***Steel Pole Bath Tub was formed in 1986 by Mike Morasky and Dale Flattum in Bozeman, MT. The duo relocated to Seattle where they met drummer Dorothy Kent... ultimately relocating as a unit again to San Francisco shortly thereafter. The Skull Tapes contains the first released Steel Pole Bath Tub recordings with the band's solidified trio lineup of Morasky, Flattum and Kent. This trio would serve as the lineup for the band's entire career. The Skull Tapes was originally released on cassette tape in 1987 and has become a collector's item both because of its rarity, but also its content. The band quickly followed the release with a string of classic albums on Boner Records, and they played shows supporting Nirvana, Killdozer, Jawbreaker, The Melvins, The Flaming Lips, Hole, Sonic Youth, ETC. This reissue is a must have for anyone who wants to experience the true punk underground bubbling beneath the surface in the late 80s prior to the massive grunge explosion! Original tape transferred, remastered and cut by Bob Weston (Shellac) at Chicago Mastering! The record spins at 45 RPM for maximum crush!
LP $24.95
09/15/2023
***REISSUED ON VINYL!!! Tulip is STEEL POLE BATH TUB at their best. A twisted noir detective story on a bad acid trip, it’s sonically unrelenting, filled with foreboding and it unfolds over repeated listens. There is darkness here. A psychedelic juggernaut of careening guitar slammed up against a wall of brutal bass and punctuated by the bash and crash of toms and cymbals all with an eerie soundscape exploded over the top. This transcendent noise was on Steve Albini’s “A List” in 1991 and it still feels fresh and avant. “Tulip’s highlights—'Mercurochrome,' 'Soul Cannon,' 'Sister,' 'One Thick Second,' and especially 'The Scarlet'—announced a noise rock band that brought something new and worthwhile to the table.”—Andrew Earles, Gimme Indie Rock : 500 Essential American Underground Rock Albums 1981-1996.
LP $20.95
10/23/2015
***In the fall of 1996, Darren Mor-X, Mike Morasky and Dale Flattum began making recordings for what was scheduled to be their second album on a major label with offices in Los Angeles and New York. The trio first spent 72 hours holed up in guitarist Morasky's living room, and later moved the operation to a small recording studio behind an auto repair shop in downtown San Francisco. The results were regarded by the band as its crowning achievement, and by the label as an unmitigated disaster. Why, there wasn't one track that could even possibly be considered a single. Can you imagine? The official word was that the album was "unlistenable," that the band had completely lost focus and created a "soundtrack to nothing." A loophole was found, the band was dropped, and the recordings remained unheard until now. * The long lost album by one of the mid-'90s' noisiest, most amped up and TV-damaged noise-rock bands * Worshipped and emulated by Unwound and many other bands to follow * Cited as one of the reasons Richie Unterberger resigned from OPtion magazine * Liner notes by Darren Mor-X "Pathologically stark." --Discorder "No music in anything they play at all." --idiot Faith No More fan, etext.org "Steel Pole Bathtub must've fallen down an awful lot [as kids]. Their [music] sounds like the musical manifestation of some very scarred minds....[V]ery depressing … discordant guitars and resonating feedback create an aura of frustration. ... [T]heir anarchic, guitar-driven, feedback-and-sampling-infused indie...
CD $12.00
09/24/2002
CD $6.75
01/08/2001
7" $4.00
01/08/2001
MP3 $2.97
01/08/2001
CD $12.00
01/08/2001
MC $10.25
01/08/2001
MP3 $9.90
01/08/2001
LP $8.25
01/08/2001
CD $12.00
01/08/2001
MC $10.25
01/08/2001
MP3 $9.90
01/08/2001
LP $8.25
01/08/2001
CD $10.25
01/08/2001
MC $5.75
01/08/2001
MP3 $5.94
01/08/2001
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LP $8.25
01/08/2001
CD $12.00
01/08/2001
MC $10.25
01/08/2001
MP3 $9.90
01/08/2001