Кримшрайн: История американской панк-группы

American punk rock band

Crimpshrine was an American punk rock band from Berkeley, California. The group was formed in 1982 by Aaron Cometbus, founder of the seminal punk rock zine Cometbus, and future Operation Ivy vocalist Jesse Michaels. They grew out of the East Bay scene, centered on 924 Gilman Street, and had an important influence on later East Bay bands such as Operation Ivy, Green Day and punk rock in general.

Crimpshrine originally formed in 1982 under the name S. A. G. with Aaron Cometbus playing guitar and Jesse Michaels (later of Operation Ivy) on vocals, both 13 years old. Michaels initially attempted to play guitar, but "didn't know any chords, so I played with my thumb." According to Cometbus, the band had a "serious lack of equipment" during this time, as they had one drum and only 3 strings on the guitar, In February 1987, the group recorded their first demo tape at 924 Gilman Street, which received enough circulation that Maximumrocknroll asked the band to record songs for the magazine's upcoming compilation Turn It Around!, to which the band agreed and recorded "Another Day" and "Rearranged" in August. Although the recordings were turned down by Lookout, the band added tracks from previous sessions and released Lame Gig Contest in Germany on the label Musical Tragedies. Crimpshrine then embarked on their only United States tour in September 1988. The tour was a contentious one, with Idon Bryant and Pete Rypins abruptly leaving the band in Gainesville, Florida and heading home. Stuck in Florida without a bassist, friends Ben Weasel and John Jughead of Screeching Weasel drove out from Chicago to help them out and the former played bass with the band for two shows. A bit later when Screeching Weasel was without a drummer, Cometbus played drums with them for two shows around Chicago. Paul Curran was then courted to join Crimpshrine on bass, so he and his brother Jack drove out in a Ford Pinto and finished the tour with the band. After the tour in January 1989, they went to Dancing Dog Studios again and recorded what would end up being their final release, the Quit Talkin' Claude EP.

The group broke up in May 1989 shortly after the release of the Quit Talkin' Claude EP. Cometbus went on to perform in Pinhead Gunpowder among many other bands, Ott went on to front Fifteen, Curran joined Monsula and Rypins became the bassist for Tilt and later The Tantrums. In recent years, the band has been regarded as influential by many of their peers, including Operation Ivy, Green Day, Jawbreaker, Screeching Weasel and Less Than Jake, among others. A tribute album to both Crimpshrine and Fifteen, called Can You Spare a Dime?, was released in 1998 by Microcosm Publishing. Crimpshrine is featured in the 2017 documentary Turn It Around: The Story of East Bay Punk. Although closely associated with the Gilman Street Project, Cometbus was quick to note in a 1988 interview with Flipside magazine that they were not a direct product of Gilman, having been established as a band years before the launch of the club. "We helped them as much as they helped us because we are a part of it just as much," Cometbus said.