Pud were supposed to be the headliners of the first show I ever put together.
I booked them because months before my friends saw the last show for the Rickets, my favorite Seattle band. My Dad wouldn’t let me go, which sucked. When my friends returned, they told me Pud was better than the Rickets. That was saying something. So I wrote the band, sending along some cash for a demo. What came back was one of my favorite tapes of all time, Pud’s “Breakout” demo. With a cover featuring a convict holding a cop at gunpoint, the tape was full of some of the catchiest lo-fi rock n roll I had ever heard. I had heard bands like the Rip Offs and Teengenerate, but none of them had the melodies that Pud had. Pud was a band that I wanted to sing along with at top volume in the car. Tracks like “Breakout” and “Too Fast For Life” had the same hookiness of the Misfits at their prime.
My band, 5 Second Revolution, couldn’t get a show because we sucked. I mean really bad. We couldn’t even get through “Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue.” But it didn’t matter to me as I just wanted to play shows. My parents said they wouldn’t pay for a hall — I was 14 — but the bands could play in my backyard. I reached out to Pud and they agreed to drive four hours to play.
The band members took two cars to the show — a tiny pickup and a full-size van. The tiny pickup carried the singer Gavin, his then-girlfriend whose name I forgot, and driver Jake Manny to my house in Richland, which is about four hours from Bainbridge Island.
In the van was the rest of the band and some friends tagging along; about 11 people, or so I was told. As they were about to enter Yakima, their van broke down. A tow truck was sent for them from Bainbridge Island.
I had the three over for a while at my house as the van drama played out. I didn’t hang out with them much since one of my neighbors kept complaining to the cops and I had to deal with that. In the little time I did hang out with them, I remember two things:
1. My mom had made a bunch of hot dogs for all the bands (I was 14) and when I offered Gavin one, he told me he was vegetarian.
2. When the cops finally shut down the show and left me feeling like a failure, Jake Manny was nice enough to give me a hug. I appreciated it.
Later, my friend Shawn visited Richland when he was at college, bringing with him a copy of Pud’s “Punk As Krunk.” The cover featured a pen-drawing of the back cover of Rancid’s “Let’s Go,” with the members of Rancid being replaced with the guys from Pud.
The recording was made a few years before the Breakout demo. It memorializes the band at a time when they were still fumbling with their instruments and trying way too hard to be funny. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were 14 when they made it.
Jonathan Culp, who recorded this demo and later joined the band as guitarist, had the demo digitized and re-mixed. It sounds fantastic! Enjoy “I hate Edie Brickell” in all its glory.
