Shithaus – Crush: Live Crush 84 – 85 (CASSETTE, US)

1985 MOC / Self Released n/a
A1. Intro
A2. Crush Jam
A3. Rubber Doll
A4. Walking Insane
A5. Fire Ritual
A6. Eye Gouge
A7. Warm Leather
A8. Weenie Up Nevilles Butt
A9. Constant Decay

B1. Fag Hag
B2. Film Song
B3. Texas
B4. When It Comes Time
B5. May Day
B6. Brain Dogs
B7. Swan Song (White Ice)
B8. I Like It Like That

Shithaus - Crush: Live Crush 84 - 85 (CASSETTE, US) - Cover
Shithaus - Crush: Live Crush 84 - 85 (CASSETTE, US) - Cassette - Side A
VIEW:
NOTES:
Self-released / hand-made cassette by Shithaus (exact number in circulation is unknown).

This is a pre-Pussy Galore band featuring Tom Fry (Vocals), Tod Ashley (Guitar), Stephan Harshman (Bass), Jon Spencer (Drums) and James Joaquin (Drums).

Copies were sold at “Goldy Records next to the Brown University Bookstore on Thayer Street. Goldy’s had a stack of them they were selling to support local bands as they did sometimes. I think I paid $3 to $5 for it.” – freddysneakers (via discogs.com)

Part of the tape was recorded during a live broadcast on a show called ‘Noise with Neville’ on 90.1 WRIU, Kingston, RI.

For this broadcast the band are going by the name ‘Knocked-Up Teens’ as the name ‘Shithaus‘ was not deemed “broadcast worthy by FCC regulations”.

“Neville was a demagogue of the Providence noise-rock and proto-industrial scenes of the mid 1980s. The program ran from at least the Spring of 1985 into the Summer of 1987. Today the whereabouts of Mr. Neville are unknown.”*

*Jose Fritz located and interviewed Neville in 2010 which was also posted on tenwatts.blogspot.com [LINK].

Also as stated on the broadcast the band management was ‘Method of Control’ whose ‘MOC’ logo can be seen on the bottom-left of the first cover image.

The DJ gives a run-down of the bands equiptment which includes; “Olds Mobile Gas Tank, Chevy Gas Tank, A Grinder, a drum board, A couple of cassette decks, fully fledged rhythm section, a guitar and some vocals”.

When It Comes Time was also released on the cassette compilation UHF/Channel 14.

Shithaus released a cassette in 1985 and Jon Spencer created a film titled ‘Shithaus’ which was released on V/A feat. John Spencer – Cinema Of Transgression Vol. 1.. Jon Spencer also made other films which were shown in public called ‘Pus: The Movie’ and ‘Ponzo’s Masterwork’.

REVIEW:

“Billing themselves as an “industrial hardcore half-breed,” I’d say they’re more on the industrial side of life. While there are some post-punk influences, the noise/mechanical factor is predominant. This is a “live” tape, and well-done if you’re into modern pain.” – Tim Yohannan / Maximum Rock And Roll #28 (September 1985)

OTHER NOTES:

• Shithaus played a gig at AS220, Saturday September 7, 1985, gallery in Rhode Island
– as220.org

• “sluggo: I remember seeing Shithaus, which was an early incarnation of Pussy Galore, play in a chicken wire-cage in this damp basement where everyone was covered in fluorescent paint”. – dragking.org

• Jim Thirlwell mentions Shithaus in an interview:
“FOETUS: I totally respect Cop and I think Tod is a great songwriter. He acknowledges the fact that certain songs have a heavy Foetus influence. We’re close buddies and we collaborate.
SECONDS: Did he play with you as a band-member?
FOETUS: He played on a few songs on Gash, but he wasn’t in the band. No, him and Jon Spencer hooked up at Rhode Island School Of Design. Him and Jon had this band called Shithaus and then he had a band called Dig That Hole.” – foetus.org

• A message which refers to the Shithaus cassette: “ok, someone mentioned that in the early 80s in Providence some band that played in the apt. next to them was pussy galore. Most likely that was Jon’s first band Shithaus which he was in with, I believe, one of the principles in the noise rock band Cop Shoot Cop. I have the Shithaus cassette which was the soundtrack to a student film or something circa 84-85. I am not positive but I thought Pussy Galore was an idea in Providence but became a band when Julie and Jon moved to DC in like summer 1985. Where Neil lived I don’t remember. Christina, Jon’s wife, from Boss Hog lived in DC then and worked at Hagen Dasz 83/84-ish with Ian Mackaye and Henry Rollins, but I was too young to know all this at the time. They were resoundingly hated here because their lyrics were so harsh and their attitude so unlike DC. for me the thing is that people thought they were arty because they had no other frame of reference. If you were a critic who never heard the Keggs or the Green Fuzz, but you liked no wave bands, ehh… It’s like the people who talk about VU as new wave but never seem to notice the rock roots which form a lot of their songs. I don’t hear the sun ra references in people’s stuff because I don’t have that in my repetoire.
– Don” – xnet2.com/bomp/searchable/0001/msg00564.html

• “Fortifying their lineup with drummer Seth Ballou [and later, sax player Geoff Adams], the DAMES began writing songs and honing their quirky, harmony-laden sound. Their foray into Providence’s harder-edged scene, however, wasn’t without its turbulence. They shared a practice space with RASH OF STABBINGS and SHITHAUS, which featured young upstart Jon Spencer [later, and more famously, of the JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION], who once unceremoniously announced the DAMES time to practice had expired by unplugging all their instruments.” – Hammer of The Goddess by Deano, (‘Newport Naked’ Vol. 5 fall / winter 2015 / 2016)

Thanks to Jose Fritz. Visit his blog [LINK] to read the complete entry and to hear a short audio sample of this release which includes the “Hey stick around you might enjoy it.” introduction.

SONG CREDITS:
Band:
Vocals: Tom Fry
Guitar: Tod Ashley
Bass: Stephan Harshman
Drums: Jon Spencer
Drums: James Joaquin

Instruments: Olds Mobile Gas Tank, Chevy Gas Tank, A Grinder, a drum board, A couple of cassette decks, full fledged rhythm section, a guitar and some vocals

Recorded at “our very own production studio”

Broadcast on ‘Noise with Neville’ on 90.1 WRIU, Kingston, RI.

SLEEVE NOTES:
“Playback at Max Vol.”
DETAILS:
ARTWORK: [unknown]

BARCODE: n/a

MATRIX/RUN-OUT GROOVE ENGRAVING: n/a