Sewer Trout was an American

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

band, from

Sacramento, California Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat, seat of Sacramento County, California, Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento Rive ...

in 1985. The group's uptempo bass lines and fast-paced songs would serve as a basis and influence for many of the later California

pop punk Pop-punk (also punk-pop, alternatively spelled without the hyphen) is a rock music fusion genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop music, pop. It is defined by its fast-paced, energetic tempos, and emphasis on classic pop s ...

bands of the 1990s. The band consisted of Jim MacLean (

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

), his brother Hal MacLean (

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

), and Keith Lehtinen (

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

), with Erik Benson joining as a second guitarist after meeting Hal at Sacramento State. Although Benson's

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

influences eventually led to him being kicked out after one disastrous show in Davis, California. Jim and Hal joined forces with Erik to form Oyster Toilet Mango and eventually the Well Hung Monks. Sewer Trout broke up when Jim moved to Corvallis, Oregon to join the Beaver's Geology Department and earn his master's degree. While in Corvallis, Jim formed the bluegrass-hilbilly-punk band Elmer which took the Sewer Trout style punk to new levels of backwoods punk n roll sophistication.

History

The MacLean brothers developed many of the Sewer Trout songs in 1984 while Jim was in college at Sac State and Hal was in High School in Concord, California. Jim mailed cassettes of songs (bass guitar riffs) to Hal who created drum parts. On school breaks, they recorded a demo and soon after got high school buddy, Keith, to join on guitar. Hal joined Jim at Sac State in 1985, and Keith eventually moved from Concord to San Francisco. The group was a fixture of the early

924 Gilman Street The Alternative Music Foundation located at 924 Gilman Street, almost exclusively referred to as "Gilman", is a non-profit, all-ages, collectively organized music club. It is located in the West Berkeley, Berkeley, California, West Berkeley ar ...

scene and its first release was on the

Maximumrocknroll ''Maximumrocknroll'', often written as ''Maximum Rocknroll'' and usually abbreviated as ''MRR'', is a not-for-profit monthly online zine of punk subculture and radio show of punk music. Based in San Francisco, ''MRR'' focuses on punk rock and ...

compilation album ''

Turn It Around! ''Turn It Around!'' is a punk rock compilation album by '' Maximumrocknroll''. Originally released as two 7-inch records in October 1987, it served as a benefit to raise money for the Berkeley, California DIY punk scene (known as the Gilman Stree ...

'' in October 1987. The same year saw the group's first record released through

Lookout! Records Lookout Records (stylized as Lookout! Records) was an independent record label, initially based in Laytonville, California, and later in Berkeley, focusing on punk rock. Established in 1987, the label is best known for having released Operatio ...

. A few more records followed on Lookout!,

Very Small Records Very Small Records was an independent record label, formed in 1989 by David Hayes, co-founder and former co-owner of Lookout Records. The name of the label was changed to Too Many Records around 1994, but was changed back around 1997. The label ter ...

, and their own label, One Shot Flop. All of Sewer Trout's material was later released as the compilation album ''From the Forgotten Memories of Punks Failed Hopes and Dreams Loom'' in 1997. The vinyl versions were also released in 2021 on Lava Socks and Dead Broke records. Sewer Trout were friends with David Hayes, the co-founder of Lookout! Records and the owner of Very Small Records. Through his labels, Hayes was able to focus a lot of attention on the Sacramento punk scene, often filling his compilations with up to ten Sacramento bands. On December 1, 2005, a message was posted on Sewer Trout's

Myspace Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...

announcing that Jim MacLean had committed

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

. The message stated "MacLean took his own life Monday or Tuesday after the Thanksgiving weekend. Jim may be gone, but his music will live forever."

Band members

* Jim MacLean -

(1985-1990) (deceased) * Keith Lehtinen -

(1985-1990) * Hal MacLean -

(1985-1990) * Erik Benson - guitar (1988)

Discography

Releases

* ''From the Bowels of Suburbia Emerge...'' (demo) (1985) * ''Songs About Drinking'' (EP) -

(1987) * ''Sewer Trout for President'' (EP) - One Shot Flop (1988) * ''Flawless'' (10-inch EP) -

(1989) * ''From the Forgotten Memories of Punks Failed Hopes and Dreams Loom'' - Spa Records (1997) * ''Meet the Sewer Trout'' (LP) - Lava Socks and Dead Broke Records (2021)

Compilation appearances

* "Sewer Trout for President" on ''Lethal Noise, Vol. 2'' - David Hayes self-released cassette (1987) * "Wally and the Beaver Go to Nicaragua" on ''

'' -

(1987) * "Sex Trout" on ''We've Got Your Shorts'' (EP) - Fascist Food Records (1988) * "Vagina Envy" on ''

The Thing That Ate Floyd ''The Thing That Ate Floyd'' is a compilation album released in December 1988 by Lookout! Records as a double LP, and in 2002 as a double CD. The album is a compilation of bands from the 924 Gilman St. punk rock scene. It includes bands such as ...

'' - Lookout! Records (1988) * "Bang 'Ol Lulu" and "Holiday in Romania" on ''Alone in This World'' - Bat Guano Records (1989) * "Holiday in Romania" on ''Four Two Pudding'' - Very Small Records (1993)

External links

Sewer Trout Myspace page
Punk rock groups from California Musical groups established in 1985 Musical groups disestablished in 1990 Musical trios from California Musical quartets from California Musical groups from Sacramento, California 1985 establishments in California