Monday, August 20, 2012

THIS BIKE IS A PIPEBOMB - Comedy Tape - 2004

   My thoughts on the music of TBIAPB have already been documented before, but if you missed it, I'm not a big fan. That said, I am a big fan of the actual people in this band. I believe that their hearts are made of gold (not literally) and their ideals are unfuckwithable. A friend of mine referred to them as "one of the worst bands of all time", which I will respectfully disagree with. Sure, they helped pave the way for one of the worst musical genres of all time (folk-punk), but they didn't mean to do that and they felt burdened by the path that they were on. When I would go on tour with them, we would drink whiskey drinks in the van and complain about the caliber of opening bands at their shows. We would discuss how it's important to try and support young musicians as they are starting out, but we just wished there would just be a fucking punk band on the show...and not a timid kid playing a uke while staring at the ground. I remember getting to a show in Tucson and seeing a burly looking hardcore band set up. I got excited. When they played their cover of GORILLA BISCUITS' "New Direction"  Rymodee and I were right up front singing along.
    What does this have to do with this tape? Well, nothing really, but I don't think TBIAPB is the worst band of all time. Far from it. Have you heard....well, nevermind....There's a lot worse bands out there.
   This tape was recorded without their knowledge when they played very drunkenly at the first Plan-It-X Fest back in 2004. I was working "security" for the fest and I was in charge of making sure that all of the bands from the south didn't get too drunk to play....and to make sure they weren't drinking openly in the venue. What that translated to is that I would go backstage and drink with the bands for a while and then say "Oh yeah, don't get caught doing this." The band was given one hour to play and as evidenced by this tape, they talked for a full 30 minutes of that. All the music was cut out and you're just left with their often funny stage banter. I still believe that VENOM and IRON LUNG provides better laughs, but I still find some parts of this to be really funny. Regardless of how I feel about most of their music, you can bet that I will be front and center (or just drinking their drinks when they are onstage) when TBIAPB embarks on their upcoming West Coast tour in a couple of weeks.

DOWNLOAD IT
Link fixed 3/2020

Tape originally released by I Win Tapes.

Something important to remember is that they were playing in front of 600-700 people.

4 comments:

Dustin said...

As one who, with a mix of bewilderment and chagrin, considers himself partly responsible for the rise of folk-punk, I feel obliged to weigh in on this post. The members of TBIAPB are among the best possible folks with whom to find yourself having a drink. Those drinks'll taste even sweeter if you're all in a city that's not your own.

You've sparked a lot of memories, given me access to Hickey songs I hadn't heard since forever, and introduced me to a bunch of stuff I'd never heard before (I'm currently listening to Copycats--holy crap!). Thanks so much!

Harvester said...

you're very welcome. I'm glad you enjoy it.

Anonymous said...

Can we get a re-up on this gem? Thanks!!

Harvester said...

DONE