USS Horsewhip were an amazing band from Bellingham. After high school, a lot of my friends moved to Bellingham to go to Western (Washinton University). One of the guys I know started hosting shows at the house he and a few others were renting.He had always had a great taste in music so, one weekend, a small group of us went up to see one of the shows. I have to admit that, initially, I was pretty unimpressed with the bands playing in living room, it was the same uninspired, boring indie stuff I usually avoid like the plague, so I went upstairs to smoke some weed (this is Bellingham I'm talking about, after all - not only is it a college town but it's also like an hour's drive from Vancouver BC). I was probably up there smoking for over an hour when, after a lull in the noise coming from below, this incredible roar tore through the house - the floors started throbbing & the windows began to shake like a Parkinson's patient. I set the bong down & descended the stairs to investigate this furious assault on my senses & ended up walking into the beginning of a set by USS Horsewhip. I stood, transfixed & totally loving every minute of it. At the time, I really hadn't listened to a lot of the local stuff I'd grown up loving for a couple years (Botch, Blood Brothers, Karp, etc..). I was preoccupied with my newfound love for funk, soul, reggae & r&b - but something about the Horsewhip grabbed me by the balls & reconnected me with a type of music I thought I was over & I've been grateful for that every day since.
If you dig these guys, you should check out the bands they formed afterwards:
Police Teeth &
Black Breath. Both bands are on myspace & at least one of them still have USS Horsewhip records available for sale.
Today's download is the ep:
USS Horsewhip vs the Kids
The Prom haven't made a peep in quite a few years so it's pretty safe to assume that they are no longer active. Their first record, had a bit more of a synth-pop/indie feel to it, the album was called 'In This Way They Found Me' and was released in 2000 on Portland-based Panther Fact Records. Their second record, 'Under the Same Stars' was a much more ballad filled, piano-driven affair. It came out in 2002 on Barsuk records.
