The Urinals are an American punk rock

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary *Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania *Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...

from

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

, United States. Known for their

minimalist In visual arts, music and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in post–World War II in Western art, most strongly with American visual arts in the 1960s and early 1970s. Prominent artists associated with minimalism include Don ...

approach to songwriting and recording — their lyrics have been called "punk

haiku is a type of short form poetry originally from Japan. Traditional Japanese haiku consist of three phrases that contain a ''kireji'', or "cutting word", 17 '' on'' (phonetic units similar to syllables) in a 5, 7, 5 pattern, and a ''kigo'', or se ...

" — the band influenced other punk rockers of the 1970s and 1980s including the

Minutemen Minutemen were members of the organized New England colonial militia companies trained in weaponry, tactics, and military strategies during the American Revolutionary War. They were known for being ready at a minute's notice, hence the name. Mi ...

. They have also been known as 100 Flowers and Chairs of Perception.

History

Founded in 1978 by John Talley-Jones, Kjehl Johansen, and Kevin Barrett, the band's first performance was a parody of punk rock performed for a

talent show A talent show is an event in which participants perform the arts of singing, dancing, lip-syncing, acting, martial arts, playing an instrument, poetry, comedy or other activities to showcase skills. Many talent shows are performances rather ...

at their

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

dorm A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm) is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people such as boarding school, high school, college or university s ...

. Though none of the group's members could play their instruments well, they continued to perform in on-campus venues. Their songs were usually short, seldom utilizing more than two chords. The band’s first off-campus show was at Raul’s in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

. Returning to L.A., they appeared with such groups as

The Go-Go's The Go-Go's are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1978. Except for short periods when other musicians joined briefly, the band has had a relatively stable lineup consisting of Charlotte Caffey on lead guitar and keyboards, Belind ...

and Black Flag. A roughly-recorded, four-song EP produced by Vitus Matare (of L.A.'s

The Last The Last may refer to: *The Last (band) The Last is an American, Los Angeles-based, early pop/punk band, formed in 1976 by Joe Nolte with high school bandmates Vitus Matare and Dave Harbison. By 1978 the band included three brothers: Joe (guitar ...

and later Trotsky Icepick) followed. After developing a somewhat more sophisticated sound, the band changed its name to 100 Flowers (inspired by Chairman

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...

's famous

quote Quote is a hypernym of quotation, as the repetition or copy of a prior statement or thought. Quotation marks are punctuation marks that indicate a quotation. Both ''quotation'' and ''quotation marks'' are sometimes abbreviated as "quote(s)". C ...

), but disbanded in 1983. In 1996, the band reformed as the Urinals, releasing a CD of new material in 2003. They later took the name Chairs of Perception (a reference to

Aldous Huxley Aldous Leonard Huxley (26 July 1894 – 22 November 1963) was an English writer and philosopher. He wrote nearly 50 books, both novels and non-fiction works, as well as wide-ranging essays, narratives, and poems. Born into the prominent Huxley ...

's ''

The Doors of Perception ''The Doors of Perception'' is an autobiographical book written by Aldous Huxley. Published in 1954, it elaborates on his psychedelic experience under the influence of mescaline in May 1953. Huxley recalls the insights he experienced, rangin ...

'') before again becoming the Urinals in 2008.

Discography

*''The Urinals'' (7" EP, 1978, Happy Squid Records) *''Another EP'' (7" EP, 1979, Happy Squid Records) *"Sex"/"Go Away Girl" (7" EP, 1980, Happy Squid Records) *''Negative Capability...Check It Out!'' (CD, 1996,

Amphetamine Reptile Records Amphetamine Reptile Records (or AmRep Industries) is a record label founded in 1986 by Tom Hazelmyer in Washington state. The label specializes in noise rock and also released '' Strap It On'', the debut album by alternative metal band Helmet w ...

, 2004, Warning Label Records, LP, 2013, In The Red) *''What Is Real and What Is Not'' (CD, 2003, Warning Label) *''Next Year At Marienbad'' (CD/LP, 2015, Happy Squid Records) As 100 Flowers: * ''Presence of Mind'' (7" EP, 1982, Happy Squid) * ''100 Flowers'' (LP, 1983, Happy Squid) * ''Drawing Fire'' (EP, 1984, Happy Squid) *''100 Years of Pulchritude'' (CD, 1990,

Rhino Records A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species o ...

)

Compilation appearances

* ''The Happy Squid Sampler'' (1980, Happy Squid) ** Includes "U" * ''Life is Ugly So Why Not Kill Yourself'' (1982,

New Underground Records New Underground Records was an American independent record label founded by Danny Phillips (a.k.a. Danny Dean) and Gary Kail. Phillips and Kail were influenced by D. Boon and Mike Watt's New Alliance Records label and decided to create their own ...

) ** Includes "She's a Drone" * ''Human Music'' (1988, Homestead) ** Includes "I'm Like You" * ''Warfrat Tales (Unabridged)'' (2005, Avebury Records) ** Includes "I'm Like You" and "Scholastic Aptitude" As 100 Flowers: * ''Keats Rides A Harley'' (1981, Happy Squid, 2005, Warning Label Records) ** Includes "Salmonella" * ''Hell Comes To Your House'' (1981, Bemisbrain) ** Includes "Reject Yourself" * ''Life is Ugly So Why Not Kill Yourself'' (1982,

) ** Includes "Sensible Virgins" * ''Warfrat Tales'' (1983, Warfrat Grammophon; 2005, Avebury Records) ** Includes "100 Flowers" and "From the Fire" * ''The Radio Tokyo Tapes'' (1983, Ear Movie) ** Includes "The Long Arm of the Social Sciences"

Covers

The Minutemen covered "Ack Ack Ack Ack" (calling it "Ack Ack Ack") on the albums ''

The Politics of Time ''The Politics of Time'' is the seventh overall release, third album-length release, and first compilation by American hardcore punk band the Minutemen. Released in between their '' Buzz or Howl Under the Influence of Heat'' 12" EP and ''Double ...

'' and '' 3-Way Tie (For Last)''. A video of the song, directed by Talley-Jones, would be the Minutemen's last video due to the death of

D. Boon Dennes Dale Boon (April 1, 1958 – December 22, 1985) was an American musician, best known as the guitarist, singer and songwriter of the punk rock trio Minutemen. He was born on April 1, 1958 in San Pedro, California, and formed the Minuteme ...

No Age No Age is an American noise rock duo consisting of guitarist Randy Randall and drummer/vocalist Dean Allen Spunt. The band is based in Los Angeles, California, and was signed to Sub Pop records from 2008 to 2013. No Age's fourth studio album, ''S ...

covered "Male Masturbation" on their EP ''Eraser''.

Mika Miko Mika Miko was an American band formed in 2003 in Los Angeles, California. In 2004, they gained local popularity for their frenetic live performances. Featuring Victor Fandgore (Jennifer Clavin), Jet Blanca (Jenna Thornhill), Michelle Suarez, Jes ...

covered "Sex" on their LP ''We Be Xuxa''.

Yo La Tengo Yo La Tengo (YLT; Spanish for "I have her") is an American indie rock band formed in Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1984. Since 1992, the lineup has consisted of Ira Kaplan (guitars, piano, vocals), Georgia Hubley (drums, piano, vocals), and James McNew ...

has covered "Black Hole" (on their ''Little Honda'' EP) and "Surfin' with the Shah". "Black Hole" was also covered by the

Leaving Trains The Leaving Trains were an American indie rock band from Los Angeles, California. The Leaving Trains were founded in 1980 by Falling James Moreland, a frontperson who became known for her chaotic performances and penchant for (male-to-female) cros ...

, Angry Angles,

Women A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or Adolescence, adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female hum ...

Gun Club The Gun Club were an American rock band from Los Angeles, California, United States, which existed from 1979 to 1996. It was formed and led by singer-songwriter and guitarist Jeffrey Lee Pierce. History Early days (1979–1980) The Gun Club w ...

, and

Grass Widow Grass Widow is an American indie rock band from San Francisco, California. Their music has been described as discordant and lo-fi, and connected to the post-punk roots of the members of the band. The band was formed in 2007 with members from the ...

. "I'm a Bug" was covered by

Halo of Flies Halo of Flies was an American noise rock band from Minneapolis. Named after an Alice Cooper song, Halo of Flies was formed in 1986 by Tom Hazelmyer, John Anglim and Tim Mac. Over the next five years they released a series of seven inch singles ...

, Lili Z. (on her ''Let's Go'' 7"),

The Meatmen The Meatmen are an American punk band headed by Tesco Vee, originally existing from 1981 to 1988, before reforming in the mid-1990s, and again in the 2000s. They were known for their outrageous stage antics and offensive lyrics. They reformed in ...

(on their LP ''Cover the Earth''),

Ceremony A ceremony (, ) is a unified ritualistic event with a purpose, usually consisting of a number of artistic components, performed on a special occasion. The word may be of Etruscan origin, via the Latin '' caerimonia''. Church and civil (secular) ...

(on their "Hysteria" 7" single), Sex Cult (on their Plain Jane 7") and

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand E ...

. "Hologram" was covered by

Digital Leather Digital Leather is the musical project led by multi-instrumentalist Shawn Foree. It is recognized for having characteristics of electropunk, new wave, pop, lo-fi, and psychedelic music. History Originally from Yuma, Arizona, Foree began call ...

(on their LP ''Sorcerer'') and Human Eye (on their ''Dinosaur Bones'' 7"). Other bands to cover Urinals songs include

Butthole Surfers Butthole Surfers are an American rock band formed in San Antonio, Texas, by singer Gibby Haynes and guitarist Paul Leary in 1981. The band has had numerous personnel changes, but its core lineup of Haynes, Leary, and drummer King Coffey has been ...

, The Dishes, The Reds,

Kings of Leon Kings of Leon is an American rock band formed in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1999. The band is composed of brothers Caleb, Nathan and Jared Followill, and their cousin Matthew Followill. The band's early music was a blend of Southern rock and gar ...

Mike Watt Michael David Watt (born December 20, 1957) is an American bassist, vocalist and songwriter. Watt co-founded and played bass guitar for the rock bands Minutemen (1980–1985), Dos (1985–present), and Firehose (1986–1994). He began a solo ...

, and

Eleventh Dream Day Eleventh Dream Day (EDD) is an American alternative rock band from Chicago. History The band was founded by guitarists Rick Rizzo and Janet Beveridge Bean, who met at a place fondly known as 1069. This was a house/practice space/hang out in Lou ...

References

External links

Review by Dave Lang
{{Authority control Punk rock groups from California Amphetamine Reptile Records artists Musical groups from Los Angeles Musical groups established in 1978 Musical groups disestablished in 1983 Musical groups reestablished in 1996