Folks Y'oughtta Know: Sam Mcpheeters

About fifteen years ago, a friend turned me on to Born Against, and it was one of those moments where you discover exactly what you have spent the great majority of your time looking for.  Born Against was crusty and mean, while retaining a sense of humor and ripping riffs that were infectious, powerful and unique.  The lyrics were actually smart and insightful.  Born Against's brand of punk rock would become the standard for me, even to this day.  Sam Mcpheeters was the voice of Born Against.  In the early 90's he started Vermiform Records, I still buy anything I can find on the Vermiform label, and am rarely disappointed by what I get.  In '94, I came across a cd by the band "Mens Recovery Project", featuring none other than my man Sam.  MRP was to the synth/noise genre what Born Against was to punk.  It was kind of in the genre, but way more than that.  It was weird, funny, scary, timeless.  Later still, Mcpheeters came out with his spazzy-rock band "Wrangler Brutes".  I recently bought their album Zulu for the second time.  Again, ahead of it's time, Zulu is raw and real. Sam is also a fantastic artist and writer, he has written pieces for Huffington Post, the Village Voice, and Vice, and has recently finished his novel "The Loom of Ruin".  I think Sam is a great American, and should be a household name. Somehow, Sam's writings and artwork perfectly encapsulate mankind's tendency to be, and to remain completely, hilariously, and frighteningly absurd.  Check out the jams: