Reunited noise-rock greats Steel Pole Bath Tub play rare show at Great American Music Hall
Reunited San Francisco noise-rock legends Steel Pole Bath Tub play their first hometown show in over 20 years when they headline the Great American Music Hall Friday night.
The group was founded in Bozeman, Montana, in 1986 when Morasky and bassist Dale Flattum began experimenting with an aggressive, overdriven style of punk noise. The pair relocated to Seattle, where they brought on drummer Darren Morey -- who had played in hardcore band Mr. Epp with future Green River and Mudhoney members Mark Arm and Steve Turner; Morey would later become Dorothy Kent -- and started to incorporate recordings from vintage television shows and films using cassette players operated with foot switches, adding to the chaos of their sound.
The band would move again, this time landing in San Francisco where they would establish themselves as part of the city's experimental punk scene through a series of 7" singles and albums for Boner Records, including their 1989 debut Butterfly Love. The band would build on its initial underground buzz with relentless touring -- playing with the likes of The Flaming Lips, Sonic Youth, Firehose, Meat Puppets and fellow Bay Area iconoclasts Neurosis and Melvins -- and its subsequent efforts Tulip in 1991 and The Miracle of Sound in Motion two years later that further refined Steel Pole Bath Tub's unique sound.
The group would be among the many underground acts signed by a major label in the post-Nirvana feeding frenzy, scoring a deal with Slash Records. As with many of the era's instances where noise rock and commerce collided, the partnership did not end well. While the band's 1995 effort Scars From Falling Down released through Slash and London Records was more accessible than much of their earlier, the label's issues with some of the samples used curtailed the aspects of SPBT's unorthodox approach. Despite excellent reviews, the album wasn't the hit Slash/London desired. Their planned follow-up -- a full album re-recording of the debut record by the Cars -- was summarily dismissed by label representatives and a demo of new songs (that still included three Cars covers) was deemed "unlistenable."
Stuck in major-label purgatory, the band's activity slowed as Morasky and Flattum focused on their already established electronic side project Milk Cult (band members had also worked with former Dead Kennedys singer and San Francisco punk legend Jello Biafra under the name Tumor Circus). When the rights to the music recorded for Slash/London eventually reverted to SPBT, they released it themselves in the collection entitled Unlistenable in 2002 and were one of the marquee acts for the Neurosis curated Beyond the Pale Festival in San Francisco that year before splitting up.
Outside of a single performance in 2008 for the MusicFestNW held in Portland, OR, Steel Pole Bath Tub remained inactive until 2023 when the band reissued The Skull Tapes, an early demo that quickly sold out of a limited vinyl pressing. The band also reunited to play the "30ish" celebration for underground Houston club Emo's last month with former Neurosis keyboardist and Christ on Parade guitarist Noah Landis added to the line-up, contributing samples and soundscapes.
While Morasky continues to focus on his latest project Cassette Prophet, a new expansive band playing songs built around a mythical "First Church of Radio Shack" concept that currently includes Landis on lead guitar, drummer Wes Anderson (Idiot Flesh, Les Claypool), bassist Donny Newenhouse (Terry Gross, Film School, Hot Fog, Buffalo Tooth) , and keyboardists Rachel Smith (Lickets) and Jessica Anthony, this Friday SPBT headlines the Great American Music Hall. The show marks the first time the group will play a San Francisco show in over two decades and will include support from SF heavy experimental power trio Terry Gross.
Contrary to what one might expect from a band named after the unflappably calm NPR interviewer, the threesome bashes out a bruising, kinetic style of krautrock-influenced groove displayed on their debut recording Shameless Imposter, a two-song 10" vinyl EP released on Valley King Records in 2018.
Featuring the six-string heroics of the Champs and Trans Am guitarist Phil Manley, Terry Gross came together three years earlier when he started playing with his El Studio co-owner, bassist Donny Newenhouse (Film School, Hot Fog, Buffalo Tooth). The split of Newenhouse's band Peace Creep with talented drummer Phil Becker (Pins of Light, ex-Triclops! and Lower Forty-Eight) and Triclops!/Anywhere guitarist Christian Eric Beaulieu led to some informal jam sessions with Manley and the rhythm section at the studio, sparking the new project.
Digitally recording their freewheeling improvisations at El Studio, the trio began developing its unique chemistry that found the musicians exploring hypnotic extended grooves that at times recalled the droning motorik workouts of German rock experimentalists Can and Neu, but with the added heft of modern rock titans like the Melvins.
Terry Gross started playing live shows on both sides of the Bay, sharing stages with the likes of Big Business, reunited Oakland favorites Drunk Horse and Hot Lunch and establishing a reputation for dealing out their unusual style heady, muscular extended tunes. The band released a number of tunes via its Bandcamp page during the pandemic, drawing from rehearsal recordings and finding a number of extended pieces to offer fans in order to tide them over until their next official effort.
Manley's connection with indie label Thrill Jockey -- which had released albums by Trans Am and Life Coach -- led the trio to a record deal. Using their studio as an editing tool much in the same way Can would piece together its songs by drawing from raw recorded material, Terry Gross distilled its best sonic exploration into the three sprawling tunes heard on it first full-length album for Thrill Jockey, Soft Opening, in 2020. The group recently announced it was almost finished recording its sophomore album tentatively set to be released later this year. San Francisco band Wife opens the show.
Steel Pole Bath Tub with Terry Gross and Wife
Friday, Feb. 16, 7 p.m. $25-$30
Great American Music Hall
