LIMITED EDITION OF 1,000 CDs !!!
Includes Demo, 4-Track, Live Radio Show performances & other rare recordings dating from 1986-2007 !!
THE OBITUARIES
Eyeing Rob Landoll playing guitar for the band Carnage Shop at the storied Satyricon nightclub in 1985 a teenaged Monica Nelson, at the time a singer in a Top 40 cover band, turned to her then beau and said “That’s the guy I want to be in a band with!!”. He told her, “Well then you’re going to have to learn to sing in a Punk Rock style, because that’s what he plays”, and thus was the fertilization of the idea that would spawn one of Oregon’s and the Northwest’s best, most influential, yet scarcely documented Punk Rock combos: The Obituaries.
From 1986-1990 The Obituaries left an imprint in the minds of everyone who saw them play.
Known for her powerful and often unpredictable stage presence as well as her extremely personal and confessional lyrics, vocalist & wordsmith Monica Nelson is a distinctive and singular talent. She was the most gifted, visible and recognized female front person of the era just before the full-on Grunge explosion. She has been cited as a major influence by later standard bearers like Kathleen Hanna (Bikini Kill, Le Tigre) who said that it was seeing The Obituaries and Monica Nelson at the Capitol Theater in Olympia, Washington that made her realize that a Rock band might be an effective vehicle for her to more fully disseminate her then mainly fan-zine based feminist message out to more people. Which led to the formation of Bikini Kill and in turn triggered the formation of scores, and then hundreds of groups that would feature strong females in the front, if not all, the roles.
Bill mates and friends The Gits from Seattle formed a small mutual admiration society with The Obituaries and had a commonality in that they had such striking and phenomenally skilled singers.
It’s not hard to spot the influence in many of the other female forward Punk and loud groups that would rise to prominence with roots in Portland and/or the Northwest. Not surprising, since The Obituaries were easily one of the biggest live draws at their home-base Satyricon, and the other Punk-friendly clubs in the area.The Obits shared bills with both Green River & Mother Love Bone (whose rosters included most of the members of the bands that would become known later as Pearl Jam & Mudhoney, the latter whom they played with as well), Sonic Youth, Nick Cave, Alex Chilton (Big Star, The Box Tops), The Gits, Babes In Toyland, The Descendents, Dead Moon, & as well as a couple of bands that had opened for them in their early years that went onto substantial success: Soundgarden & Nirvana !!
The Obituaries did do a few national tours, and released a magnificent & timeless six song (12") EP in 1988 (as well as a 45, cassette release and compilation appearances), but might be more widely known outside of the Northwest if it were not for a few bad breaks and errant bounces of the proverbial ball. A studio fire destroyed all their master tapes including one of a just completed live recording, which had been engineered by Drew Canulette (Soundgarden, Black Flag, tons more), followed by the ill-timed (in career terms) move away from Portland, which led to the band folding. But Nelson & Landoll would continue to collaborate on and off over the years, and have many tremendous unreleased songs from these sessions. This 23 track release represents the first time The Obituaries have been offered on the CD format (save for compilation appearances) , and includes material recorded at various times over the last twenty years!
Those two went through a Spinal Tap-esque assortment of rhythm sections during the first Obituaries reign, but are excited to be reforming with their favorite bass player (who also had the longest tenure in the original band) Regina La Rocca and the last Obits drummer James Mahone.
You can listen to, and learn more about The Obituaries original run via their Myspace museum at:
http://www.myspace.com/theobits
Monica & Rob have also been working as an acoustic duo as well. Check them out at this Myspace page:
http://www.myspace.com/theobitsacoustic
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