SHOTWELL - "Geneva Avenue Fallout" - Tape - 1999

   SHOTWELL started back in 1994 (as SHOTWELL COHO) and they continue to (sort-of) exist as a band to this day. To me, and many others, they are as synonymous to the Mission District as burritos, norteños y sureños, street-sold churros and the Mission theater sign. Their rough, tuneful songs have mirrored the class struggles, police repression and the pure fucking joy of living in San Francisco for the past 17 or 18 years. The band has been a revolving door of drummers, bass players, and second guitarists with Jimmy Broustis manning the vocal / guitar duties since day one. On record, Shotwell is flawlessly flawed, shambolic and raw. Most of their albums and singles have been on constant rotation anywhere I've lived for the past 15 years and many of their songs have helped to inspire a constant, snarling disdain for authority. SHOTWELL yearns to live in a world that is free of cops, drinking in public laws and the upper class. A live SHOTWELL show can go in a few different directions: On one hand, it can be the best thing ever - dancing punks, a tight band, Jimmy's long, rambling diatribes that end up making such a concise point that you'll think about it for the next two days. On the other, they can be a terrifying, depressing affair where the band sounds like harsh noise, Jimmy is trying everything he can to make the songs fall apart and someone gets punched. I've still managed to have fun at those shows though...somehow. Alcohol is usually involved.

    This tape is one of my favorite things that SHOTWELL has ever recorded. It shows the band at a really tight, ragged point and the songs are all top-notch. Jimmy asks a few timeless, musical questions, such as "Where the fuck is Eppli?" (sources are still unsure) and "Do we have what it takes? We've got 5 years....fuck no.." (it's now been well over 5 years and sources are still confused as to what we had 5 years to accomplish). Jimmy's voice does that beautiful thing that it does where it goes from a half-laugh to a snarl that lets you know that he's not fucking around. All the while, he is backed up by the breakneck, steady drumming of Iggy Scam and the solid bass-work of Greg Snyder....and then Carl Rice...How many bands do you know of that change band members so quickly that they can't even keep the same people throughout one album? Most of these songs later appeared on their fabulous split LP with MIAMI (which came with a 30 page zine that chronicled the efforts of the Mission punks to start having punk shows on the streets of SF after all of the all-ages warehouses got shut down), except for their excellent cover of the AVENGER'S "Cheap Tragedies", which can only be found on this tape.
     I think my favorite line from this tape is "...tell me to get a fuckin' job! Fuck you Nazi, I'm throwing rocks!"
    If you want to keep up with SHOTWELL's website, which has not been updated or relevant since 2001, you can find it HERE..

Download Geneva Avenue Fallout

This is for the people who are still in the streets in Oakland today, fighting for economic justice and against police brutality.

Photo of SHOTWELL playing an illegal show at 16th and Mission BART in 2001 by lil' Sarah T.

 And now, to the best of my abilities, I'm going to try and name every person who has ever played in SHOTWELL. Please chime in if I missed anyone.

Jimmy Broustis                    Buzz Lee

Tony Rojas                          Iggy Scam / Erick Lyle

Mason                                Paul Curran

Aaron Cometbus                 Ivy Jeanne
Phil                                    Pete Simonelli
Chris Myers                       Antonio Ramon

Ben                                    Colin Atrophy

Greg Harvester                   Ken Williams

Carl Rice                            Greg Snyder

Steve Moriarity                  Matt Birdflu

Buddha                              Morgan Stickrod

Ryan Maddox                    Joey Alone

Paul Barger                        Abe
Garritt Heater                     Wade Driver
Cinque Adams                    E.r. Conner
Ernst                                  Alan Disaster
Shellhead                           Matt Powell
Todd Siemens                    Brontez Purnell
Caroline Paquita                Mike Wilson