Saturday 14 November 2015

DOUGLAS

BandDOUGLAS 
GenresPunk / Rock / Skate Punk / Hardcore
Related artists?.
CountryWales UNITED KINGDOM
Years Active1998-2003, 2012
Song: "Twenty Year Itch"
Album: "Persona"
Year: 1999
For fans ofAdhesive, NOFX, Pennywise, Satanic Surfers, Standoff, Consumed, Frenzal Rhomb, Story So FarI Hate Myself, 88 Fingers Louie, Turtlehead, Vanilla Pod, Chopper, Jawbreaker and Backside.
Label(s): G.F.Y. Records / Speedowax Records / Boss Tuneage / The 23:59 Label / Gravity Dip
This post's artist is from the November 2015 Mix. This is track #8.
You can download: the November Mix#11 right here or get the new December 2015 Mix#12 here.

There was once a time when Dave only listened to skate punk. This happened in early 1998 when a friend showed me NOFX's "Vincent" in Science class. Although I am not interested in that style anymore, I am unable to distance myself from the past skate punk bands that meant so much to me all those years ago. One very obscure band was called DOUGLAS. I came across two songs on two separate compilations and was floored. I found a third song on the internet about a decade ago but have yet to stumble upon any other material. Writing the discography section was a little frustrating, as I found out that the band had a bunch of releases, none of which I can find jack shit for. Okay that's not totally true, I found a few randoms on youtube but nothing downloadable.

It's interesting to note that DOUGLAS had early splits with notables Gameface and The Ataris but don't have all that much in common with them besides being very influential to my early punk days in the late 1990s. Although some songs are rather straightforward and forgettable, others are very mature and downright awesome. "Keeping Up" and "Twenty Year Itch" are both amazing skate punk mixed with a sprinkling of I Hate Myself singing. "Keeping Up" was my first introduction to the band via the Serial Killer Compilation and the intro of the vocalist yelling "Rip!" is a fantastic start to the song. The balance of rawness and melody is matched nearly perfectly, with mildy snotty, raspy singing layered over top of relatively unique skate punk instrumentals that dip into rock and other genres at 1:42. "Twenty Year Itch" seems heavily influenced by 88 Fingers Louie and is not your typical skate punk fare, although it is rooted in that - there's just something about it. The band also reminds me of Standoff but much more refined.

From what I can tell the band's later material is much more polished, especially in the vocal department. It sounds okay but I'm biased towards that killer debut LP. I have been completely unsuccessful in my attempts to acquire anything past the three songs I already obtained some 15 years ago. is a youtube link to a nice person who's posted a 14-track mix of DOUGLAS which is home to most of the 'Persona' LP.

________________________________________

DISCOGRAPHY

1999 - Persona cd/2x7"LP (download 3 songs from the release here)

2000 - Wrists of Fury (split w/Ataris) 7"EP (does anyone have this?!?!)
2000 - Gameface/Pinto split 7" (does anyone have this?!?!)

2001 - Phase II cdEP (does anyone have this?!?!)
2001 - Douglas compilation cdLP (does anyone have this?!?!)

2003 - B is the New Way cdEP (does anyone have this?!?!)

2012 - Deathbed split 7"EP (does anyone have this?!?!)

________________________________________

(1999) DOUGLAS - "Keeping Up" (from 'Persona')

(1999) DOUGLAS - "Twenty Year Itch" (from 'Persona')

________________________________________

DOUGLAS additional links

(download 3 songs here)

(stream 14 songs on youtube here)

________________________________________

3 comments:

  1. Same as you, I discovered them on serial killer comp. After years of searching for it I found the self titled, it is a gem in my collection! Sorry, can't remember where I got it from...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Saw them live in Norwich supporting capdown a loooong time ago. Still searching for the album!

    ReplyDelete
  3. its on spotify now

    ReplyDelete