Bang Bang

"1977" b/w "Mystery"

I was in the basement tonight, dodging spiders, ducking ducts, wondering why in the hell anyone would keep all the cans of paint of all the terrible colors bedecking our house when we bought it four and a half years ago. There's literally upwards of three dozens cans of that shit...do I have to take that junk to the dump? Along with the 1970's washing machine down there? This is one of the upsides of paternity leave? Are you ever really "unpacked" in a new domicile? Let's be honest, there's boxes in my basement that I put there when we moved in and will still be there when I die. And I bet that's true for most people in the world who have boxes and/or basements.

The reason for venturing down below was to sort through stacks and stacks of drums. With the Dirtbombs gig on New Year's Eve fast approaching, I sincerely do not know exactly which drums I will be playing that night. Between destroying more shells than I care to remember and leaving some in a burned out house in Detroit when I moved, for every drum I'm refreshed to see, it raises the question of "What in the hell happened to the other three that went with that?"

Bang Bang was a band that was active in Detroit at a time when I was fully-immersed in what rock and roll was happening in that town. I never saw them live and the only interaction I can recall is a in-passing meeting at High Bias Recording Studio with a single band member (perhaps the bass player) where he said something dismissive of the Dirtbombs and I legitimately thought "Well good for him...he doesn't need to be nice or kiss any ass."

My memory of the band at the time was that they were highly-regarded as high energy rock and roll. By the time I actually took note and thought to check them out, they were done. When I'd found out they'd released a 7" I figured I'd track that down and judge from there.

I'd seen ONE copy, in the basement of my buddy Chris's house, apparently left there because one of the Bang Bang band members used to live there. I asked if I could have it, he said "no" and I figured I'd find another sooner than later.

That was 2007.

I looked, intently, from then onward. This is not a highly sought-after record. There's no one out there clamoring for it. It's worth nothing, so much so that it seems like no one would ever even bother trying to sell a copy on eBay or Discogs. THESE are the kinds of records that excite and frustrate and motivate me...records that aren't necessarily rare or desired, but records that are genuinely hard-to-find.

Cut to May 2016 and I'm at my neighborhood Nashville record haunt the Groove, flipping through the relatively sparse used 7" bin thinking to myself "What's even the point? I'm only really looking for hard-to-find Detroit or Michigan stuff...and that shit's not gonna turn up here."

So of course, the Bang Bang 7" comes into view not a minute later, priced to move at $2.99 and giving me one of my more satisfying vinyl purchases in the nine years I've been trying to track it down.

Spurred on by the sight of overflowing boxes of CDs in the unfinished basement, I was inspired to pull out the Bang Bang single tonight. It's taken me six months to listen to the thing...ouch. But the tunes are solid. "1977" is a vague roll though of the origins of punk rock, seemingly longing for the ethos of that time and name-checking the likes of the Misfits, Black Flag and Dischord. The guitar propels the whole thing with a John Reis flavored intensity. I feel similarities between this band and one of my favorite Detroit groups of that time, Lee Marvin Computer Arm. Both guitar heavy, both seemingly with hardcore and emo band experience, both suburban, both putting out music on the Conspirators in Sound label, both with an underpinning threat of explosive violence imbued in the song.

The flip is a cover of the Wipers' "Mystery" and all it does is remind me that I don't think I've EVER heard a bad cover of the Wipers...from Nirvana (x2), Hole, Stephen Malkmus. All solid, add Bang Bang to that exclusive (?) company.

This single, more than anything else, is indicative of my feelings and desires in regards to Michigan music now living in Nashville for over seven years. I yearn for the things I missed, the bands I took for granted, the singles clogging the dollar bin that I scoffed at. I never gave them a chance. Singles like Astro Boy, Ethos, Grayling, Thoughts of Ionesco...these are things I felt absolutely bothered and buried by when living there. Now...I search them out. Original cassette tapes by bands I went to high school with like Dirt Squad, Mad Cow and Hole in One...things I was EMBARRASSED to posses I now search for high-and-low, unsuccessfully, as Googling truly unknown music from the mid-Nineties is a Herculean task.

I still don't know what drums I'll play New Year's Eve or if I'll ever find a copy of Hole in One's "Copyright Infringement" cassette, but it all feels refreshing and exciting, anticipating a homecoming, revisiting a dormant band, a little anxious...all of this, whether via participating in a live performance or placing some personal journey feelings into a forgotten recording, has me smiling at the potential.