Monday, July 30, 2012

Hose Got Cable

"This is Bob Dylan to me."
I never really cared about the Minutemen, but I grok what they were talking about in the song "History Lesson - Part II".  The entire point behind punk rock was that we didn't feel like mainstream culture connected with us, so we had to create our own entertainment.  Seeing Hose was like watching Nirvana in some kid's basement, or at a 200 capacity club.  But better, because they were peers.  We all lived in the same city, knew the same people, shopped at the same grocery stores, went to the same bars.  There was a special kind of connection.
Hose Got Cable consisted of Chris Wade on guitars/vocals, John Partin (same), John Skaritza on drums, and John Peters on bass.  Each member brought something to the band - Chris brought the punk rock ethos, Partin seemed like a classic rock kind of guy, Skaritza had a jazzy/Fugazi kind of style, and Peters was previously in the metal band Killing Cycle (also featuring Mark Morton, who was in an earlier incarnation of Hose also, and later went on to be in Lamb of God).  They were able to fuse these styles into something unique.




Hose Got Cable cassette


In the summer of 1994 (I think), Chris Wade gave me a cassette of recent Hose recordings, some boombox classics, and a tape of his band from High School.  One of the songs on side B is maybe 5 seconds long, and is called "I Don't Give a Shit" - to me, it says more than anything the Sex Pistols ever did.


9 comments:

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  2. All the hose.got.cable material that is on here, and more was released on their cd discography, which I put out a few years ago. If you want a copy, email me at bretpayne@msn.com. It will be $10 (which includes shipping inside the US). It's more than worth it. Includes their first 7", the double 7" ep, the full-length album, and two tracks that appeared on comps. That's everything that was ever available.

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  3. hose.got.cable blew my mind in my sophomore year of college at VCU. I saw them a few times—probably the Metro, definitely at an art show and at Twisters, and for sure opening for GWAR at the Flood Zone. I think that last one was the show where Dave Brockie stripped off his armor during the encore and then they were banned in Richmond for years? Or maybe it was Mike Bishop's farewell show before he left to focus on Kepone? Maybe that was the same show. But I digress.
    hose.got.cable ruled. I've had the Twisters show stuck in my head...what's the lyric? Like a gun that's been sitting aside for years?
    I still have the Antidisestablishmentarianismesque 7", and I think about the band often.
    Man, 1993–97 was a special time in Richmond.

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    1. Sure was! That lyric was from the song "Ego" which I believe starts with a few minutes of them just playing an E-flat power chord. They used to start their sets with that sometimes, which was a bold move.

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    2. I hear they are getting back together, playing festivals and shows

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  4. And killing cycle. I remember them winning Battle of the bands. That was one band I wish would have grown older together than apart. All magnificent musicians Mark M. I love you brother

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  5. Growing up in Williamsburg, Virginia and that beginning of the sound straight out here was Best times are to come though if it is really going back on tours!!!!! I believe the band came cuz one of the boys had cable lol

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