Trotsky Icepick | Poison Summer Records | Danny and the Doorknobs
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Vitus Matare was stuck. The self-effacing keyboardist and co-leader of the distinctly SoCal pop/punk quintet THE LAST was feeling that his creative voice wasn’t being heard in the band. He had produced the group’s early trio of singles, one of which, the legitimately classic “She Don’t Know Why I’m Here” had earned the band a contract for a long-player on BOMP! RECORDS. Produced by founding HAWKWIND bassist John Harrison while moonlighting from his engineering duties with FLEETWOD MAC and FRANK ZAPPA, the album, “LA Explosion,” had been promoted with an honest-to-God billboard on the Sunset Strip.
The album didn’t yield any major-label action, but a follow-up was recorded, then shelved, followed by a third record which ended up released only in France. Needing a more personal outlet, Vitus revved up his trusty/falling apart four-track Dokorder reel-to-reel, which had earlier been deployed on THE LAST’s singles (as well as the debut URINALS EP.) With THE LAST’s John Frank on drums, the peculiar, fuzzy-ambient pop tune “Melody” was recorded under the band name DANNY AND THE DOORKNOBS, and came into the world on the URINALS’ 7” compilation THE HAPPY SQUID SAMPLER.
And that was the start of TROTSKY ICEPICK.
With the addition of guitarist/songwriter Kjehl Johansen, then late of LA art-punk minimalists URINALS aka 100 FLOWERS, a sturdy partnership was established that took the band in its first incarnation through a name-change, seven albums and a single, an arrangement with SST Records, a minor college radio hit in “Bury Manilow”, several West Coast jaunts, and two national tours. They appeared on bills with, among others, CRACKER, fIREHOSE, VOLCANO SUNS, MEAT PUPPETS, SEBADOH, and GIANT SAND.
Band members came and went, but Vitus and Kjehl were the constants, until the songwriting duo/performing quartet became a songwriting trio/performing quintet with the recruitment of ex-URINALS/100 FLOWERS singer John Talley-Jones, who debuted on album number 4, “El Kabong.”
After a grueling 1993 US tour, the band called it quits, with Matare pursuing architecture and Johansen working on solo material. The seasons came and went, soft-focus calendar pages were rent by the winds of time, weddings were thrown and children were raised, and then the time felt right for a renewed creative partnership.
Johansen and Talley-Jones, long-estranged, reconnected and began to talk about re-animating the band. Matare was game, original drummer John Frank and ex-LEAVING TRAINS bassist Tom Hofer enlisted, and fresh material was written for the new century. In 2019, former-bassist John Rosewall rejoined as guitarist.
As of now, TROTSKY ICEPICK has recorded a new single, album, and EP, with the promise of more to come. It has been playing regularly in the LA area, sharing bills with such contemporary luminaries as TRAPS PS, SHARK TOYS, the perennial MEAT PUPPETS, PLASTICSOUL, MIKE WATT, BIKOS, THE LAST, FRANKLIN BRUNO, THE MOLOCHS and THE DIME BOX BAND. In addition, the reanimated DANNY AND THE DOORKNOBS, under Vitus’s direction, has been actively recording new material.
“…ear-grabbing guitar riffs that contrast … beautifully with the often dark tone of their lyrics.” — Mike Shanley, blurtonline.com
“…their Wire / early Mekons / Gang of Four / Scars-ish harsh, eccentric pop never runs out of new places to explore.” — Jack Rabid, www.fye.com
“...(a) blend of fascinating lyrics and intricately textured catchy guitar rock.” — Ira Robbins / Brian Ellis, trouserpress.com
- P E R S O N N E L -
John Frank (drums)
Tom Hofer (bass)
Kjehl Johansen (guitar)
Vitus Matare (guitar, vocals, organ)
John Rosewall (guitar)
John Talley-Jones (vocals)
(past members)
Hunter Crowley (drums)
Jason Kahn (drums)
John 'Skippy' Glogovac (drums)
Jamie Lennon (keyboards)
Mike Patton (bass, vocals)
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