Victim's Family

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Victims Family was a punk band formed in 1984 in Santa Rosa, California by bassist Larry Boothroyd and guitarist and vocalist Ralph Spight. Drummer Devon VrMeer completed the trio. Their sound blended punk, heavy metal and jazz, making them difficult to categorize into a single genre. All Music Guide says, "since its inception, the trio has refused to be pigeonholed to any single musical style — incorporating elements of hardcore punk, jazz, funk, hard rock, and noise into its challenging sound." They were known as one of the most musically diverse bands in the San Francisco, California underground music scene. Over the years, Victims Family went through four drummers and two breakups. Their name was taken by a piece by cartoonist B. Kliban.

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[edit] History

Ralph Spight
Ralph Spight

In 1984, Victims Family played their first show at the Kennilworth Recreation Center in Petaluma, California, where they later opened for Faith No More and Suicidal Tendencies. Summer of '85 the band did their first U.S. tour which they booked themselves by mailing out a cassette demo. They played with NOFX in Albuquerque and challenged Tales of Terror to a drinking contest in Dallas. Also this year they opened for the Dead Kennedys, Descendents and Social Unrest at the Novato Theater, where they first caught the attention of Jello Biafra. In 1986, they opened for the Butthole Surfers and Camper Van Beethoven at Mabuhay Gardens in San Francisco. At this time they recorded their first album, Voltage and Violets, for Ruth Schwartz's Mordam Records, and regularly played The Farm and Club Foot in San Francisco. 1986 was also the year they played a pizza parlor in Oakland with Nomeansno, beginning a long friendship between the two bands. In 1987, they barely completed a tour of the United States and missed their dates in Canada after being banned from that country for one year. Highlights included playing with Capitol Punishment in Fresno and Scratch Acid in Dallas. Things I Hate To Admit was recorded in 1988 at Prairie Sun Studio in Cotati, California. 1988 was also the beginning of their friendship with Primus, whom they would share the stage with many times in the years to follow. 1989 saw an invitation by Konkurrent, a record label in Amsterdam, for a European tour. Devon VrMeer had left the band to pursue a family, so Eric Strand was recruited as drummer. The band embarked on a two month tour of Europe with Snuff from London supporting them. Highlights included helping to break down the Berlin Wall and getting strip searched in Norway. After returning from Europe Eric was replaced by roadie Tim Solyan who would continue to drum for Victims Family throughout the height of their touring days.

Their third album, White Bread Blues, produced by Nomeansno drummer John Wright, followed in 1990 and was received on a much wider critical and commercial scale than before. Around this time, little known acts such as Mr. Bungle and Green Day often opened for Victims Family. Also in 1990 they supported TAD and Nirvana on the Midwest leg of cross country tour. Numerous tours of the US and Europe cemented the group's reputation as an incendiary live act. The Germ, released in 1992, also produced by John Wright was their debut for Alternative Tentacles Records. The band's schedule began to take it's toll, and in '92 they took a hiatus.

Larry Boothroyd
Larry Boothroyd

Ten months later Victims Family reformed in the spring of 1993 to play a sold-out show at San Francisco's Kennel Club. A new album Headache Remedy, was released by Alternative Tentacles in February, 1994. Four Great Thrash Songs, which would be the last album of the classic line up was recorded live in '94 at their final show at Melkweg in Amsterdam, the bands home away from home. Founding members Ralph and Larry also formed the bands Saturn's Flea Collar and Hellworms, both of whom toured the U.S. and Europe and recorded albums for Alternative Tentacles. Following a six year split, Victims Family with new drummer David Gleza of My Name recorded the album Apocalicious in 2001. The band continued to tour relentlessly, including two trips to Texas for SXSW, and two more tours of Europe, causing the band to lose another member to tour fatigue. This time Spight and Boothroyd decided not to look for another drummer.

On December 11th and 12th, 2004, Victim's Family reunited, with Tim Solyan back on drums, in Petaluma California at the Phoenix Theatre, and in San Francisco at the Bottom of the Hill, to celebrate their 20th anniversary with all their different incarnations, including The Freak Accident (Spight's solo project), and Meowmeow and the Meowmeows (Boothroyd's new band). Also included at this time was a Saturn's Flea Collar 10th anniversary reunion and a Hellworms reunion. This sparked subsequent shows with both Hellworms and Victims Family. In 2006, Boothroyd began playing with the bay area band that would come to be known as Triclops! and began touring and releasing records with them. The Freak Accident released an LP on Alternative Tentacles and toured Europe with Nomeansno. Triclops! released their full length debut album "Out of Africa" on Alternative Tentacles March 2008.

[edit] Line-up

  • Ralph Spight—Guitar, Vocals
  • Larry Boothroyd-Bass
  • Devon VrMeer,Tim Solyan,Eric Strand,David Gleza-Drums

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

[edit] Singles and compilations

[edit] External links

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