another shot of whiskey...(remembering the Gits)

Winter is the season of either punk or trance techno for me. (There've been a few old jazz winters...but in my head jazz fits into punk.)

Right now it's punk.

At this moment it is the Gits. (http://www.thegits.com/history.html)

I know not many in the world have heard of them.

Back when the whole world was enthralled to any wipe that came from Seattle and Nirvana was being played on MfuckingTV, the Gits were playing and some of that "grunge" hype benefitted them with exposure. (Mind you, I liked Nirvana. And their sudden rocket blast to mainstream popularity shocked me as much as it did everyone else. At the time I thought "wtf? a hardcore band....popular?")

While everyone was listening to Nirvana and Pearl Jam (and in increasing amounts, Soundgarden), the Gits were rocking and kicking out the jams, motherfucker! (MC5 reference for those of you who do not know. Kallisti!)

The Gits rocked the hell out of the Puget Sound area and created an entire music scene around them, until Mia Zapata, their singer, was murdered in the summer of 93. (That murder went unsolved for ten years.) It gives me mixed feelings of outrage and disgust that someone could do that to someone so bright.

They never signed to a major label. They never achieved "Nirvana-like" success. They never needed it. Their energy comes through with every song. And this energy has influenced so many other punk and rock bands since.

If you look them up online, using google or something, you will find references to the murder case, a movie about them, Home Alive (a group that gives women self defense lessons), the fact that Joan Jett played with the surviving members (the band going by "Evil Stig" for the tour), that 7 Year Bitch dedicated an album to Mia called "Viva Zapata!" etc. (7 Year Bitch is another pretty good band.)

These are all good.

But nothing like hearing them. I recommend anyone who likes rock, punk, 80s hardcore, or even music in general, to find the Gits and listen to them.

If you wanted to know what happened to the American hardcore scene of the 80s, it was exemplified by bands like the Gits. You could even say that it WAS the Gits.

Songs like "Another Shot of Whiskey," "Spear and Magic Helmet," and "Wingo Lamo"......damn!