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I’m not cut out to write a grand opus about whether the Jesus Lizard were one of the most important bands of their time (they were), or about why they were one of the best live bands ever. Instead, I’ll attempt to pen some small details that may not be covered by other writings.
In 1987, Duane Denison, living in Austin and no longer in a band following the demise of Cargo Cult, started writing some new songs. He enlisted the help of David Yow to sing and David Sims to play bass. Quite a charmed life Duane was leading, to so easily pick up Austin’s best bass player and singer, courtesy of their inactive status after the breakup of Scratch Acid. Unfortunately for Duane, at the end of 1987, David Sims moved to Chicago to form Rapeman with Steve Albini and Rey Washam. David Yow decided Chicago was looking pretty good and moved there as well.
Just over a year later, following the breakup of Rapeman, Duane made a trip to Chicago to finish and record the songs they had started in Austin. At this point in 1989, with Duane living halfway across the country from the Davids, and the drummer at the recording session being David Sims’s drum machine, the collaboration was more of a “project” than a band. The project was named the Jesus Lizard, and the recordings they created became the Pure EP that we released on Touch and Go Records later that year.
When they started working together, all three members of the early Jesus Lizard were already Touch and Go alumni. David and David had been my close friends dating back to the Scratch Acid era. In 1989, with both of them living in Chicago, we hung out, laughed, and ate together on a regular basis. Backyard barbecues, Thai food, and five a.m. neighborhood bars were regular parts of our lives. Duane had been the guitar-playing and songwriting genius in the early Touch and Go band Cargo Cult, so I already knew what a killer musician and all-around good guy he was.
As I remember it, despite my close ties with the members of the band, it was not taken for granted that Touch and Go would release these early recordings. At T&G, we prided ourselves on releasing records by killer live bands, bands that toured regularly and could impress audiences night after night. Since, at the time of the recordings, the Jesus Lizard was essentially a studio project, there was some discussion with the guys about where this was all going. Duane was still living in Texas when the recordings were made. Would he be moving to Chicago? Did they plan on touring? Were they going to get a drummer?
Drummers were important to us at T&G. After all, we had already released records featuring Rey Washam, for Christ’s sake! Little did we know that the T&G roster was about to be blessed with another drumming god: Mac McNeilly. The guys said they intended to get a drummer and to be a real touring band, so we agreed to release Pure. Ha! I’m so happy we did!
Fast-forward a few short months and Duane was living in Chicago, the Jesus Lizard had brought on Mac as drummer, and they were playing their very first show at out favorite local Thai restaurant, Bangkok Bangkok, with Slint and King Kong. Bangkok Bangkok was located near Steve Albini’s house/studio. Steve, the Jesus Lizard guys, and I (along with members of Slint, Urge Overkill, visiting dignitaries, etc.) ate there regularly. The place was quite large as neighborhood restaurants go, but rarely busy. The owners were always friendly and seemed to genuinely enjoy the personalities in our group. Bangkok Bangkok was not a nightclub, and this rock show, on July 1, 1989, was the only one to ever happen there.
I don’t think anyone was prepared for the power the Jesus Lizard displayed that night. They were a visceral, gripping live band from their very first show. A few days later, they played another phenomenal, intense set at a sweaty and very insect-infested party on the roof of Martin Atkins’s apartment. After these two gigs, it was very clear to me how great the Jesus Lizard were, and I was determined to do everything we could do at Touch and Go to let the rest of the world know too!
The rest of their story is told later in this book: the amazing albums, perfectly recorded by Steve Albini; and the years of relentless touring that led to the Jesus Lizard being one of the best live bands ever. I was thrilled for the success of my friends, and excited by the growth their success helped bring to Touch and Go. I recently came across a photo from 1990 of David Yow and Britt Walford of Slint helping me construct office walls. It summed up Chicago in the early 1990s: the Jesus Lizard, Slint, Urge Overkill, Shellac, and a bunch of others all inventing new musical styles, working together, hanging out together, and recording monumental records that Touch and Go was lucky enough to be releasing.
COREY RUSK
