Tuesday, July 28, 2020

GHOULSPOON - SELF-TITLED CASSETTE, 1992, SPOON-FED PRODUCTIONS

GHOULSPOON 

SELF-TITLED CASSETTE, 1992 
SPOON-FED PRODUCTIONS 

THIS ONE HAS BEEN IN THE VAULT (READ: A CARDBOARD BOX OF OLD TAPES) SINCE ABOUT 1995, WHEN IT WAS PURCHASED AT A LOCAL SHOW FOR THREE TO FIVE DOLLARS BY A NAIVE JUNIOR HIGH NERD WHO WAS JUST DISCOVERING THE NOOKS AND CRANNIES OF LOCAL MUSIC AND UNDERGROUND CULTURE.  WHEN A PORTABLE TURNTABLE-CASSETTE PLAYER COMBO WITH AN SD CARD SLOT, USB PORT AND MP3 RECORDING CAPABILITIES WAS ADDED TO THE HOUSEHOLD TOYBOX, ALL LOCAL, RARE, AND INDEPENDENT VINYL EP'S AND CASSETTES WERE CONVERTED AND UPLOADED TO YOUTUBE FOR THE SAKE OF POSTERITY AND CONVENIENCE OF ACCESS FOR THE MASSES (THE MASSES BEING AROUND ONE HUNDRED-FORTY YOUTUBE SUBSCRICERS).  CD'S WERE ALREADY POSTED EARLIER THIS YEAR, BUT THE LP'S STILL NEED TO BE CONVERTED, SO THERE IS A LITTLE MORE TO COME.  MUCH OF THE MUSIC THAT WAS POSTED ON YOUTUBE IS SLOWLY BEING ADDED TO THIS BLOG.   
THIS CASSETTE MAY NOT MEET THE LOOSE SPECIFICATIONS OF A TYPICAL PLASTIC FACT RECORDS BLOG POST, BUT IT'S ONE OF THOSE ITEMS THAT YOU COME ACROSS WHEN DIGGING THROUGH OLD STUFF THAT INCITES A SENSE OF NOSTALGIA AND MAKES YOU WANT TO SHARE IT WITH PEOPLE WHO MIGHT ALSO RECOGNIZE AND APPRECIATE IT, HOWEVER UN-PUNK IT MAY BE.  MORE AND MORE LATELY, THE ENTRIES POSTED HERE HAVE BEEN FEATURING ODDS AND ENDS THAT AREN'T NECESSARILY WITHIN THE CONFINES OF PLASTIC FACT RECORDS RELEASES, I.E. IN THE VEIN OF PUNK, THRASH, OR HARDCORE, BUT IT IS LIKELY THAT MORE DIVERSE MATERIAL AND LOOSE ENDS WILL APPEAR HERE IN THE FUTURE.  
GHOULSPOON BEGAN ORIGINALLY IN KONA, HAWAII, IN 1989, WHILE THE MEMBERS WERE STILL IN HIGH SCHOOL.  THEY RELOCATED TO TACOMA, WASHINGTON, JUST PRIOR TO THE RISE OF NIRVANA AND THE MASSIVE GRUNGE POP-CULTURE TAKEOVER.  SOON THEY FOUND THEMSELVES IN SAN DIEGO, AND PLAYED THEIR FIRST SHOW AT THE ORIGINAL CASBAH LOCATION IN 1991.  THEY GAINED A SUBSTANTIAL FOLLOWING PLAYING FOR ALL AGES CROWDS AT THE ORIGINAL DOWNTOWN SOMA LOCATION DURING AN ERA IN THE SAN DIEGO SCENE WHEN THERE WASN'T AS MUCH DIVISION BETWEEN BANDS AND AUDIENCES ALONG LINES OF GENRE AND STYLE.  WHILE MANY BANDS WERE FOCUSING ON TRYING TO CATCH THE EARS OF MAJOR LABELS BY JUMPING ABOARD THE GRUNGE TRAIN, OR PLAYING WEST COAST SKATE AND POP PUNK, GHOULSPOON WERE DOING THEIR OWN THING, SLIGHTLY AHEAD OF THEIR TIME.  THEIR STYLE WOULD  FALL INTO THE CATEGORY OF WHAT WOULD EVENTUALLY BE COINED "NU-METAL," ALTHOUGH, AT LEAST ON THIS RELEASE, THEY SEEM TO BE DOING SOMETHING A LITTLE MORE UNIQUE, SLIGHTLY SIMILAR TO SOMETHING FROM BANDS LIKE FAITH NO MORE, PERHAPS A LITTLE WEIRDER AND DARKER.  THEY SHARED LOCAL STAGES WITH BANDS SUCH AS SPRUNG MONKEY, BUCK-O-NINE, BLINK (PRE AND POST-182), UNWRITTEN LAW, AND P.O.D.  THEY WOULD TOUR REGIONALLY WITH MAJOR HEADLINERS INCLUDING INCUBUS, KORN, NO DOUBT, SUBLIME, STATIC-X, SUGAR RAY, FOO FIGHTER, SYSTEM OF A DOWN, SNOT, POWERMAN 5000, YOU GET THE IDEA.  
GHOULSPOON INDEPENDENTLY RELEASED TWO DEMOS IN 1992, THIS SELF-TITLED THREE TRACK CASSETTE, AND ANOTHER TITLED "YOU WILL LEARN" WITH FIVE TRACKS, A TWO TRACK 7 INCH EP IN 1993 ON AMIGO RECORDS TITLED "HARLEY WAS A DRAG QUEEN,"  (THE COVER ART SEEMS TO INDICATE THAT THE TITLE IS IN REFERENCE TO HARLEY DAVIDSON OF THE BAND DEADBOLT), THE FULL-LENGHT CD "MEDICATION" ON IMMUNE RECORDS IN 1996, AND A SIX-SONG CD EP TITLED "FEVER," FEATURING A COVER OF THE CARS SONG "YOU'RE ALL I'VE GOT TONIGHT," IN 1999.  THEY EARNED SEVERAL NOMINATIONS FROM THE SAN DIEGO MUSIC AWARDS AND WON FOR "BEST HARD ROCK/METAL BAND" IN 2001.  OVER ALL, GHOULSPOON WAS ABLE TO SELL 10,000 COPIES OF THEIR RELEASES WITH NO BOOKING AGENT, MANAGER, OR MAJOR LABEL.  FINALLY IN 2002 AFTER SEVERAL LINEUP CHANGES, THEY CHANGED THEIR NAME TO DIVIDED BY ZERO.  (YES, A LOT OF THIS POST WAS TAKEN FROM THEIR BIO ON DISCOGS.COM.)  
THE CASSETTE COVER INFORMS US THAT THIS DEMO WAS RELEASED BY SPOON-FED PRODUCTIONS, MOST LIKELY GHOULSPOON'S OWN DIY PRODUCTION OUTFIT, AND ENGINEERED BY SHAWN POWER AT A.M.B. STUDIOS.  THE ART ON THE COVER (PICTURED ABOVE) WAS CREATED BY JAMES GOODE.  GHOULSPOON'S LINE-UP AT THIS TIME WAS ZACHARY GOODE ON VOCALS, JEREMY RONSTADT ON GUITAR, MARKUS LOWE ON BASS, AND CLAUDE BALLS ON DRUMS.  THE OUTSIDE AND INSIDE COVER HAVE BEEN INCLUDED, WITH LYRICS, CREDITS, AND THANK YOU'S FROM THE BAND.
THIS IS BEING POSTED FOR ANYONE AROUND THAT SAW THESE GUYS OVER THE YEARS IN THE 1990'S, WHETHER IN A SMALL ALL AGES VENUE LIKE SOUL KITCHEN IN EL CAJON, A DIVE BAR, AT SOMA DOWNTOWN OR THE METRO STREET WAREHOUSE IN LINDA VISTA, OR OPENING FOR A LARGER MAINSTREAM ACT, WHO MIGHT WANT TO FEEL A LITTLE SENSE OF NOSTALGIA FOR A TIME WHEN THINGS WEREN'T SO STRICTLY SEGREGATED BASED ON GENRE.  THAT'S HOW IT SEEMED AT THE TIME, AT LEAST.  
HE WHO LAUGHS LAST LAUGHS THE BEST.


TRACKLIST:


1. YOU WILL LEARN 
2. EIGHT FIFTY-FOUR 
3. AZTEC BURRO 


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