it all felt inadequate. This won’t be enough, either- the loss is just that huge.

In early 2002, we had contacted Shellac asking if they’d play with us here in town and, to our total surprise, they said yes. We organized a show at a VFW hall in Fairview Heights, Illinois for October that year. Due to an injury they had to cancel that date, but came back in June 2004 to honor a postponed make-up show at a different VFW hall in Collinsville, Illinois. The “contact” at the VFW (I’m not sure they’d ever had a rock band rent out the space for a show) was a sweet elderly woman who was approximately 135 years-old. We made our own tickets. Our friends worked the door. Shellac arranged for a voter registration table off to the side in advance of the November election. The room was large and had beautiful wood flooring with surprisingly good acoustics. There was a goddamn disco ball. We opened, and then Shellac came out and played one of the best shows I’ve ever witnessed (and I’ve seen them a lot). It was unreal. (cont.)

MAY 5th at @sinkholestl!

LOOLOWNINGEN
-Tokyo-based avant-punk/alternative-blues trio creating ink wash painting-like sounds & unicursal rhythms

SPRITE
-woozy, wobbly StL rock trio with a dash of feedback & ‘90s-era Sonic Youth

CONFORMISTS
-van Houten, Atkins, Krenwinkel

Doors 7:30 / Show 8:00 / All ages, all of em

Flyer: @uncledrippy