Gizmos were a proto-punk band that formed in Bloomington, Indiana

Bloomington, Indiana

Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County in the southern region of the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 80,405 at the 2010 census....

 in 1975. Both leading members, Eddie Flowers and
Rich Coffee would move to Los Angeles in the late 1970s and become
active in the post-punk

Post-punk

Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...

, underground rock scene there. Flowers would
start Crawlspace

Crawlspace

Crawlspace may refer to:* Crawl space, a type of basement in which one cannot stand up* Crawlspace , a 1986 horror/thriller film starring Klaus Kinski* Crawlspace , a 2004 animated short film by Peter Sved...

 with ex-members of the Lazy Cowgirls in 1985,
starting out in a punk rock

Punk rock

Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

 vein but increasingly growing more
experimental as time went on. By the early 1990s Crawlspace's music
was free improvisation inspired by John Cage

John Cage

John Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde...

 and Derek Bailey.
Coffee sang and played in Thee Fourgiven and The Tommyknockers

The Tommyknockers

The Tommyknockers is a 1987 horror novel by Stephen King. While maintaining a horror style, the novel is more of an excursion into the realm of science fiction for King, as the residents of the Maine town of Haven gradually fall under the influence of a mysterious object buried in the woods.In his...

,
influenced by late 1960s pre-punk hard rock

Hard rock

Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...

 bands like the MC5

MC5

The MC5 is an American rock band formed in Lincoln Park, Michigan and originally active from 1964 to 1972. The original band line-up consisted of vocalist Rob Tyner, guitarists Wayne Kramer and Fred "Sonic" Smith, bassist Michael Davis, and drummer Dennis Thompson...

 and The Doors

The Doors

The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger...

 as well as more recent acts like The Cramps

The Cramps

The Cramps were an American rock band, formed in 1976 and active until 2009. The band split after the death of lead singer Lux Interior. Their line-up rotated much over their existence, with the husband and wife duo of Interior and lead guitarist Poison Ivy the only permanent members...

, The Gun Club,
and Billy Childish

Billy Childish

Billy Childish is an English artist, painter, author, poet, photographer, film maker, singer and guitarist...

 The bands of both Coffee and Flowers were
associated with the Sympathy for the Record Industry

Sympathy for the Record Industry

Sympathy for the Record Industry is a mainly independent garage rock and punk label formed in 1988 by record industry anti-mogul Long Gone John...

record label.

External links

• http://web.archive.org/web/20091027050351/http://www.geocities.com/iamrichcoffee/ (Coffee's website)
• http://www.slippytown.com (Flowers' website)