Cupid Car Club, also known as Cupid Car Club M.P., was a short-lived American
post-hardcore
Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. It was initially inspired by post-punk and noise rock. Like post-punk, the term has been ...
band consisting of
Ian Svenonius
Ian F Svenonius is an American musician and singer of various Washington, D.C.-based punk bands including Nation of Ulysses, the Make-Up, Weird War, XYZ, Escape-ism, and Chain and the Gang. Between his numerous projects, Svenonius has releas ...
on vocals,
James Canty
James Canty is a Brooklyn, New York-based multi-instrumentalist musician from Washington, D.C.
Canty is currently known for playing guitar in the band Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, and guitar and keyboard with The Make-Up. Before forming The Ma ...
on drums, Steve Gamboa on guitar (all of which were previously members of
Nation of Ulysses
The Nation of Ulysses was an American punk rock band from Washington, D.C., formed in spring 1988 with four members. Originally known as simply "Ulysses," the first mark of the group consisted of Ian Svenonius on vocals and trumpet, Steve Kron ...
and later went on to form
The Make-Up), and
Kim Thompson
Kim Thompson (September 25, 1956 – June 19, 2013) was an American comic book editor, translator, and publisher, best known as vice president and co-publisher of Seattle-based Fantagraphics Books. Along with co-publisher Gary Groth, Thomps ...
(of
The Delta 72
The Delta 72 were an American alternative music band formed in Washington, DC in the summer of 1994, later relocated to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They created a frenetic and honest style channeling post-punk sensibilities with 1960s British In ...
) on bass and vocals.
They released one 7-inch EP on
Kill Rock Stars
Kill Rock Stars is an independent record label founded in 1991 by Slim Moon and Tinuviel Sampson, and based in both Olympia, Washington, and Portland, Oregon. The label has released a variety of work in different genres, but was originally know ...
, called ''Join our Club''. Cupid Car Club also appeared on the ''
Rock Stars Kill
''Rock Stars Kill'' is a compilation of various artists released by Kill Rock Stars on September 1, 1994. The compilation was released simultaneously as a vinyl LP with accompanying 7″ single, cassette, and CD.
Track listing LP
;Side one
# To ...
'' and ''Some Songs'' compilations, also under the Kill Rock Stars label.
The band's lyrical content, album art, and promotional material tended to stray towards a morbid playfulness, containing many references to topics such as suicide, child custody, and cults.
''Join our Club''
''Join our Club'', sometimes known as ''Werewolves!'', was the only
EP from the short-lived band Cupid Car Club.
The track "Grape Juice Plus" borrows its name from the term used by Dr. Lewis Dickson to describe wine to Zira in
Escape from the Planet of the Apes
''Escape from the Planet of the Apes'' is a 1971 American science fiction film directed by Don Taylor and written by Paul Dehn. It stars Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, Bradford Dillman and Ricardo Montalbán. It is the third of five films in the or ...
. Also, the lyrics "Did you have the dream now about the boy" and "Don't you got it good now so I can shoot my little girl" are direct reference to 1991's
The Rapture (film). Svenonius has a penchant for obscure film references and name-dropping (most obvious in
David Candy's ''
Play Power'').
Track listing
#"Edge of the Envelope" − 2:10
#"Vapor Rub-Out"
#"Child Custody Commandos"
#"Grape Juice Plus" − 3:49
Other appearances on compilations
:
References
External links
Entry on Southern RecordsCupid Car Club Fan site
{{Authority control
American post-hardcore musical groups