Lyle Hysen (Drums): The back cover of our debut on Ecstatic Peace, then re-released on SST. Full guns-a-blazin’ at Maxwells, so it had to be early in the set as Jim and Phil still have fancy jackets on.
Jim Wallerstein (Vocals/Guitars): Throwing down at Maxwell’s. We played blazing loud in those days. I’m told the soundman, (Andy Peters!) had a piece of tape on the soundboard master fader with volume levels marked:
Loud Louder
Das Damen
LH: Taken at Marty’s infamous “Death Ranch” in Buffalo. I assume Jim is just holding back his excitement to celebrate his birthday. This could’ve been when we were hit by a drunk driver leaving Buffalo, and our van had to get repaired so we spent many not-so-sober days at the ranch. Plus how many hoodies did we own?
JW: This is how we spent several years, touring the U.S and crashing on cool music fans’ couches/floors and drinking beer and listening to vinyl after shows. Pre GPS, cellphones, and ATMs, kids.
LH: This is the press photo for our last release, the “High Anxiety” EP that came out on Sub Pop (1991). It was released at the height of Sub Pop being broke and the record kind of came and went un-noticed. It might be the record that I feel comes closest to capturing the band’s sound. We recorded it with Sean Slade at Fort Apache and Jim and I even made an extra trip up to Boston to make sure the guitars crushed it on “Chaindrive.” “Chaindrive,” btw, was written based on a jam when I trying out my fancy new “Chaindrive DW 500 pedal,” which I only recently replaced!
JW: The photo was taken in our Hoboken rehearsal room. I believe Dave (bass player, far left) is wearing his mod-esque shirt that he bought in Portobello Market while we were on tour in the U.K. I remember long hours at the old Fort Apache with Sean and Lyle up in Boston mixing the EP. I always loved the way the drums sound on “Chaindrive.” One of our heaviest tunes.
LH: This photo is very insider-baseball. Taken for our profile in Flipside magazine, they are attempting a somewhat live recreation of our Twin Tone LP cover of “Mousetrap” while at the exact same time we are re- creating the infamous Minor Threat photo
JW: No cats were harmed in the making of this photo.
JW: Our first photo shoot for SST. Very exciting times driving to L.A. to SST, seeing album proofs for “I Against I” and the aborted Charles Manson (!) album in the offices.
LH: This photo is by the late Naomi Peterson, 1986.
LH: This was an out-take from our photo shoot for Sassy magazine, “Cute Band Alert” or something, which is not ap- plicable to that photo. In front of Hoboken’s “Leo’s Grande- Vous,” a Hoboken staple for red-sauce Italian.
JW: Leo’s was across the street from our practice space. We spent a lot of time there rehearsing when Hoboken was transitioning from sleepy town into the megalopolis it is today. Leo’s supposedly still has holes in the walls from an old mafia shootout or irate customers.