Squirrel Bait was an American punk rock band from

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

active from 1983 to 1987. Squirrel Bait's dense, moody, melodic hardcore sound, featuring pronounced tempo shifts, foreshadowed the

grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock genre and subculture that emerged during the in the American Pacific Northwest state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby towns. Grunge fuses elements of ...

sound of the late 1980s as well as

math rock Math rock is a style of progressive and indie rock with roots in bands such as King Crimson and Rush as well as 20th-century minimal music composers such as Steve Reich. It is characterized by complex, atypical rhythmic structures (includi ...

. Squirrel Bait, along with

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 ...

, are often noted as precursors to the

emocore Emo is a rock music genre characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of and hardcore punk from the Washington D.C. hardcore punk scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore and pioneered b ...

("emotional hardcore") sound that arose from the D.C. hardcore punk scene with bands like Rites of Spring, Beefeater and

Fugazi Fugazi (; ) is an American post-hardcore band that formed in Washington, D.C., in 1986. The band consists of guitarists and vocalists Ian MacKaye and Guy Picciotto, bassist Joe Lally, and drummer Brendan Canty. They are noted for their sty ...

Squirrel Bait signaled the second coming of American punk – bands of little brothers and sisters who got to grow up on Black Flag and Hüsker Dü without a preparatory course in
Supertramp Supertramp were an English rock band that formed in London in 1969. Marked by the individual songwriting of founders Roger Hodgson (vocals, keyboards, and guitars) and Rick Davies (vocals and keyboards), they are distinguished for blending p ...
. ... Like a hundred other little Düs across the country, Squirrel Bait managed to make a couple of records before spintering off to form five more bands. Unlike most of that punk rock loam, the members of Squirrel Bait chewed up their legacy and shat out something curious and consequential.Weisband, E & Marks,,C (editors) 1995. ''Spin Alternative Record Guide'' 1st ed. Vintage books,

History

Origins: 1983–1986

The band started as a

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier p ...

trio of high school friends, originally known as Squirrelbait Youth, with

David Grubbs David Grubbs (born September 21, 1967) is an American composer, guitarist, pianist, and vocalist. He was a founding member of Squirrel Bait, Bastro, and Gastr del Sol. He has also played in Codeine, The Red Krayola, Bitch Magnet and The Wingd ...

on guitar and vocals, Clark Johnson on bass guitar, and Rich Schuler playing drums for the band's first

demo tape A demo (shortened from "demonstration") is a song or group of songs typically recorded for limited circulation or for reference use, rather than for general public release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas in a fixed for ...

in August 1983. By the time Squirrel Bait recorded their second demo in 1984,

Peter Searcy Peter Searcy is a musician from Louisville, Kentucky. Spin Magazine, Scott Irwin, and Amanda Green have compared Searcy's straightforward songwriting style and voice to those of Paul Westerberg. Like Paul Westerberg of The Replacements, Sea ...

had taken over vocal duties and

Britt Walford Britt Walford (born March 16, 1970) is an American musician best known for being the drummer, co-founder, and occasional guitarist for the post-rock band Slint. Early life Walford grew up in Louisville, Kentucky and attended the J. Graham Br ...

was playing drums. Three of this demo's songs would later appear on the band's vinyl releases. Walford left and was replaced by Ben Daughtrey on drums and

Brian McMahan Brian McMahan (born January 26, 1969) is an American musician from Louisville, Kentucky. He was a guitarist and vocalist in the seminal rock bands Squirrel Bait and Slint. After the breakup of the latter in November 1990, he went on to play wi ...

joined on second guitar. The band continued to play locally and toured to nearby cities where they opened for

and Chicago-based bands Naked Raygun and

Big Black Big Black was an American punk rock band from Evanston, Illinois, active from 1981 to 1987. Founded by singer and guitarist Steve Albini, the band's initial lineup also included guitarist Santiago Durango and bassist Jeff Pezzati, both of N ...

, who recommended Squirrel Bait to their label,

Homestead Records Homestead Records was a Long Island, New York-based sublabel of music distributor Dutch East India Trading that operated from 1983 to 1996. The label was known for not paying its artists and not spending any money on promotion. History The l ...

. Through Homestead, Squirrel Bait released an

eponym An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

ous EP in 1985, a single in 1986 and an LP in 1987, all of which were later compiled onto a single CD.

Breakup: 1987

In the midst of the young band's success, Grubbs and Johnson had moved away to college, and artistic tensions were causing a " jocks-vs.-

nerd A nerd is a person seen as overly intellectual, obsessive, introverted or lacking social skills. Such a person may spend inordinate amounts of time on unpopular, little known, or non-mainstream activities, which are generally either highly tec ...

s" split in the band. These differences ultimately resulted in the band's break-up in 1987.

Post–breakup careers

Grubbs was subsequently a member of Bitch Magnet,

Bastro Bastro was an American post-hardcore band which was active in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The band's main line-up consisted of David Grubbs on guitar, Clark Johnson on bass guitar, and John McEntire on drums. The band also experimented with ...

Gastr del Sol Gastr del Sol (derived from a combination of the name of a race horse (Gato del Sol) and David Grubbs' previous band Bastro) was an American, Chicago-based band, consisting for most of their career, of David Grubbs and Jim O'Rourke. Between 1 ...

and The Red Krayola and has released a number of solo projects. Daughtrey played with The Lemonheads and then with Love Jones. McMahan reunited with original Squirrel Bait drummer Britt Walford to form Slint, and Both also appeared on the first single by

King Kong King Kong is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. He has been dubbed The Eighth Wonder of the World, a phrase commonly used within the franchise. His first appearance was in the novelizat ...

. McMahan also formed

The For Carnation The For Carnation are a slowcore/post-rock band from Louisville, Kentucky, formed in 1994. The band was formed by Brian McMahan, who is the only constant group member. McMahan's previous band Slint hinted at the distinctive sound and sombre aest ...

and played with

Palace Music Joseph Will Oldham (born January 15, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter and actor. From 1993 to 1997, he performed and recorded in collaboration with dozens of other musicians under variations of Palace (Palace, Palace Flophouse, Palace Br ...

. Walford would later play in Evergreen and

The Breeders The Breeders are an American alternative rock band based in Dayton, Ohio, consisting of members Kim Deal (rhythm guitar, lead vocals), her twin sister Kelley Deal (lead guitar, vocals), Josephine Wiggs (bass guitar, vocals) and Jim Macpherso ...

(as Shannon Doughton). Johnson played in Bastro with Grubbs but then chose not to make a career in music, opting instead for a career as an attorney in Louisville. Searcy played with Big Wheel and Starbilly before embarking on a solo career. In 1997, Grubbs reissued Squirrel Bait's vinyl releases on Dexter's Cigar, an imprint of the Drag City label. The band's demo and live recordings have resurfaced on the internet.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''

Skag Heaven ''Skag Heaven'' is the only full length Studio Album by the American punk rock band Squirrel Bait, released in 1987 through Homestead Records. Squirrel Bait disbanded after the album's release and the band's members went on to form Slint, Bastro ...

'' (1987) – Homestead Records

Demos

* First demo (1983, self-released cassette) * Second demo (1984, self-released cassette)

EPs

* '' Squirrel Bait'' (1985) –

Singles

* ''Kid Dynamite'' 7" (1986) – Homestead * ''Motorola Cloudburst'' 7" (1987) – The Pope Fanzine

References

External links

Squirrel Bait
on Myspace * Allmusic.com review of "Sun God" track from the first EP* {{Authority control Musical groups from Louisville, Kentucky Musical groups established in 1983 Musical groups disestablished in 1988 Alternative rock groups from Kentucky Indie rock musical groups from Kentucky American post-hardcore musical groups American punk rock groups Homestead Records artists Drag City (record label) artists