I'm starting this thread mostly because I grew up in Tucson and was always hearing about the scene there and how people in Europe were into it (I know, 80s indie cliche.)
Since for most of my time there I was too young to get into the cool club (Club Congress) I mostly had to see bands at parties and the DPC (Downtown Performance Center.) At the time--early 90s--there seemed to be a lot of Royal Trux-style indie blues bands, mostly centered about Bob Log III, who played in a band called Mondo Guano, and on street corners with Doo Rag, before going solo. Also there were a few punk-psych bands that incorporated samples and seemed influenced by Negativland.
Of course, as everywhere there were tons of hardcore and ska groups.
But amongst the older crowd there was talk of a "Tucson sound" or "Desert Rock." It included groups like the Sidewinders/Sandrubies, Naked Prey, Green on Red, the Supersuckers (before they went to the Northwest), Phantom Limbs, Al Perry & the Cattle & a now deceased guitarist named Rainer. The sound had a bit in common with the Paisley underground but also had a Neil Young-ish feel with some country elements thrown in. There was certainly a kinship to some Phoenix-based bands like the Meat Puppets and the Gin Blossoms. I believe that groups like Calexico, Giant Sand and Friends of Dean Martinez either shared members with some of these bands or at least hung out with them.
After I moved away from Arizona, I really never heard much about what was going on there--except when some of the local bands had limited success. I know that the Water Works studio was started in Tucson at some point and that folks like Neko Case go there to record sometimes, but Arizona has always been kind of a backwater on the National scene.
I guess my question is--does anyone here know any more recent or in-depth details about this stuff, and I'm throwing it open to the whole state because there was always a fair amount of crossover between the Phoenix/Mesa scene and that of Tucson (don't know anything about Flagstaff.)
― President Keyes, Monday, 2 March 2009 19:06 (sixteen years ago)
Sun City Girls, JFA, Eddy Detroit, Brainz, Teds
― masonna ringtones (gnarly sceptre), Monday, 2 March 2009 20:30 (sixteen years ago)
I remember seeing a band called Gila Bend a few times in the early 90s.Kind of cow punky.I liked.
― Pinto Basin, Monday, 2 March 2009 21:24 (sixteen years ago)
you should check out the new Golden Boots record The Winter Of Our Discotheque. They kinda feel like the heirs to the Giant Sand mantle. Def one of the best things going in Tucson these days.
― Cosmo Vitelli, Tuesday, 3 March 2009 00:10 (sixteen years ago)
twelve years pass...