S/T

Description

Chickasha, Oklahoma, is not known for producing many original proto-punk bands. To our knowledge, there is only one: Debris'. Formed in 1975 by bassist Chuck Ivey, guitarist Oliver “Rectomo” Powers and drummer Johnny Gregg, the trio created some of the most brutal rock'n'roll in history, since the MX-80 sound. When a local studio offered them a ten-hour package for recording and mixing, as well as pressing 1,000 LPs and two-color sleeves, Debris' arrived well rehearsed, recording their eleven songs in a single take. In April 1976, the same month as the Ramones' debut album, Debris' released their only record. The opening track “One Way Spit” could easily be mistaken for a lost KBD single, from Chuck's bizarre count-off to the band's trash rhythms, unfurling a Dadaist flag around Johnny's visceral vocals. On “Tricia,” a reference to the then-ongoing Patty Hearst trial, Oliver's macabre moans are ironically juxtaposed with a chainsaw. These LSD-tinged tracks are a powerful blend of Beefheart-like controlled chaos and truly strange avant-rock associated with the Cleveland scene of the mid-70s. Enhanced by analog synthesizers and electronic effects, the album sounds like Roxy Music from the Eno era or the Stooges' Fun House, buried deep in Oklahoma red earth. If punk gave rise to a handful of bands that dared to venture to the border between primitive and experimental, the relatively obscure Debris' was one of the first to do so. Debris' had been invited to play in New York at Max's Kansas City and CBGB in 1976, but never left Oklahoma. The private pressing of their self-titled album (also known as Static Disposal, which was in fact the label name printed on the original cover) has since become a collector's item and even appears on the infamous NWW list.