Those Bastard Souls
Encyclopedia
Side band
An independent rock band formed in 1995 as a solo side project by David Shouse of The Grifters. The name, somewhat of a nod to These Immortal SoulsThese Immortal Souls
These Immortal Souls was an Australian post-punk band based in Europe and active through the late 1980s and early 1990s.The band consisted of Rowland S. Howard , Genevieve McGuckin , Epic Soundtracks and Harry Howard...
, was one that David Shouse coined as a replacement for A Band Called Bud, the original name of the Grifters. Shouse liked the name and held onto it, imagining a rotating roster of transient "bastard musicians" that would comprise a musical project that he might lead sometime in the future.
While recording the Grifters' first album for Sub Pop
Sub Pop
Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman in Seattle, Washington. Sub Pop achieved fame in the late 1980s for first signing Nirvana, Soundgarden, Mudhoney and many other bands from the Seattle music scene...
, Ain't My Lookout
Ain't My Lookout
Ain't My Lookout is the fourth full-length album by Memphis indie rock band The Grifters, and their first for Sub Pop Records. While Sub Pop released the Compact Disc, the Grifters remained true to their old home, Shangri-La Records, which was able to receive the licensing for the vinyl release...
, Shouse was approached by someone from Darla Records
Darla Records
Darla Records is an independent record label founded by James Agren while he was in New York. Darla Record's first release was a 7-inch by Grifters, an indie rock/lo-fi band from Memphis.- Background :...
with some DAT tapes and told that they would put out a solo album for him if he were interested. While the recording of "Ain't My Lookout" was pleasurable, Shouse, the eldest Grifter by almost a decade, was finding himself increasingly frustrated with the lyrics that he wrote for that band; finding them too abstract and not personal enough for where he found himself personally. Under the Those Bastard Souls moniker he felt that he had a place for his more direct, personal material.
20th Century Chemical
1996's Twentieth Century Chemical was recorded with his friends at Easley McCain RecordingEasley McCain Recording
Easley McCain Recording is an American recording studio, based in Memphis, Tennessee, notable for recording musicians such as Tav Falco's Panther Burns, Grifters, Pavement, Sonic Youth, Come, White Stripes, Townes Van Zandt, Pezz, Jeff Buckley, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Guided by Voices, Lydia...
, Doug Easley, Davis McCain and engineer Stuart Sikes. Grifters drummer Stanley Gallimore also contributed on some tracks, including a 'sequel' to the Grifters song "Subterranean Death Ride Blues", titled "Subterranean Death Ride Blues, Pt.2" The album's liner notes are cryptic and minimalist: no personnel is given; along with Easley McCain, five European studios are listed; and David Shouse is credited under the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
"Will David".
Tour
Those Bastard Souls were offered the opening slot for SebadohSebadoh
Sebadoh is an American indie rock band, formed in 1986 in Westfield, Massachusetts by Eric Gaffney and Dinosaur Jr bass player Lou Barlow. Along with such bands as Pavement and Guided by Voices, Sebadoh helped pioneer lo-fi music, a style of indie rock characterized by low-fidelity recording...
's 1997 tour and Shouse and Red Red Meat
Red Red Meat
Red Red Meat was a '90s Chicago-area blues-influenced alternative rock band. After their break-up, frontman Tim Rutili went on to form Califone, for which many of Red Red Meat's former members, including producer Brian Deck, often record and perform...
's Matt Fields pulled together a band composed of Trenchmouth
Trenchmouth
Trenchmouth was a Chicago-based post-hardcore band. Throughout its existence, the band consisted of Damon Locks , Chris DeZutter , Wayne Montana , and Fred Armisen on drums. Their third LP, Trenchmouth vs. The Light of the Sun, was released on East West Records, a division of Elektra Records...
drummer and future Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
star Fred Armisen
Fred Armisen
Fred Armisen is an American actor, comedian and musician best known for his work as a cast member on Saturday Night Live, and portraying off-color foreigners in various comedy films such as EuroTrip, Anchorman and Cop Out...
, and longtime friends Joan Wasser
Joan Wasser
Joan Wasser is a violinist and singer/songwriter in the indie rock world. She began her career playing violin with the Dambuilders. She has released three albums as a singer songwriter, the 2006 Real Life the 2008 To Survive and the 2011 The Deep Field...
of the Dambuilders
Dambuilders
-History:The Dambuilders was a band in the early 1990s Boston rock scene. The founding members - Dave Derby, Tryan George and Eric Masunaga - hail from Hawaii and had played in a number of bands before moving to Boston in 1990. The band began as the Dambuilders in Hawaii in a three-piece and...
, Steven Golub, and The Flaming Lips
The Flaming Lips
The Flaming Lips are an American alternative rock band, formed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in 1983.Melodically, their sound contains lush, multi-layered, psychedelic rock arrangements, but lyrically their compositions show elements of space rock, including unusual song and album titles—such as "What...
' multi-instrumentalist and drummer, Steven Drozd
Steven Drozd
Steven Gregory Drozd is an American musician. He is a multi-instrumentalist and lead guitarist for The Flaming Lips.-Early life:...
.
Debt & Departure
Following the tragic May 29, 1997 drowning of Jeff BuckleyJeff Buckley
Jeffrey Scott "Jeff" Buckley , raised as Scotty Moorhead, was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He was the son of Tim Buckley, also a musician...
, who was both a friend of Shouse's and Wasser's lover, Those Bastard Souls diverged from the "bastard musician" concept, and entered the studio as a proper band. To record Debt & Departure Shouse, Wasser and Fields were joined by Jeff Buckley guitarist Michael Tighe
Michael Tighe
Michael Tighe is an American singer/songwriter, guitarist, and actor.-Biography:As a teenager, Tighe was in many New York Downtown theater productions in the 1990s, where he met Jeff Buckley. Though having had no experience, he was drafted into Buckley's band, with which he toured until the...
and Dambuilders drummer Kevin March. The album, released in 1999, saw the band retreading a full third of the debut album and also included a piano ballad version of "Spaced Out", a song that appeared less than a year earlier on the Grifters' Full Blown Possession
Full Blown Possession
Full Blown Possession is the fifth full-length album by Memphis indie rock band The Grifters.-Track listing:#"Re-Entry Blues" – 3:56 #"Fireflies" – 4:18 #"Spaced Out" – 4:52...
. Though the Grifters would occasionally play shows together again in the future, the recording of Debt & Departure and the touring that followed effectively placed the band on permanent hiatus.
Bloodthirsty Lovers
Those Bastard Souls seems to have been abandoned by 2001 as that year saw yet another direction for Shouse, as he began recording new solo material on synthesizers and keyboards in his attic as Bloodthirsty Lovers, named for another track from the Grifters' Full Blown Possession. After a self-produced, self-titled album on French Kiss Records, Shouse would record again with Kevin March, this time joining forces with Big Ass TruckBig Ass Truck
Big Ass Truck is an American rock band from Memphis, Tennessee which incorporated elements of hip-hop, rock, funk and psychedelia in their music. The band included a DJ spinning records, that provided beats, loops, and samples during recordings and live performances...
's Steve Selvidge. 2003 would see the trio touring with The Flaming Lips
The Flaming Lips
The Flaming Lips are an American alternative rock band, formed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in 1983.Melodically, their sound contains lush, multi-layered, psychedelic rock arrangements, but lyrically their compositions show elements of space rock, including unusual song and album titles—such as "What...
, as well as playing opening slots for Modest Mouse
Modest Mouse
Modest Mouse is an American indie rock band formed in 1993 in Issaquah, Washington, by singer/lyricist/guitarist Isaac Brock, drummer Jeremiah Green, and bassist Eric Judy. They are based in Portland, Oregon. Since their 1996 debut album, This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think...
and Guided by Voices
Guided by Voices
Guided by Voices is an American indie rock band originating from Dayton, Ohio. Beginning with the band's formation in 1983, it made frequent personnel changes but always maintained the presence of principal songwriter Robert Pollard...
(which March would later join). The Delicate Seam EP would be released the following year.
The Members
Dave Shouse : vocals, guitar, piano, keyboard, songwriterJoan Wasser
Joan Wasser
Joan Wasser is a violinist and singer/songwriter in the indie rock world. She began her career playing violin with the Dambuilders. She has released three albums as a singer songwriter, the 2006 Real Life the 2008 To Survive and the 2011 The Deep Field...
: violin, vocals
Matt Fields : bass, piano, vocals
Michael Tighe
Michael Tighe
Michael Tighe is an American singer/songwriter, guitarist, and actor.-Biography:As a teenager, Tighe was in many New York Downtown theater productions in the 1990s, where he met Jeff Buckley. Though having had no experience, he was drafted into Buckley's band, with which he toured until the...
: guitars
Kevin March
Kevin March
Kevin P. March is an American business executive, and currently Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice-President of technology manufacturing giant, Texas Instruments.-Education:...
: drums, percussion
Recording And Tour Members
Doug Easley : various instrumentsDavis McCain : various instruments
Stan Gallimore : drums
Steven Drozd
Steven Drozd
Steven Gregory Drozd is an American musician. He is a multi-instrumentalist and lead guitarist for The Flaming Lips.-Early life:...
: drums, horns, keyboards, guitars
Fred Armisen
Fred Armisen
Fred Armisen is an American actor, comedian and musician best known for his work as a cast member on Saturday Night Live, and portraying off-color foreigners in various comedy films such as EuroTrip, Anchorman and Cop Out...
: drums
Steven Golub : saxophone, gobolobophone, tapes, percussion
Discography
- Twentieth Century Chemical, (Darla RecordsDarla RecordsDarla Records is an independent record label founded by James Agren while he was in New York. Darla Record's first release was a 7-inch by Grifters, an indie rock/lo-fi band from Memphis.- Background :...
1996)
- Debt and Departure (V2 RecordsV2 RecordsV2 Records is a record label that is owned by Universal Music Group as of October 2007. The label was founded in 1996 by Richard Branson, five years after he sold Virgin Records to EMI....
, 1999)