Gaunt
Columbus, Ohio in the early 90’s must have been a cool place to be, what with all of the great garage punk bands and labels - New Bomb Turks, Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments, Cheater Slicks, Datapanik records, and of course Gaunt. 400 miles away from Columbus in Rochacha it was also an exciting time, as it seemed there was a new Turks or Gaunt single hitting the bins every month or so. Man, 1993 was a fucking fantastic year, but I’m getting off track. Gaunt had a way of delivering a big noisy fuck you topped off with a pop coating to help it all wash down, displayed nicely on a bunch of singles, a couple of EP’s and some great albums. If you don’t have I Can See Your Mom from Here or Sob Story just what are you waiting for? Go grab them. The later albums (Yeah, Me Too and Kryptonite) are also pretty decent. I can’t comment on the one and only major label effort Bricks and Blackouts, as I never got around to picking that one up. Only thing missing is a singles compilation, a shame since some of their greatest moments were found on 7 inch slabs. If you don’t believe me then check out “Spine” below. I’ve done my best to put together some of the band’s best 1992-1993 moments, though I’m missing the Fielders Choice EP and the split w/ the New Bomb Turks. If anyone has a copy of these available (for sale or on mp3) then get in touch.
RIP Jerry Wick (1967-2001)
from 1992’s Jim Motherfucker 7″
Gaunt - Jim Motherfucker.mp3
Gaunt - Spine.mp3
from 1992’s Whitey The Man 10″ EP
Gaunt - Silly Watches.mp3
Gaunt - Back Off.mp3
Gaunt - Salvation Army.mp3
Gaunt - Ignored.mp3
Gaunt - Whitey.mp3
Gaunt - USA.mp3
Gaunt - Jim Motherfucker.mp3
from 1993’s Pop Song 7″
Gaunt - Pop Song.mp3
Gaunt - No Hope.mp3
from 1993’s Good Bad Happy Sad 7″
Gaunt - Good Bad Happy Sad.mp3
Gaunt - Quality of Armor.mp3 (Guided By Voices)
from 1993’s Solution 7″ (came with Speed Kills #5)
Gaunt - Solution.mp3 (Pere Ubu)
Gaunt - Black Cat.mp3
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Rad site. I’ve been checkin it out for a while now, I dig it. I don’t mean to pester you but do you think you could put up the “Bands That Could Be God” comp? It was on your old site at http://somethingilearned.blogspot.com/2005/12/va-bands-that-could-be-god.html
Thanks for posting this@!
geez…you keep putting up the killer shit! thanks!
ohio rocks!
I was in Columbus attending College at this time and I can attest to the fact that it had a kick-ass music scene. The New Bomb Turks alone woulda taken care of that. Cincinatti had a lot going on for it at the time too with the sorta post-Afghan Whigs thing going on. All-in-all a good time to be in Ohio. 93 was a kick-ass year to be in the midwest!
Speaking of the NBT — They are playing a “reunion” show in Columbus on the 29th. I’m driving up there. Should be killer.
http://www.myspace.com/theenewbombturks
They were a fantastic live band too, saw them a few times while living in Chicago. Great fun. I still have my glitter-lettered Gaunt shirt.
Sadly the only time I saw the New Bomb Turks was when they opened for Nine Pound Hammer which unfortunately made them look like some frat kids ripping them off. Back on track though, Gaunt rocks, great post!
I’ll tell you what, I’ll vouch for Columbus in the early 90s. yessir. But the only problem with seeing Gaunt, Bassholes, Mike Rep, Cheater Slicks, and TJSA every other weekend is that when I moved to another town I couldn’t figure out why all their bands were so terrible. still trying to figure it out.
Bricks and Blackouts, while (intentionally) glossier than their previous stuff, still has loads of fun songs, and can be had pretty cheap on ebay, in $3 bins, etc.. Jerry was the very definition of a “hoot.” Great guy, and good to get in an endless fevered argument with. Very sad he’s not around to write more uber-catchy tunes and/or tip a beer with. There’s a good gaunt MySpace page too, with some unreleased tunes:
http://www.myspace.com/gaunt
Thanks for the support for a great band!!!
hey, nice! i was just on here stealin’ all that face value the other day. i run the gaunt myspace mentioned, and actually comped all their singles and non-lp stuff along with some unreleased tunes, covers, and versions and two live shows to two cds, so get ahold if you want a copy.
thank you for finally providing me with jim motherfucker. a song i heard once in i think it was 1994 when they played the netherlands together with teengenerate.
excellent! The Jim Motherfucker/Spine single is/was one of my all-time favourites.
Great band - I’ve always preferred GAUNT to NBT to be honest. ‘Sob Story’s a classic. A singles comp would be awesome as there’s a few posted here I don’t have.
[…] Original post by Eric and software by Elliott […]
here’s that comp, which is everything non-lp from the original lineup (meaning all the 45s, a 10″, and tracks from compilations), plus some unreleased tracks, alternate takes, and two live shows:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=C1LEYFPA
Wow! I just heard Gaunt for the first time in forever the other day on Mike Lupica’s excellent “Anti Static” podcast from WFMU and this is really exciting stuff. Thanks.
Yhanks youaee328c9af297ace2b9c062f41570824
[…] Here is the page with “Jim Motherfucker” on it. I don’t know if he’s cool with direct links to MP3 files so I am linking to the page it’s on instead. The version I’m writing about is on the 7″. There is another version on the Whitey The Man 10″, but I don’t think it’s nearly as good. […]
I saw Gaunt play with Nashville Pussy at the 15th St. Tavern in Denver. They were terrific. I went out of my way to catch them whenever they were in town. And I played Bricks and Blackouts to death. You didn’t have to know a lot about their to discography to tell that this was their “bid for the big time” record. And it’s quite fine. Fun to listen to, swelling and driving. Looking back, it had the sound to be a huge smash. It was timed right. But it’s still sweeter to listen to today knowing I won’t have to hear them in a local sports bar. I don’t have to share them that way. The mooks can have their Foo Fighters. I get Gaunt.
Late comment, but I just saw this post. I recently got a copy of the Solution 7″, and thought it was awesome. Very surprised to see the tracks on the internet, I was under the impression they weren’t very well known.
I have both those singles on vinyl (the ones you were looking for), as well as every Turks single (well, up til Epitaph at least).
Still need ‘em?