The Pain Teens
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| The Pain Teens | |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Houston, Texas, United States |
| Genre(s) | Alternative rock |
| Years active | 1985-1995 |
| Label(s) | Anomie, Trance Syndicate |
| Members | |
| Scott Ayers Bliss Blood Ralf Armin Kirk Carr Frank Garymartin |
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Pain Teens was an experimental noise rock band formed in Houston, Texas in 1985 by Scott Ayers and Bliss Blood.[1] The band used tape manipulation, digital delays, sampling, tape cut-ups and other effects in their music. They also included guitar, violin, marimba, saxophone, percussion, and many other musical instruments.
Beginning in 1987, Pain Teens released nine out-of-print cassette tapes and two LPs on their own Anomie Records label. Soon after, they released four LPs for Trance Syndicate Records, an Austin, Texas label run by King Coffey of the band Butthole Surfers. Their eponymous first LP release was re-released by Mason Jones and Charnel Music in 1998.[2]
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[edit] History
In 1985, Houston residents Bliss Blood and Scott Ayers formed The Pain Teens. The group was signed to King Coffey's Trance Syndicate label for their offbeat yet nightmarish psychedelic music -- similar to labelmates Crust and Coffey's band, Butthole Surfers.
Drummer Frank Garymartin and bassist Kirk Carr joined the band in 1990 after the departure of bassist Ralf Armin, who had previously been a member of Culturcide and Really Red. Armin then founded Truth Decay with Frank Garymartin and (later) Scott Ayers.
The Pain Teens broke up in 1995. Blood moved to New York City that year and began playing solo gigs on her ukulele doing 1920's tunes and original music, forming several groups, includingThe Moonlighters in 1998. The Moonlighters have released 4 cds on their own label, ONLIEST Records. Ayers still resides in Houston and has played with a number of other bands since -- including Truth Decay and Walking Timebombs. Garymartin briefly played with Helios Creed and launched a hip-hop act under the name of Hundred.
[edit] Liner notes from Beast of Dreams
Tim Thomson wrote the liner notes of Pain Teens final LP, Beast of Dreams. He is quoted below:
"Time has a way of softening the edges of raw cultural excitement. It's difficult for us to remember now the fervor we felt at the end of the 20th century for finding strange beauty in the harshest of landscapes. We sought peace in the whispers of the dead...we caged ourselves within walls of mechanized death, surrounded by the well-oiled whirr and clack of weaponry both psychic and physical...and we found empowerment for change in the cries of the tortured and abused, and finally, ultimately, in silences...most of all. For it was only in the gulfs between notes could each of us meet that which we truly fear." -- Tim Thomson
[edit] Discography
[edit] Singles
- "Lady Of Flame" (1991, Smilin' Ear)
- "Sacrificial Shack" (1992, C/Z)
- "Death Row Eyes" (1992, Sub Pop)
[edit] Albums
- Pain Teens (1988, Anomie)
- Case Histories (1989, Anomie)
- Born in Blood (1990, Trance Syndicate)
- Stimulation Festival (1992, Trance Syndicate)
- Destroy Me, Lover (1993, Trance Syndicate)
- Beast of Dreams (1995, Trance Syndicate)
[edit] References
- ^ allmusic ((( Pain Teens > Biography )))
- ^ Strong, Martin C.: "The Great Alternative & Indie Discography", 1999, Canongate, ISBN 0-86241-913-1
