Friday, October 10, 2008

The Fuses are Lies

The one positive thing about feeling sorry for oneself is that, when you're a music fan, you'll always have a decent tune to listen to in your headphones... The Fuses were, to me, a band out of time and place during their short-lived Baltimore heyday. Their angular, tense punk rock definitely struck a chord at the turn of the decade. But I don't recall the Fuses ever touring or playing any further afield than New York City. By the end of 2002, they had temporarily split up, with their singer moving overseas to study in England. The drummer had a series of short stays in other local HC outfits, but he was married, and was soon only seen for the occasional Buzzcocks show. The bassist gave banjo lessons. The guitarist altogether disappeared. Stories like these go back to the garage punks of the early 60's. No matter how hard you want to hold on to the glories and joys of your youth, one eventually grows up and moves on, with only a few photos left, and a ringing of the ears.

Are Lies was released by Reptilian Records and looks to be, shockingly enough to me, out-of-print. In 2005, Shit Sandwich released an LP and 7" of newly recorded Fuses material. Does it make you want to jitter? Yeah, it really does. Well worth spending money on, especially when the alternative is watching it drift away with your 401(K).










The Fuses - Are Lies

RIYL: too much amphetamine, the Proletariat, anything on KBD Records.com

3 comments:

tiny_man said...

Hi there. This is Lee from the Fuses, aka the AWOL married drummer. Thanks for the kind words about the band and for posting this material. (My ears are still ringing, incidentally.)

Ape Mummy said...

I like to think of Lee Ashlin as "erstwhile".

tiny_man said...

No way, man. I'm 100% present tense. Existent, even while experiencing purgatory in Northeast Pennsylvania.

Read This One

Post #400: Double Dagger - Ragged Rubble

It took from May to August 2000 to go from 100 to 200 posts. Then I hit 300 posts two days before Christmas 2000. And now I'm here, anot...

People Liked These