Oh boy, I can hear it now: All the 90's metallic hardcore fanatics who frequent this site moaning in agony and running for the hills, cursing my name until another burly moshfest hits it home. Tough luck for the weekend, kids, you know I'm a sucker for the catchy shit, and this fucker's about as loaded with hooks as you can get.
Formed in Canada in the late-80's by John Kastner after he quit the Asexuals, the Doughboys released their debut, "Whatever", in 1987, with Kastner bringing along what I believe was an entirely new lineup for "Home Again" in 1988. I don't own everything the band recorded, but their third full-length, "Happy Accidents", is damn solid material, I must say. But that's not the point...
After that it was time for the majors, and so our story really begins with 1993's "Crush": One of the best albums I've ever spent less than $3 on in my entire life, without a doubt. On this record the band somehow exploded out from their melodic punk rock roots into an absolutely perfect blend of pop-punk and total pop rock—taking all that catchiness and tossing in little bits of what could be tagged emo/indie rock or whatever, but the bottom line is that the songs are fucking impeccable, I don't give a fuck what you want to call it! Tell me I'm wrong and I'll tell you you're deaf!
Their stint on the majors ended with the downfall of the band after 1996's "Turn Me On"—a record which one would have expected to kick some serious ass considering the pure mastery of "Crush", but I assure you that nothing could be further from the truth. This album was damn near impossible to find when it was first released, and after years of searching, I eventually had no other choice but to pay an inflated import price, so needless to say I was appalled by how incredibly dull the follow-up was by comparison. Trust me, the early shit = pretty good, and "Crush" = fucking phenomenal, but stop there. I've owned "Turn Me On" for probably six or seven years now, and I can count on one hand the number of times I've actually listened to it. What the hell happened!?
As with some of the other major label wasteland selections I've posted in the past, this classic gem is one of the easiest to find used CD's in the history of existence, despite its officially out of print status. Over the course of the last 10+ years I've seen used copies of "Crush" ranging from $1—$8 in damn near every record store I've ever frequented, and you can find it literally everywhere online as well. I have no clue why, I guess maybe this shit's too "poppy" for all the chump motherfuckers out there who have to be all hardline-D.I.Y.-underground-all-heavy-all-the-time, but I say ease up on the testosterone, nerds, 'cause this shit is amazing. And who in their right mind could pass up those absurd $0.01 prices!?
Comments
Ah damn this is some very catchy shit. You should post some Squirrel Bait next indie/rock/whatever post.
11.25.2005 | By Zach
i loved ‘home again’ and then ‘whatever’ in college. not sure this stuff speaks to me anymore, but back then it was great dorm room party rock. thanks for the memory jog.
11.25.2005 | By Anonymous
Thumbs up - I’ve always thought “Happy Accidents” was really underrated.
11.26.2005 | By cliff
undoubtedly some good stuff, reminds me of the major’s jawbox n breaker did… i’ll have to search this one out, thanks for the heads up =)
11.27.2005 | By Long lost and still forgotten
oh yeah the doughboys..hmmm, i still prefer the first asexual lp over anything the doughboys ever did, but none the less the doughboys sure could fly.
11.27.2005 | By stunt
I saw these guys a couple of times around the time this LP came out - one of those times being the unbelievable lineup of Mindwar (who, if I remember correctly had some sort of connection to Four Walls Falling), Outface, Gorilla Biscuits and these guys… I always found their albums paled in comparison to their live shows. Man, these guys had the “perfectly timed, huge aerial jump w/guitar” stage antics down cold.
“Intravenus De Milo” was a mix tape staple of mine for years.
11.28.2005 | By Ben
Yeah, everything up to this album is pretty good shit. Much better than the Asexuals without Kastner, though not quite as good as the Asexuals with Kastner. Something like that.
11.29.2005 | By scott
Im with ben. The singer guy did have a talent for microphone theatrics and such; they were fun live even though they werent the friendliest guys around. (We used to play with them - and the Asexuals too - all the time in basements; I didn’t think anyone else knew of them!)
12.3.2005 | By Anonymous
It’s so great to know that there are other people into this record. I’ve been secretly listening to “Crush” for ten years, afraid that my friends would taunt me if they were to find out I’m into übermelodic poppunk of this kind. Great post, great record.
12.5.2005 | By Anonymous
something about ‘melt’ blows my mind. thanks alot for posting this.
12.6.2005 | By Dan Sullivan
Melt is an amazing song.
2.7.2006 | By Tyrone
Crush Rules, I lucked out and saw them in the US on that Tour but man, Turn Me On is great! I even named my bands LP in tribute to it!
11.27.2011 | By CelebratedSummer