ESL - Bellevue Mental Hospital
ESL - Come Home
Tales from the Birdbath - Baron Von Birdbath
Sicko- Indie Rock Daydream

Sicko played their final show in Seattle, Summer of 1998. It was the same Summer my grandfather passed away. And while that might seem like a harsh segue, I opted to stay in Southern California for funeral services rather than join my friends on their pilgrimage north to see Sicko's last show. Of course, I heard all about it and Dave even wrote a song for our band ESL immortalizing the experience. (I even got to do my best Ean impression/tribute on the backing vocals.)

But my memories of Washington are much more complex and almost bipolar... and of course they too involve Sicko. When ESL 'toured' up the West Coast we had a nice long stay in Olympia that culminated with a show not far in Bellevue. Our tour was totally D.I.Y. which meant we were booked at an all-ages Boys and Girls club. But it also meant that we were responsible for setting it up in advance. As a shot in the dark, Dave suggested we ask Ean's new band, Tales from the Birdbath, to play with us. After informing us that Birdbath didn't quite have the same following as Sicko (read: no one will come), Ean agreed to play the show.

Similarly to Sicko getting to record their debut seven-inch with Kurt Block, playing with Ean, even if it wasn't with Sicko, was like a dream come true. And even though nobody came except for two kids and the guy whose house we were staying at in Olympia, I can still remember knowing that I was playing for Ean. That dude from Sicko was listening to my band. I was so far from home yet I felt so at ease and so 'successful.' It's hard to sum it all up.

But as we were packing up our gear something happened. The best I can piece together is that Matt, our drummer for the tour, called Dave's mom a 'fat, Catholic bitch,' and the next thing I knew Matt was chasing Dave down the streets of Bellevue pleading, "Just talk to me." And Dave was insistent that he'd just kick Matt's ass if he didn't just give him some space. End result: Matt was at the SeaTac Airport in a matter of hours and our at-home drummer was on the Greyhound bound for Vegas, our next stop.

I can't remember being as elated and fulfilled as I was playing for/with Ean. I can't remember ever being as angry and full of rage as when I saw the whole thing seem to fall apart.

Of course Dave wrote a song about that night too. There's some geographical inconsistency but I think Dave says "Seattle" just because Bellevue was too obscure. I'm pretty sure that I came up with the title for the song because I honestly believed that Bellevue Mental Hospital was in the town we played. (I can still remember when Dr. Kinsman informed me that Bellevue was actually in New York...but whatever, that makes it a more clever play on words.)

So I've posted 'Bellevue Mental Hospital' so you can get Dave's take on the whole situation with a bit of salt. While it's not my favorite song that we ever recorded, I'm glad that there is a documentation of the event beyond my own memory. (And I still like my Buggles-esque backing vocals.)

I've also posted 'Come Home' from ESL's seven-inch, M.I.O.K., because I think it shows best how much ESL was indebted to Sicko. I'm not sure if any of my songs sound anything like Sicko, but Dave certainly had an affinity for those jangle-y guitars and big hooks. It's not a pure tribute; there's a heavy serving of Orange County punk in the mix and it's a lot faster. But I still think you can hear it. This actually is one of my favorite ESL songs and curiously enough Dave wrote it about someone he and I both ended up dating. (And having our hearts broken by... Dr. Kinsman's daughter actually.)

You lucky readers also get the opportunity to download 'Olympia' by Tales from the Birdbath. You can definitely hear the end result of the Sicko trajectory in Birdbath. It's a stripped-down pop song with a winking sense of humor. My favorite lines are "It's a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to stay / O-L-Y-M-P-A / That's Olympa. Olympa!" Birdbath played 'Olympia' that night and it was just perfect. Our host even apologized afterwards for booing when the song was introduced. "I live there though," Ben said. Ean replied calmly from under his sweat-drenched t-shirt labeled "" on front and "" on the back, "No, that's exactly what someone from Olympia is supposed to do." Even if you've never been to Olympia you can get a kick out a sugary-sweet pop song glorifying the K and Kill Rock Stars uber-hipsters up north. (Though I did actually see Sun Moon's little brother working at the local record store.) And if you did go to Evergreen (or ever dreamed of it) then you can get a knowing laugh about going "to a college where you don't get grades."

And to sum it all up, to bring this three-day thread to a close, is Ean's beautifully written 'Indie Rock Daydream' from Sicko's final album, You're not the Boss of Me. As if knowing the end was imminent, Ean pens a touching rendering of the experiences of playing with Sicko, encapsulating their entire career in under two minutes. It's the details that make it: playing at the YMCA, pretty girls leaving with someone else, and sleeping on the floors of the world. It's not the same story as Motley Crue or even Black Flag but it's the story of countless bands in the D.I.Y. culture. And soon enough, this will all be gone.

(Buy Sicko You're Not the Boss of Me from Amazon.)

(Buy Tales from the Birdbath Baron Von Birdbath from Amazon.)

(Buy ESL Horseshoes and Handgrenades from me, bitches)