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by Kevin John
A cursory listen to Doorslammer’s self-titled debut reveals a band balancing on the pop edge of punk, which means they never get stuck pointlessly pogoing in punk purism, praise Poly Styrene. But, unlike Jawbreaker or Schleprock (crappier bands with bigger names on bigger labels), they’re not even pure about their pop-punk sound, praise Billy Idol. Their guitars can gather Mudhoney superfuzz or slow down for scrappy folk-punk. They’re not adverse to the silly, great throw-away. And even their songs’ meanings aren’t as pointed as many punk “anthems.”
Take “(Oh) I Get It,” one of the aforementioned throw-aways. “All” it consists of is the title phrase uttered in a series of duh-drenched voices after a procession of guitar blats. It sounds like a great, absurdist answer to the Buzzcocks’ “What Do I Get?” Yet, as head Doorslammer Todd Westover admits, the songs that sound the most flippant often mean the most to him.
“This one guy read a lot into ‘Tracthome Hillside’ but I didn’t mean anything particular by it. Whereas ‘(Oh) I Get It’ is about this girl that I liked that didn’t want to commit to a relationship. We hung out a lot and every time she said that we were seeing too much of each other, I had to constantly remind myself that we weren’t a couple with an ‘Oh, I get it!’” Yep. It’s a great, absurdist answer to the Buzzcocks’ “What Do I Get?” alright, except even better.
Really, Westover’s link to punk stems from a love of its sound and energy rather than a sociopolitical program that Johnny Rotten pissed on twenty years ago. Even though he grew up in ultra-suburban Oconomowoc (“wherever there’s nothing to do, punk will evolve,” says Westover), he admits that he was “never that mad to be a punk.” He enjoyed his ultra-suburban life, mastering the impossible-for-most task of never being bored in Wisconsin through a variety of sporty activities.
But it wasn’t until he moved to L.A. in 9th grade that punk’s angrier roots started to get planted. “I hated moving. I was king of my world in Wisconsin. I was starting to get girls and stuff. My gymshorts had ‘KISS’ silkscreened on the butt. That was rad for Wisconsin but in L.A. I was a dork.”
Eventually, Westover found himself fronting Doorslammer. The band’s had many lineup changes since its inception. In fact, the only member left over from the trio that recorded the debut is Westover himself. The current line-up includes Jimmy James (not the gender-bending dance diva) on guitar and Elexis Arenella on drums.
And if unstable lineups weren’t bad enough, the band finds it difficult to gain acceptance in the City of Angels. “Being a band from L.A. in L.A. is hard,” explains Westover. “It seems like it’s all about somewhere else; record companies always look outside of L.A. It’s as if people think ‘Well, if they’re still in L.A., they haven’t made it.’ So it does become difficult to book shows or find club owners willing to advertise us.”
To slightly remedy this unfortunate predicament, Doorslammer will be blanketing Wisconsin with a series of radio shows and live performances during the end of March. You can catch them at the Maximum Ink Birthday Party on March 19th at the Mango Grill or at Points East in Milwaukee on the 20th. Show up to give your support to a band that deserves the best.
One little note: Todd asked me to explain the line “a town full of freaks” in the song “Madison.” He was afraid some people might get offended by it. Actually, the song describes an acid trip (the line before goes “gettin’ high on some kind of mushroom”) which altered his perception. (Acid tends to do that.) He really doesn’t think Madison is a town full of freaks. But if for some reason you were offended by the line, go get your diaper changed, sez I.
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