THE SMITTEN LOVE SONG COMP. Various Artists 1994

 

Discogs

 

compilation on the Karate Brand Records label

Tracklist

  1. Jawbreaker Housesitter
  2. Slug Choker
  3. Engine Kid Insulate
  4. Big Damn Crazy Weight Teenager Went
  5. Godheadsilo Spoon
  6. Lifelikeweeds The House Is In Between The Porch And The Barbeque On Mouth Speed
  7. Johnboy 10w40
  8. Cherubs I Want Candy
  9. Steel Pole Bath Tub The Seventh Hour Of The Seventh Day
10. Distorted Pony Insatiable Times
11. Grifters Look What You've Done To Me Now
12. Unwound New Radio Hit
13. Beekeeper Sore Fingers
14. Soul-Junk Cathleen

 

VIRUS 100 Various Artists 1992

 

Discogs

 

Tribute to the Dead Kennedys on the Alternative Tentacles record label

 
Tracklist

1	–Didjits	Police Truck	2:18
2	–Evan Johns & His H-Bombs*	Too Drunk To Fuck	3:38
3	–Alice Donut	Halloween	5:11
4	–Faith No More	Let's Lynch The Landlord	2:53
5	–Napalm Death	Nazi Punks Fuck Off	1:21
6	–Nomeansno	Forward To Death	1:12
7	–Steel Pole Bath Tub	Chemical Warfare	3:31
8	–Neurosis	Saturday Night Holocaust	6:51
9	–Les Thugs	Moon Over Marin	5:28
10	–Victims Family	Ill In The Head	2:41
11	–Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy*	California Uber Alles	4:47
12	–Mojo Nixon & The Toadliquors	Winnebago Warrior	3:29
13	–Sepultura	Drug Me	1:49
14	–Kramer (2)	Insight	3:06
15	–L7	Let's Lynch The Landlord	2:01
16	–Sister Double Happiness	Holiday In Cambodia	4:16

STEEL POLE BATH TUB The Miracle of Sound in Motion 1993

Discogs

Artist Biography by Steve Huey

Enigmatic noise rock trio Steel Pole Bath Tub crafted a grungy, droning, offbeat sound from a palette of fuzzed-out bass riffs, blasts of guitar feedback, and tape loops, plus a raft of alternately kitschy and disturbing dialogue samples from vintage TV shows and movies. Additionally, the band had a penchant for deconstructive covers of rock classics, some of which appeared only on 7" singles. Critics were split on the effectiveness of their often repetitive compositions, with some praising their originality and others bemoaning a lack of consistent songwriting polish. A highly unlikely bet for commercial success, Steel Pole Bath Tub nonetheless managed to score a major-label contract (albeit briefly) during the alternative rock feeding frenzy of the mid-'90s.
Steel Pole Bath Tub was founded in Bozeman, MT, in 1986 by guitarist/vocalist Mike Morasky and bassist/vocalist Dale Flattum. After moving to Seattle, they joined up with drummer Darren Mor-X (born Darren Morey), a veteran of the local early-'80s hardcore band Mr. Epp (which featured future members of Green River and Mudhoney). Taking their name from a feature in a true-crime magazine (a Clue-type combination of murder weapon and location), the trio relocated once again, this time to San Francisco.

Steel Pole Bath Tub landed a deal with the Bay Area indie label Boner, which was also home to the Melvins in their pre-Atlantic days. The band's debut album, Butterfly Love, appeared in 1989, and was followed in 1990 by the Lurch EP (both were later combined on a CD issue). These early releases established the band's fascination with pop-culture references and TV dialogue snippets, and led to several Bay Area side projects: Morasky teamed with Boner label head Tom Flynn in Duh (aka Death's Ugly Head), and the whole group worked with Jello Biafra under the name Tumor Circus.

Fans and critics tended to agree that Steel Pole Bath Tub really began to hit their stride on 1991's Tulip and its follow-up, 1993's The Miracle of Sound in Motion. During the same period, Morasky and Flattum teamed up (under the aliases C.C. Nova and Bumblebee) in an electronics-oriented side project called Milk Cult, which gave their interest in sampling a whole new outlet. 1994 brought a new Steel Pole Bath Tub EP, Some Cocktail Suggestions, which would prove to be their final work for Boner. Slash Records -- at the time a subsidiary of Warner, though they would shortly switch affiliations to London -- offered the band a major-label contract, perhaps swayed by similar jumps from Steel Pole influences the Butthole Surfers and labelmates the Melvins.

Steel Pole Bath Tub's major-label debut, Scars From Falling Down, was released in 1995. Due to copyright concerns, their trademark dialogue samples had to be held in check, which placed more focus on the band's music itself. In 1996, they set about recording a follow-up, initially hoping to cover the Cars' debut album in its entirety. Slash, unimpressed with the postmodern prank and the demos of new material that accompanied three Cars covers, promptly dropped the band from its roster. Caught in limbo, Steel Pole Bath Tub gradually drifted into oblivion. The bandmembers remained active, though -- in 1997, Milk Cult received a grant from the French government to join an artists' collective in Marseilles, where they recorded an album that would be released in 2000 as Project M-13. Morasky subsequently went to New Zealand as a special effects technician on Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy, while Flattum retired to North Carolina to pursue the visual arts while working for a software company. Morasky (now calling himself Agent Nova) and Mor-X reunited as Novex in 2002, pursuing a style similar to Milk Cult on their debut, Kleptophonica. Meanwhile, Steel Pole Bath Tub finally recovered the rights to their lost major-label follow-up, and issued the material in 2002 on the 0 to 1 label as Unlistenable (the title a quote from Slash executives' response to the tapes). The group briefly reunited that year to perform at the Beyond the Pale festival. 

 Tracklist 

1	Pseudoephedrine Hydrochloride	5:26
2	Train To Miami	4:46
3	Exhale	4:09
4	Thumbnail	4:48
5	Down All The Days	3:43
6	Carbon	3:59
7	Bozeman	2:57
8	Borstal	4:42
9	594	4:06
10	Waxl	2:58

DUH Blowhard 1991

 Discogs

Review by Ned Raggett 

It has to be said, it's a wonderfully funny/dumb band name, and having the painting of a moron or something similar on the front cover beneath the big red letters of said name is deeply, wrongly entertaining. But is the album any good? Constructed from folks in the Boner/Steel Pole Bathtub orbit, including veterans from groups like Star Pimp, Blowhard is somewhere between a put-on and seriously rocking out, and it's not too clear where the boundaries are. With lead vocals from one El Bobo, the quartet kicks up a rough, aggressively produced stink; while the result isn't exactly Steel Pole Bathtub redux, it's clear that the connections had an impact. Guitars and bass both show the expected in-your-face, heavily produced crunch from said band, artily aggressive and all the better for it. Where things get a little goofy is in the lyrics; though they're hardly needed to enjoy the music on its own terms, a quick review of the various chants and screams in the CD insert indicates a deep San Francisco area in-joke at play. Sure, some things like Jello Biafra's name listed for no particular reason seem more like they're there than anything else, but then there are tracks like "The Second Coming of Mike." Winners from this one include the chorus "I've got it all/My legacy: Maximum Rock and Roll," referring to the punker-than-thou Berkeley indie fanzine of note (though its founder and editor was Tim Yohannon). Not that everything is quite so directly sharp, but even the more cryptic lyrics read a bit like intentional parodies of something else -- whether it's the band making fun of itself or with someone in mind is admittedly unclear. Even if the targets are fictional, though, the nuclear body slams that appear in "Mr. Mud" and "Spaghetti and Red Wine" are a hoot. 

Tracklist 

1	Spaghetti And Red Wine
2	Transformer
3	Solo Hanneman
4	The Second Coming Of Mike
5	Tugboat Anchor
6	Hex
7	Mr. Mud
8	Hot Day For The Ice Cream Man
9	Brick Catcher
10	Solo King
11	Dim Bulb
12	Wiley Coyote
13	And She Said

STEEL POLE BATH TUB Scars from Falling Down 1995

by request

Discogs

 

Steel Pole Bath Tub was an American rock band, born in 1986 in Bozeman, Montana by Mike Morasky (guitar/vocals) and Dale Flattum (bass/vocals).They moved the band to Seattle, Washington where Darren Mor-X (drums) joined the band, before they all moved to San Francisco, California. The Band had a noise style with contribution of tv samples. They move in wide scene that include also influences from grunge, punk and art music.

 

Tracklist 

1		The 500 Club	4:59
2		Population 2	3:23
3		Home Is A Rope	3:44
4		The Conversation	5:30
5		Twist	5:50
6		Every Thing	3:42
7		3 Of Cups	3:49
8		Four Barrels	1:23
9		Decline	3:49
10		Kansas City	5:03
11		Friday	6:57