One of the bands that I discovered in College Radio was Southern Culture on the Skids. I mean if you have an album named Too Much Pork for Just One Fork, you are going to stand out. The band goes back to 1983 but albums like 1992s For Lovers Only and 1993s Peckin Party EP was putting them on the map. In 1996, they got their major label moment with Geffen’s DGC indie label and although it did not set the world on fire, did gather some attention and musically is probably the best distillation of the band’s sound. The band’s next two albums were able to keep them in the indie spotlight until 2000, and I hate to say it, but I kind of lost track of their band.
But the band didn’t stop and to their credit, as the world shut down for Covid, SCOTS was trying their best to take advantage of the downtime and released a fantastic album - 2001s At Home With… Before Covid, they had been a touring workhorse, yet somehow I never managed to see them When I found they were playing the local 250 capacity venue, attending the show became my number one priority. The opening band was the Surf Zombies. The Cedar Rapids based band are bona fide local legends, and whereas I usually think of that term as diminutive, in this case, they are a fantastic band - as good as any surf band whose only nearby body of water might be the Des Moines River.
Whether the audience were brought in by the opener, or by the surf and rockabilly advertised, it was certainly an older crowd. I am not sure what the typical SCOTS crowd would be, but the fabulous folks in their 50s, 60s and 70s outperform their younger (possibly nu metal listening) peers. Iowa is a weird place. SCOTS has a unique niche. It’s almost impossible to describe them without some comparison to the B-52s and the Cramps. Besides the retro obsession and rockabilly and surf influences, there lies the “white trash” celebration that might fit between John Waters and Mike Judge’s King of the Hill. Or is it satire. Songs like “My House has Wheels” don’t make the answer any clearer. No surprise most may know them from the Rob Zombie curated 1998 album Halloween Hootenany, and the band took a moment during the concert to acknowledge the recent passing of Roger Corman as they performed Zombiefied (not the Alien Sex Fiend) and Goo Goo Muck (the Gaylads song made famous by the Cramps) As much as the music, the band is known for throwing Oatmeal Creme Pies, Fried Chicken and (not today) Banana Pudding into the crowd. Which is as great as it sounds.
Age suits frontman Rick Miller. Now in his late 60s, he really resembles a King of the Hill or Squidbillies character. Bassist Mary Huff may be one of the unheralded female indie musicians of the 90s. She proves a nice counterpoint to Miller and she can sing as if she was born to be a 1950s or 60s country chanteuse. Drummer Dave Hartman is quietly amazing. He doesn’t say much but they moved him so he is pretty much in line of sight with the other two. I suspect that the band’s schtick hasn’t changed over the years, but it’s still hard to beat a group that gets fans onstage to sing about fried chicken and I was so glad I got to see them and definitely recommend them.
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