The Curious History of Alaska Punk Rock, Post-Sex Crimes

The sad, oddly heroic, always doomed tale of desperate Alaskans , (part II here) trying to make a punk rock scene in Anchorage from '83 on; in this instance, by punk rock, of course we mean anything at all that was trying something slightly original in small rock combos. This included my own granola-grit band, the Disastronauts, the classic Skate Death, the metal band Hyperthermia, the ubitquitous TS Scream and Hopskotch, and the lone escapees - the Drunk Poets, who left and were marginally successful. In essence, there was one band of each type of 90's music, and everybody shared the same bills, which in some ways, is exactly how it should be. There were O'D's, murders, crossovers with classical musicians and politicians, evaporating clubs struggling to last weeks, a paucity of women, and a lot of overpriced beer.

Imagine hauling a 70lb amp over an ice-encrusted broken stairs in 15 below to practice in a trailer home, convincing your metalhead drummer to knock off the double bass kit, getting ready to play in an ex-steakhouse that just lost its lease and didn't care anymore, all to avoid seeing yet another set of Top 40 covers with $5 Buds, and you get the idea.