Total Blog

REUNION ALERT (CODE BROWN): SASSHOLE!

Back in the '80s, err, I mean '90s, man, there was this mystical place called Jay's. From it issued only goodness and positivity, to it came only the most talented. Blahhh blah blah… I’m always concerned with nostalgia clouding my recollection of some of my absolute favorite Missoula bands, especially when we talk about our reunion acts. I saw Sasshole dozens of time, as did a lot of my err, vintage. Often, I guess, like similarly great bands (Humpy, Oblio Joes, Honky Sausage/the Fireballs of Freedom, VTO, Hughes, the Helltones, and the Hedons, etc.) it was more or less waiting for the of town band I wanted to see more. At some point I reached the important understanding that really good bands can and do from this, our very own town. Sometimes it’s easy to equate a band’s foreigness with goodness, or having some special je ne sais quois, and missing the really good stuff that's right in front of you. I imagine it's called something like "xenophilia"... So, anyway, at some point I started to listen to Sasshole on their own merits. They have John Waters style senses of humor, obsessions with: death, murder, stalking, bodily functions, corndogs, shit, blood and are gifted in the art of late-night-full-on debauched partying.

Sasshole started as a four piece, did a handful of lineup changes with dudes like Andy and Justin from Humpy, and settling on Dave (also from Humpy) Goatboy Parsons. During the eight or so years that Sasshole were active, they did what few Montana bands regularly do and regularly left town. They made friends up and down the west coast, toured in a pet-grooming van, and did a couple tours a year before they essentially broke up around 2004 or so, after introducing another fine Montana punk export, Disgruntled Nation, to the west.

From my fan’s vantage point, the last three years of Sasshole were some of my all-out favorites, bar none. The band had grown from a trashy, barely-holding-it-together-but-charmingly-awesome punk band into songwriters who’d found a unique voice and worked hard at forming it into a gritty and dynamic force. Their shows were fun as hell, the band was good, and their melodies were unique and awesome. I always think about L.A. punk like the Germs and X when I have to describe Sasshole to a newcomer, probably doesn’t do justice to the influence the Moo-La-La catalog, or Sacramento '90s scene had on them, but it’s an alright starting point. Total Fest is pleased as-can-be to announce Sasshole! Be sure to listen to the MP3s that are up on sasshole.net and dig around on places like Terminal Boredom message boards to read up on this wild bunch.