VISION
SO ANYWAY, these five
guys-Jewish, Italian, Irish,
Danish and Mennonite-cruise
into the local bar in Anytown,
USA. "Give me a shot of
Jägermeister," the Irish guy
sez. The Italian orders a Bud:
the Danish guy a Heineken.
"I have a veggie burger and
water, as my strict but socially
correct ethnic beliefs prohibit
me from the excesses of an
impure life," sez the straight
Mennonite. The Jew just
shrugs his shoulders and has
a Diet Coke and ring dings.
As the night wears on, the
Irish dude has many more
shots chased with Rolling
Rock. The Italian gives up on
beers and rolls a fat one. The
Danish dude pounds greenies
and tells jokes that nobody
wants to hear, and the Jew and
the Italian get pie-eyed. All the
while the Mennonite is shakin'
his chemical-free head in dis-
gust, hangin' in the back so as
not to be associated with the
rest of the crew.
These bumbling idiots, who
also happen to play in Vision,
grab their instruments around
11 pm and stumble onto a
steaming, undersized stage.
With the first power chord, the
crowd goes into a frenzy, arms
flailing everywhere and kids
diving off the stage in a state
of chaos unseen in these parts
for many a moon. By closing
time the band is spent, the
crowd is battered but ecstatic,
and the local fuzz are here in
full riot gear.
Vision has repeated this sce-
nario virtually every weekend
for the past seven-and-a-half
years. They offer their brand of
high energy hardcore punk
without regard to the musical
flavor of the month. Fat riffs,
melodic hooks, in-yer-face
vocals and introspective lyrics
put them over the edge in
today's "alternative" scene.
-Billy Big Pants
Guess 'em yourself:
Dave (vox)-Italian
Pete (guit)-Jew
Nate (bass) Danish
Matt (stix)-Mennonite
Paul (guit)-Irish
BION
N
THE
QUEERS
QUEERS
THE MID AND LATE SEVENTIES produced a lot of
boredom. Hippies had burned out, the war was
over, and a peanut farmer was president of the
Cold War's eventual victor. The music had turned to
shit. And then punk rock came along. There were
the British, who brought punk a lot of notoriety, and
in America there was the Ramones, who played pop before punk
became pop, and who played punk rock before people called it pop-
punk. The Ramones also showed anyone who cared that he or she could
pick up a guitar, learn a few chords, and make some noise.
Surely one of those kids was Joe King, who was probably bored out of
his noggin in Portsmouth, NH. That was where The Queers were born
around 1983, and there they played a couple shows, and hung it up. Joe
bought a cafe in Exeter and went into the restaurant business.
But punk caught back up to him in the late eighties. Hugh and B-Face
rounded out the lineup, and both Dans from Screeching Weasel did a lit-
tle rotating-in to accommodate touring.
If you check out The Queers' stuff, you can definitely hear The
Ramones as a starting point, but the bands have taken very different
paths. The way King sees it, "The Ramones had turned their back on the
punk audience and gotten a little rockish-$18 door and shit."
Recently touring with The Muffs, Joe King says he was uncomfortable
playing arena-type shows, "You feel like you're in a fishbowl on those big
stages. I mean, whaddaya do? You start pulling out your David Bowie
moves. I gotta bone up on my David Bowie moves, it's better than
standing there with my thumb up my ass, which is my usual pose."
All-ages shows are the usual Queers fare. "The kids are true to us, and
we like to stay true to our audience," says King, "I like it because you
can't fuck off, you've got to go out there and play your ass off."
However, The Queers make an exception when they go through SF,
and they always try to book a show at the 21+ Purple Onion, a seedy
joint owned by someone who could pass for Crispin Glover's long lost
brother, Tom Guido. "He's a cretin," King explains. "Tom Guido-you're
a cretin. Love, Joe Queer."
Joe has sold his restaurant to pursue band-related stuff full-time, and
he's better off for it. The Queers have released a bunch of fine records
lately, including some studio and some live stuff, a remake of the
Ramones LP Rocket to Russia and a bunch of singles including a recent
split with fellow NH band Sinkhole. Joe even had to straighten out a guy
he caught selling bootlegs of their second EP in Italy and Japan. They've
been approached by bigger labels, but they're sticking with Lookout.
"Why ruin a good thing?" asks Joe.
The music rules-punk rock irreverence, sarcasm and energy joined
with catchy tunes about girls, angst, teenage life and beer. The Queers
are a touring outfit, so catch them in between their grueling, low-paying.
trips to Europe, or suffer.
-Wez Lundry
Pink Lincole
QUEER
89