OLD (originally an

acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

for Old Lady Drivers) was an American heavy metal band from

Bergenfield Bergenfield is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 28,321, an increase of 1,557 from the 2010 censuscount of 26,764,New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, formed in 1986 and signed to

Earache Records Earache Records is a British independent record label, music publisher and management company founded by Digby Pearson in 1985, based in Nottingham, England, with offices in London and New York. The label helped to pioneer extreme metal by rel ...

. It featured

Alan Dubin Alan Dubin is an American vocalist/singer most widely known for his role in the now defunct doom metal band Khanate. He is noted for his tortured and distinctive vocal approach. Other bands he has been featured in include OLD and current band Gn ...

on vocals, and

James Plotkin James Plotkin is an American guitarist and producer known for his role in bands such as Khanate (band), Khanate and OLD (band), OLD but with an extensive catalogue outside these bands. He has played guitar for Phantomsmasher and Scorn (band), Sco ...

on guitars and programming, both of whom would later form the experimental

doom metal Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' ...

band

Khanate A khaganate or khanate was a polity ruled by a khan, khagan, khatun, or khanum. That political territory was typically found on the Eurasian Steppe and could be equivalent in status to tribal chiefdom, principality, kingdom or empire. Mong ...

History

OLD formed from the remains of Plotkin's previous band, the short-lived grindcore act "Regurgitation". OLD's first album, entitled "Old Lady Drivers", continued in the humorous,

parodic A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its subj ...

style of grindcore which characterized Regurgitation's material. After releasing a split EP with

Assück Assück was an American grindcore band from Saint Petersburg, Florida, active from 1987 to 1998. History Assück was founded by vocalist Paul Pavlovich and guitarist Steve Heritage. The band went through several line-up changes, in particular ...

in 1990, Plotkin recruited former

Nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...

Jason Everman Jason Mark Everman (born October 16, 1967) is an American musician and soldier who played guitar with Nirvana and Mind Funk, and bass in Soundgarden and OLD. He later served tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan with the U.S. Army as an Army Rang ...

for their second album, ''Lo Flux Tube'' (1991). This album featured more

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

and

industrial metal Industrial metal is the fusion of heavy metal and industrial music, typically employing repeating metal guitar riffs, sampling, synthesizer or sequencer lines, and distorted vocals. Prominent industrial metal acts include Ministry, Nine In ...

influences in addition to their basic tongue-in-cheek grindcore, giving them a sound which was compared by some reviewers to a more uptempo

Godflesh Godflesh are an English industrial metal band from Birmingham. The group formed in 1982 under the title Fall of Because but did not release any complete music until 1988 when Justin Broadrick (guitar, vocals and programming) and G. C. Gree ...

. ''Lo Flux Tube'' also featured

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

work by guest musician

John Zorn John Zorn (born September 2, 1953) is an American composer, conductor, saxophonist, arranger and producer who "deliberately resists category". Zorn's avant-garde and experimental approaches to composition and improvisation are inclusive of jaz ...

. OLD continued their avant-garde direction with their third album, ''The Musical Dimensions Of Sleastak'' (1993). Several tracks from that album, "A Beginning", "Two of Me (Parts One and Two)", "Freak Now", and "Peri Cynthion", appeared in the 1994 film ''

Brainscan ''Brainscan'' is a 1994 American science fiction slasher film directed by John Flynn and written by Brian Owens and Andrew Kevin Walker. The film stars Edward Furlong, Frank Langella, Amy Hargreaves, Jamie Marsh, and T. Ryder Smith. The soundt ...

''. Also in 1993, the band released ''Hold On To Your Face'', an album of

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

es. At the time, the practice of remixing was virtually unheard of in

heavy metal music Heavy metal (or simply metal) is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and United States. With roots in blues rock, psychedelic rock and acid rock, heavy metal bands developed a ...

. The band's final album, ''Formula'' (1995), delved into further experimentation with

techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time (4/4) and often ch ...

and

industrial music Industrial music is a genre of music that draws on harsh, mechanical, transgressive or provocative sounds and themes. AllMusic defines industrial music as the "most abrasive and aggressive fusion of rock and electronic music" that was "initiall ...

. OLD broke up shortly after releasing this album. Plotkin went on to pursue a successful career not just as a musician, but also as a

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

and remix artist, working with many notable musicians across a number of different genres, particularly

drone Drone most commonly refers to: * Drone (bee), a male bee, from an unfertilized egg * Unmanned aerial vehicle * Unmanned surface vehicle, watercraft * Unmanned underwater vehicle or underwater drone Drone, drones or The Drones may also refer to: ...

noise Noise is unwanted sound considered unpleasant, loud or disruptive to hearing. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrations through a medium, such as air or water. The difference arise ...

, and

sludge metal Sludge metal (also known as sludge or sludge doom) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that originated through combining elements of doom metal and hardcore punk. It is typically harsh and abrasive, often featuring shouted vocals, heavi ...

Members

At the time of the breakup

(guitars, programming) *

(vocals)

Previous members

(bass) *Ralph Pimentel (

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

) *Herschel Gaer (bass)

Discography

All releases were on Earache Records, except where otherwise noted. *'' Old Lady Drivers'' (Full-length), 1988 *''Colostomy Grab-Bag'' (Single), 1989 *Assuck/Old Lady Drivers (Split), 1990 (No System Records) *''Demo 1990'' (self-produced) *''

Lo Flux Tube Lo Flux Tube is the second album by the band OLD. It marked a change in style for the band, abandoning their previous grindcore parody in favor of a much more industrial and experimental sound. Track listing Personnel ;O.L.D. * Alan Dubin ...

'' (Full-length), 1991 *''Hold On To Your Face'' (remixes) (Full-length), 1993 *'' The Musical Dimensions Of Sleastak'' (Full-length), 1993 *''

Formula In science, a formula is a concise way of expressing information symbolically, as in a mathematical formula or a ''chemical formula''. The informal use of the term ''formula'' in science refers to the general construct of a relationship betwee ...

'' (Full-length), 1995

References

External links

OLD at Earache RecordsOLD's Myspace pageInterview with James Plotkin circa 1993Bandcamp
{{Authority control Heavy metal musical groups from New Jersey American grindcore musical groups Heavy metal duos American musical trios American industrial metal musical groups Earache Records artists