Bitch Magnet...

The Chapel Hill based Bitch Magnet had a pretty good four or so year run in the late eighties, capping off their time together with the excellent album Ben Hur in 1990. The band featured singer/bassist Sooyoung Park, whom most know from his later and more prominent band the excellent Seam. The band released their first EP in 1988 titled Star Booty with a lineup that included Park, Jon Fine (guitar), and Orestes Morfin (drums). The Steve Albini recorded EP got them some attention, however still showed them trying to sort of gather their footing as a band. Star Booty did however layout the foundations of what the band would be known for, and that was a loud brand of post-hardcore/punk laced with plenty of distortion. For the bands second release Umber, they added second guitarist David Galt to the mix and it proved to payoff for the band as Umber sounds full and contains the extra bit of power that the band was sort of missing for Star Booty. I’m not slagging Star Booty either just for the record; it’s still pretty good which says plenty about how great this band was. Both Star Booty and Umber would later be released on one CD in 1995 I think.

Joining the fold not long after the release of Umber was ex-Squirrel Bait and then current Bastro member David Grubbs, who replaced David Galt on guitar just in time for the bands EP Valmead featuring slowcore pioneers Codeine on it as well. Their previous release Umber, along with being a pretty solid album, also served as a decent bridge into what would be in my opinion the bands finest work, Ben Hur. The album, which would be the bands last, was released in 1990 through Communion Records. It featured Bitch Magnet at their absolute best, showing off the excellent guitar work provided by Fine and Grubbs along with the amazing drumming of Morfin. Ben Hur may be one of my favorite records to listen to just for the drums alone, it’s definitely a treat. The actual songs were a bit of an expansive take on some of the things that were featured on Umber, there is a hint of moodiness however plenty of rocking and scorching feedback. The Grubbs and Squirrel Bait connection inevitably landed them some comparisons to Slint, which I suppose I can see at times but for the most part doesn’t really fit them.

Umber & Star Booty:
Bitch Magnet – Navajo Ace [MP3]
Bitch Magnet – Joyless Street [MP3]
Bitch Magnet – Carnation [MP3]

Ben Hur:
Bitch Magnet – Dragoon [MP3]
Bitch Magnet – Lookin’ at the Devil [MP3]

After the breakup, Sooyoung Park went on to do Seam and was then in a band called ee. I am not sure if they are still around or not. David Grubbs continued on with Bastro, which later developed into Gastr del Sol. He’s also released a number of solo albums. Jon Fine spent time in Vineland and then later a short period in Don Caballero. He was in a band called Coptic Light that released an album in ’05. Orestes Morfin would later reemerge playing drums for Walt Mink.

For those interested in picking up material by the band, Ben Hur can still be had over at Amazon. The Umber & Star Booty disc is a bit hard to track down. Regardless, at least pick up their final album, it’s truly worth it.