The Bags are an American

hard Hard may refer to: * Hardness, resistance of physical materials to deformation or fracture * Hard water, water with high mineral content Arts and entertainment * ''Hard'' (TV series), a French TV series * Hard (band), a Hungarian hard rock supe ...

/ punk rock band from Lexington, Massachusetts, formed in 1985. The band is composed of members Jon Hardy, Jim Janota, and Crispin Wood. Though a couple of early recordings were released on the ''Crawling from Within'' multi-artist compilation, their debut album, entitled '' Rock Starve'', was released in 1987. An article by Charles M. Young written in Playboy magazine best describes the band's sound: "The Bags fall somewhere among the

Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first true punk rock group. Despite achieving a limited commercial appeal in the United ...

Hüsker Dü Hüsker Dü () was an American punk rock band formed in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in 1979. The band's continual members were guitarist/vocalist Bob Mould, bassist/vocalist Greg Norton, and drummer/vocalist Grant Hart. They first gained notabili ...

, and early

KISS A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

. Their debut, Rock Starve, consists of thrilling guitar-bash riffs that pound like the sound of a herd of giant woolly mammoths going over a cliff, just enough melody rasping though shredded vocal cords and lyrics wholly unbesmirched by any panty-waist college-poetry influence." The band began touring in 1988, releasing an album under the alias of "Swamp Oaf" and later releasing an actual self-titled LP. The Bags won the WBCN Rock 'n' Roll Rumble in 1989. Their next album, ''Night of the Corn People'', came in 1991, though the band broke up shortly thereafter. Though having gone their separate ways for over a decade (discounting a single reunion show in 1996), they reassembled in 2003 to page their latest achievement, '' Sharpen Your Sticks'', one track of which ("Cavemen Rejoice") eventually found its way onto the

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...

game, ''

Guitar Hero ''Guitar Hero'' is a series of music rhythm game video games first released in November 2005, in which players use a guitar-shaped game controller to simulate playing primarily lead, bass guitar, and rhythm guitar across numerous songs. Player ...

''. Later, in April 2007, The Bags released a follow-up to Sharpen Your Sticks: the 14-track opus, ''

Mount Rockmore The Bags are an American hard/ punk rock band from Lexington, Massachusetts, formed in 1985. The band is composed of members Jon Hardy, Jim Janota, and Crispin Wood. Though a couple of early recordings were released on the ''Crawling from Within ...

''. This latest original album was produced by Carl Plaster (

Sebadoh Sebadoh () is an American indie rock band formed in 1986 in Northampton, Massachusetts, by Eric Gaffney and Lou Barlow, with multi-instrumentalist Jason Loewenstein completing the line-up in 1989. Barlow co-created Sebadoh as an outlet for his ...

Buffalo Tom Buffalo Tom is an American alternative rock band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1986. Its principal members are guitarist Bill Janovitz, bassist Chris Colbourn, and drummer Tom Maginnis. The band's name is derived from the band Buffalo Spr ...

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones The Mighty Mighty Bosstones (informally referred to as The Bosstones and often stylized as The Mighty Mighty BossToneS) were an American ska punk band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1983. From the band's inception, lead vocalist Dicky ...

, etc.). Jim Janota (aka Jackie Kickassis) is also a member of the Hard Rocque outfit The Upper Crust.

Discography

Singles

*"I Know" / "Hide and Seek" (Mar. 1989, Stanton Park) 7" vinyl 45 *"L. Frank Baum" / "Max Roach" (June 1991, Stanton Park) 7" vinyl 45 *"Dr. Lb." / "Frilly Underwear" (Aug. 1991, Helter Skelter) 7" vinyl 45 *"2 Songs Live" ("Ivan the Terrible" / "Hide and Seek") (June 2004, Oaf Records) a CD single featuring live versions of the two tracks, recorded at Middle East Downstairs during a comeback tour in Feb., 2004

Albums

*'' Rock Starve'' (Nov. 1987,

Restless Records Restless Records is a record label that was started in El Segundo, California in 1986 by Enigma Records and primarily released alternative, metal, and punk records. Restless also licensed and released records from Bar/None Records, Metal Blade R ...

) *''Swamp Oaf'' (June 1989,

Stanton Park Stanton Park, previously known as Stanton Square, is a national park in Washington D.C.Stanton Park
...

) *''The Bags'' **(Mar. 1990, Stanton Park) the original, untitled LP **(2008,

Oaf Records The acronym OAF may refer to: * Associação Académica de Coimbra – O.A.F., a professional football team in Coimbra, Portugal * ÖAF, an Austrian car and truck brand * Oak Flats railway station in New South Wales, station code OAF * Open ...

) a CD version, entitled ''The Bags '89'', which also features 1989 Stanton Park single ("I Know"/"Hide and Seek"), and a couple of previously unreleased tracks *''

Night of the Corn People ''Night of the Corn People '' is the fourth album by The Bags. Released on first CD and then on a color-vinyl Double LP, the latter done by Helter Skelter, both feature a sort of "main disc" which comprises the first twelve tracks (incidentally, ...

'' **(Aug. 1991, Stanton Park) a CD featuring the main album, the "Waiting for Maloney" opus, and the "Dr. Lb."/"Frilly Underwear" single **(Jan. 1992, Helter Skelter) a colored-vinyl Double-LP release featuring the above, but with five unreleased tracks added instead of the single's *'' Sharpen Your Sticks'' (Feb. 2005, Oaf Records) *''Mount Rockmore'' (April 2007, Oaf Records)

References

External links

The Bags' Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bags, The Hard rock musical groups from Massachusetts Musical groups established in 1985 Restless Records artists 1985 establishments in Massachusetts