Formed from the
ashes of various
proto-punk groups in
1971, the Styrenes took their cue from the
Velvet Underground, fusing straightforward
rock music with more
avant-garde tendencies (a later line-up included
cello,
clarinet,
saxophone and
tape loops alongside yer
drums-
bass-
guitar-
voice line-up). Their work ethic hardly prodigious, the band managed to release 4 albums and a clutch of singles in their 30-year existence, and much of it is unfortunately now extremely hard to find.
1976.
Cleveland,
Ohio.
Singer/
guitarist Jamie Klimek (
aka Climax; ex- of
The Mirrors) and
keyboardist Paul Marotta (ex-
underground legends The Electric Eels) formed the core of the band, and appeared in all subsequent line-ups. They were initially joined by
drummer Anton Fier (ex-Feelies) and
bassist Jim Jones, and put out the "Drano In Your Veins" single the following year. As was the Styrenes'
wont, there was a long pause before the band relocated to
New York in 1980 and Klimek and Marotta put together a new
line-up. Jim Jones was out, and the band remained without a permanent bassist. Fier was also replaced, by Paul Laurence, and later formed the Golden Palominos. In addition, Fred Lonberg-Holm was added on
cello. The year after, they issued the album "Girl Crazy" on Mustard Records, and followed it with a
12" single containing "True Confessions", which explored tape manipulations and bizarre
jazz.
Jump forward to 1989, and the
classic Styrenes line-up was formed when they were joined by ex-Pagans
frontman Mike Hudson. The
mini-album "A
Monster and The
Devil" on
Tinnitus Records saw the band finding their
trademark sound, switching from
punk to radical
jazz while Hudson's
drawling,
Lou Reed-esque voice told stories of "
death,
violence and
stupidity". In fact, Reed is probably the closest comparison, sharing a similarly laconic style and fascination with the
dark side of
urban life, while the band's more straightforward numbers occasionally recalled "
Transformer"'s glam sound.
Aside from a track on a
Scat Records
compilation in 1991, the band then remained quiet until 1996, when they issued their
magnum opus, the "One
Fanzine Reader Writes" single on
Drag City. The title track was backed with an astonishing nine-and-a-half minute piece, "
All The Wrong People Are Dying", Mike Hudson's
tribute to his late
brother Joey, who had featured in several of the other stories on Styrenes records. Hudson sounds genuinely
devastated while telling the story, with his
mood swings between
confusion,
defiance,
black humour and finally total
nihilism reflected in the band's musical progression from a
military-style elegy to massively
dissonant Velvets-esque rock and back. The song also eulogises late friends from the
punk scene such as
Johnny Thunders,
Dead Boys frontman
Stiv Bators and "A Monster and the Devil"
sax player Pete Haskin. In 1998,
Newcastle record label Overground issued a retrospective album called "All the Wrong People are Dying", featuring the "Fanzine..." EP, the "Monster..." album and various other tracks.
It's always hard to know where you are with the Styrenes (some
websites record that they
split in 1979 without releasing any records), but it's probably not best to write them off. Just when you least expect it, they'll have released another
record and then seemingly go back into hiding.
Discography:
- Girl Crazy (Mustard, 1982)
- True Confessions (Mustard, 1982)
- Two Up Two Down ("Hotel Cleveland Vol. III" compilation, Scat, 1991)
- It's Artastic! (Cleveland '75-'79) (Homestead, 1991)
- One Fanzine Reader Writes (Drag City, 1996)
- We Care, So You Don't Have To (Scat, 1998)
- All The Wrong People Are Dying (Overground, 1998)