Apocalypse Hoboken

From ChicagoPunk
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Apocalypse Hoboken was a popular local punk band that reached the height of their success in the late 1990s. They started as high schoolers around 1987 and played on and off as late as 2006.


Biography

(taken from website, written by Andy)

"The first line-up of Apocalypse Hoboken convened in 1987, when we were attending our Senior years of high school. It was Rich (Bass) and Ted (Vocals) from Glenbard North, and Scott (Guitars) and Andy (Drums) from Glenbard West. We played probably four shows (including one at Durty Nellies). At one point, Rich was out, and Kurdt was in, but this didn't last long. We broke up, started other bands, and some of us started college. There are still people who remember this line-up, and kinda figure that we've been around for almost ten years. There are only basement tapes to confirm that this band ever happened. It wasn't until two years later that the band would "re-convene".

The original line-up of Andy, Scott, Ted and Rich got back together in 1989 and recorded some new songs for a demo. One song, "Punk Rock Gods" was chosen for Achtung Chicago! (Underdog Records), though it was re-recorded. We did a 6 song cassette, Yes, But..., of which 100 copies were made. This was enough to get us some shows at Durty Nellies, until Matt Nelson moved to McGregors. We finally got enough money and songs together to do our first 7", Green Monster, with Ted's Dad on the cover (and us dressed in drag on the back). We got to do some better shows, including gigs with NOFX, The Offspring, and Fifteen, as well as good local bands like Gear, Sludgeworth, and Screeching Weasel. We contributed a song to Martin Sorrendeguy's Native American Treaty Rights compilations, as well as to Shakefork's Decline of the Western Suburbs 7-inch. Our last recorded project was a split 7-inch with Gear. We did two songs, *"Yer In" and "We Got The Beat", and even did photos with Dan Schaefer's girlfriend of us walking down the streets of Chicago in nothing but white towels. But the single never came out. Gear never paid for their studio time, and we were falling apart ourselves. We had no means or plans to do anything "new", we played only locally, and overall, it got stale. We weren't getting along, and in the end, Ted was gone (he quit, and no one was sorry).

The 1990-91 period was about as productive. We didn't change the name as a matter of pride (though we should've laid the corpse to rest, we were too pissed off to give in to good taste). Before Ted left, he had brought Josh Caterer to a practice with the intent of having HIM sing, with Ted on guitar. With Ted now gone, Scott contacted Josh and asked him to play second guitar. We asked our friend Lyle Zimmerman to sing, and forged forward, writing new songs. They were pretty aggressive, angry songs, as can be witnessed on our cassette Punish The Innocent (500 copies made). We were determined to obliterate our past; the poppy, Descendents-like tunes. In the process, we had a lot of fun. We did two shows with this line-up, playing only new songs and some covers. Josh, who was also in The Smoking Popes at the time, left to pursue just that (good thing, too. I think they're still around. Ha Ha). In January 1992, we asked Billy Thompson Family Counseling to play guitar, and he happily agreed. Only at this time, Lyle didn't have time to do the band anymore, so now our singer was gone (again). We did a final show at MacGregors (w/Seaweed), and went into hiding. We did a few shows with Bill and Andy on vocals, but it just didn't work. We wrote songs and dumped them just as quick. Scott suggested either finding a "real" singer, or calling it quits. Rich left again (before we asked him to), and Kurdt was back (again!).

We put an ad in record stores for a new singer, and Todd called first. We knew Todd would be perfect because he sounded like no one we'd ever heard (maybe the RKL guy). We didn't try anyone else out. In September 1992, we played our first show with Todd, all new songs again, but this time we paid homage to the past with "Punk Rock Gods" and "Thug". We hadn't exactly come full circle, but the more melodic sounds were creeping back ever so slowly. we recorded in December 1992 at Solid Sound with Phil Bonnet (ten songs, I think), five of which became The Kingpin and Strikes Back 7-inches. These 7-inches came out on our own label, Dick Records, and sold out. We began playing out of town in earnest, and more or less began acting like a full-time band instead of a side project that had outstayed it's welcome. We recorded the Superincredibleheavydutydudes CD in the summer of '93 with no means for putting it out. Jason Jackson was starting Dyslexic Records and offered to help out if we'd split the costs. While we were doing the mastering and covers and stuff, Jason would meet me at Stratford Square mall with little envelopes of money to speed the project along. 8 months and $2200 later, the CD was out in March 1993. Lyle and his friend Rod Kranz did the covers for us, and the good people at Optimax delivered 1000 CD's. We were stoked. Our first full length. (Pete Kourim was pretty excited, too).

By the time our CD came out, we were already moving on. We recorded Jerk Lessons, a 10-inch on Dyslexic again. It came out in July 1994, and cost about the same as the CD to do! (1000 made). We recorded again, with intention of putting out a 7-inch by years end (we got busy). At this time, Marc Ruvolo at Johanns Face was interested in doing something with us. The proposed 7-inch became a double 7-inch, DateRape Nation, released in November 1994. We kept busy playing shows into 1995, writing songs for the new full length, Easy Instructions for Complex Machinery, which was ready for our July 1995 tour. In the interim, we also released our split 7-inch with Sidekick Kato, as well as recording some compilation tracks days before we left for our tour. All in all, things were going well, but inevitably, stale.

After the tour, we worked rather slowly on following up Easy Instructions... Billy Thompson started a side project called Jr Loader. In January 1996, we recorded 9 songs with Chuck Uchida, with no plans of what to do with them. Billy Thompson Jr.Loader was asked to leave due to his other projects and other commitments. In a move that will forever baffle historians of such trivial matter, we asked Sean of Jerkwater to join, and he gladly accepted. Jason Mojica of Rocco Records offered to put out the Uchida stuff as a 10-inch and CD, Now's Not a Good Time (though not very quickly). As of February 1997, the CD is out, and the 10-inch vinyl is not. We have a new 7-inch coming out on Fueled By Ramen records (Gainesville, FL) with 4 new songs. Many more things are planned, and you can read about them on this web page whenever we figure out if and when they'll actually happen. "

Band Members

Discography

  • Yes, But - cassette, self-released, 1989
  • Green Monster - 7", Fullon records, 1990
  • Punish the Innocent - 7", Fullon records, 1992
  • The Kingpin - 7", Dick records, 1993
  • Strikes Back - 7", Dick records, 1993
  • Superincredibleheavydutydudes, CD, Dyslexic records, 1994. Re-released on Labyrinth records 1997.
  • Jerk Lessons - 10", Dyslexic records, 1994
  • Daterape Nation - 2x7", Johanns Face records, 1994
  • Sassy's Cute Band Alert (split with Sidekick Kato) - 7", Dyslexic records, 1994
  • Easy Instructions For Complex Machinery - CD/LP, Johanns Face records, 1995
  • Jerk Nation - CD, Johanns Face Records, 1996 (compiles "Jerk Lessons and Date Rape Nation + live tracks)
  • Nows Not a Good Time - CD/10", Rocco Records, 1996 (10" planned but never released)
  • Led Zeppelin III - 7", Fueled By Ramen records, 1997
  • Oblivion vs. Apocalypse Hoboken (split) - 7", Harmless records, 1997
  • V.M.L. Live at the Fireside Bowl - 7", V.M.L. records, 1997
  • Monchichi - 7", Dick records, 1997
  • House of the Rising Son of a Bitch - CD/LP/CS, Kung Fu records, 1998
  • Inverse, Reverse, Perverse - CD, Suburban Home records, 1999
  • Microstars - CD/LP, Kung Fu records, 1999
  • Box Set, 4CD, self released, 2002

External Links

Retrieved from "https://punkdatabase.com/w/index.php?title=Apocalypse_Hoboken&oldid=5846"