State of Confusion
Not much in the way of information on Boise, Idaho hardcore band State of Confusion. The usual sources (KFTH and Flex) have nothing. Here are the basics: formed in 1985, disbanded in 1988, maybe more famous for having three quarters of the band (Pat Brown, Scott Schmaljohn, and Wayne Rhino Flower) go on to form indie grungesters Treepeople. State of Confusion released two albums, 1986’s 6.3 Million Acres and 1988’s A Street. I stumbled across the latter in a cutout bin and picked up simply because it was on the Subcore label (Accused, Dehumanizers)This is pretty standard meat and potatoes hardcore, mid to uptempo songs with socio-political lyrics. The guitar sound on A Street is a thick, fuzzed out mess. Below are my favorite tracks:
from 6.3 Million Acres
State of Confusion - Education.mp3
State of Confusion - I-84.mp3
State of Confusion - Silence.mp3
State of Confusion - Blanket of Power.mp3
State of Confusion - TV Mutation.mp3
from A Street
State of Confusion - Anarchy Street.mp3
State of Confusion - Decency.mp3
State of Confusion - Windows.mp3
State of Confusion - Trashed.mp3
State of Confusion - MX.mp3
If you’re inclined, I’ve zipped up both albums as rar archives:
6.3 Million Acres (20 tracks, 30 MB)
A Street (14 tracks, 38 MB)
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Another great post! Just when I think every thing has been covered you come up with some of these forgotten gems. They used to play Western Washington back then and I had the Anarchy Street record but never heard the 6.3 Million one.
Another record I don’t have to rip to mp3 - thanks once again!
hey after the husker & NOTA post,you’re keeping up w/ great stuff !bought anarchy street when it first came out,its angry,raw sound brought me back to the best early USHC stuff.Got to see Treepeople live in San Fran,not as good of course.
this site is definitely the best of that type on the net !
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Great stuff!! Thanks for the post!
you’re right, i hadn’t covered this before… reviewed their first LP for the new book in the meantime, but i didn’t know they had a second… thanks for posting it.
here’s the review…
State of Confusion - 6.3 million acres LP
silence. slp 001 / 20 tracks / 1986
Silk-screened red die-cut sleeve. + lyric sheet.
Boise, Idaho, probably didn’t have a huge scene, but this LP proves that Septic Death weren’t the only game in town. This is basically well-played hardcore, but there’s quite a bit of variation; there are some speedcore tracks with metallic guitars, some mid-tempo punk songs with more rock influence, and there are some tracks (”Hey”, “I-84″) that have been clearly inspired by Septic Death. Some of the tracks are generic, simple and somewhat amateurish, but then again there’s some great blasts of powerful hardcore. A mixed bag, but there are at least 7 or 8 good songs. [7]
Have both albums and like ‘em a lot! A few years ago I found a State Of Confusion 7″ (3 tracks) released in ‘90, but to be honest, it’s not that interesting.
Curious - Have that one too, and agree it’s not that interesting. I was going to rip it and decided to stick with the LP’s.
Funny, I bought that 7″ directly from the Christ on a Crutch guys, thinking it was a COAC single. Quite disappointed when I found out it wasn’t
Hello,
I played bass in State of Confusion (and sang in the parent band, Dissident Militia, who practiced in the same space with and played many shows with Septic Death) and played drums in Treepeople (quit in ‘92). I am currently writing a music history blog on my My Space page, of Boise, Idaho 1982-89, and Seattle, 1989-2003. I was delighted to find that someone actually still listens to SOC! The 7 inch that is mentioned was actually a nostalgic homage, well after the band ended. We recorded it at a friend’s studio, with 3 original members, Pat, Scott and I, and on drums was Eric Akre, who also played drums in Christ On A Crutch (we were biddies and played shows together)which explains why Eric on this blog) got one from COAC. Eric Akre eventually ended up playing drums in Treepeople for a stint years after I quit. It was a wild ride. Shoot me an email!
Wayne
i just found street A at a local record store for 6 bucks.
Thanks so much for introducing me to this band. I really hoping I can find 6.3 million acres. I really like those jams you posted.
Man I cant’ believe someone is still keeping SOC alive on the web. I grew up in Boise and SOC shows were my introduction to punk rock. There was always an SOC house in Boise where the punk scene was centered around, that was before you could buy your punk image at the shopping mall. Great stuff, good memories. Whats up Wayne?
I’ve posted some old Boise punk flyers on my website:
http://www.oldschoolskateboarding.com/history/skaterock/index.html
There’s some SOC and others and a lot of early Pushead art.
I just stumbled upon this, I still have all these tapes and LP’s in my collection, and still crank the SOC! My first experiences with live music were in Boise in the early 80’s, lots of fun. A tight scene! SOC, LD50, Grind…..too many bands to list. Hey to Wayne and Chris, keep it up.
dude, you are the best man. i grew up in boise, work with pat brown’s wife at the grocery store and for some dumb reason, sold all my records a couple of years ago. thanks thanks thanks thanks!