Web Exclusive: The Blood Brothers talk about their new reissues

Epitaph Records to reissue four titles by groundbreaking post-everything band THE BLOOD BROTHERS


STORY: Jason Pettigrew


Just when Seattle punk fulcrum THE BLOOD BROTHERS were finally getting notice and respect from quarters outside of the underground realm they flourished in, they celebrated their achievements–by breaking up. After a decade-plus of tearing up the hardcore blueprint and gluing it back together with all of the finesse of a psychiatric patient, the Bloods–singers Jordan Blilie and Johnny Whitney, guitarist Cody Votolato, bassist/synth op Morgan Henderson and drummer Mark Gajadhar–quietly dissolved without fanfare, leaving five albums of post-post-hardcore and twisted pop genius, thousands of road miles logged and a metric ton of merch designs. Now, approximately two years after their demise, four titles from the band’s discography–2002’s March On Electric Children, 2003’s Burn Piano Island, Burn (which comes with the out-of-print concert DVD, Jungle Rules Live), 2005’s Crimes and 2006’s Young Machetes–are being reissued by Epitaph Records on Nov. 17 with bonus material of attendant b-sides, live recordings and remixes that were previously unavailable in America.



Admittedly, much of the Bloods’ idiosyncratic signifiers–jagged guitar lines, tandem turbine-shrieking vocals and straight-up fecking noise–have become part-and-parcel of much of today’s scene. By the release of their swan song, the appropriately titled Young Machetes, the quintet began dialing things down to pursue a twisted aesthetic that incorporated mutant chamber music, dub, and keyboard-dominated pop. It was a fitting end to a passionate and volatile outfit.


These days, the Bloods have separated into two camps with Blilie, Henderson and Gajadhar teaming up in Past Lives (whose debut full-length is slated for release next year on Suicide Squeeze) while Whitney and Votolato have completed the second album under the banner of Jaguar Love. Jordan Blilie spoke with Jason Pettigrew to discuss the reissues, address Pettigrew’s annoying fanboy questions and reflect on the Blood Brothers’ legacy in America’s underground music culture.



After graduating from Three One G after the release of March On Electric Children, the Blood Brothers were plagued with record label problems. How did these records end up on Epitaph?

JORDAN BLILIE: We’ve been friendly with Brett [Gurewitz, Epitaph founder] for quite some time. As you know, throughout the past few years when the Blood Brothers were a band, we had a handful of label mishaps–two of them went bankrupt and ceased to exist. So in the interim of those things, we found ourselves looking for other labels to work with. In 2006, we met with Brett to discuss doing a record together. After we broke up, we remained in touch with him and he clearly knew that our catalog needed a new home, or at least the three major-label records needed a new home. He offered to [reissue them] and we were happy to be associated with a label we have a lot of respect for. I’m happy this is our stable for our particular pony, so to speak. [Laughs.]



Crimes now features all the tracks from the band’s Love Rhymes With Hideous Car Wreck EP, as well as six tracks from Reading, England, that a soundman recorded straight from the mixing board. Was a live album ever planned?
No. I was particularly happy with those tracks. The people at Epitaph had sent a handful of stuff they were thinking of including on these reissues. I actually didn’t think I would, but I did enjoy listening to that Reading set. It was a particularly exciting time for our band and we were playing with tons of energy. I have lots of good memories from that time period: To tell you the truth, I rarely get excited about live tracks [Laughs.], but these tracks sound good. It has a good mix, it’s not just vocals and a snare drum. And the energy from the crowd is amazing.



Young Machetes has seven tracks recorded in the studio at L.A. public station KXLU, as well as remixes from Mark Gajadhar and Yeah Yeah Yeah/Head Wound City guitarist Nick Zinner. What was the story behind those recordings?

The staff at KXLU invited us to go [into the studio] and play during one of their pledge drives. It was nice to go back there and play because they had invited us to play shortly after our first record. It was great to go back six years later and do another show. In regard to the remixes, Mark did some interesting things–so did Nick–but I think Mark had a particularly good time with the ones he put together. I’m not sure if a couple of the ones Mark did ended up being released on anything.



There are plenty of songs on the original track listing for Young Machetes, which made me wonder “What are they doing? They only get paid for 10 songs.”

I think that was our manager’s point, too! [Laughs.]



There are no bonus tracks on the March On Electric Children reissue. “Pink Tarantulas” was the lone holdout from Piano Island. I remember more than a few bands would come to the AP office and hear me playing it and then ask why it wasn’t on the album. Did the Bloods only record what they needed to create a full-length disc? Are there any things from various sessions that remain hidden away?

We never had a lot of leftover material. We’d write the record and whatever song we didn’t feel 100 percent on, we scrapped or put on a b-side. I think you are right about “Pink Tarantulas,” though: It should have been on Burn, and I can think of a couple others that should’ve been cut. I was probably the one with the problem with [“Pink Tarantulas”]. I didn’t like my voice or something. But it was always a kind of laborious process to get an album together in the first place. We had those three albums come out in a span of six years or so, so we were cranking them out at a quick pace. So we’d always get the sense of “Okay, we’re done writing. Let’s record.”






The Bloods’ 2000 debut, This Adultery Is Ripe, is remaining on Second Nature. How come? Was there anything on the cutting-room floor from that era?

We didn’t feel any need to do anything with that one. We didn’t have any b-sides from that. That was a period when nobody was interested in recording a live set of ours. [Pauses.] I couldn’t even speculate on [any extra material from that period]. Dan [Askew, founder of Second Nature Recordings has been great to us and he has all [the rights to release] our vinyl for the last three major-label affiliated releases.



And wait, what’s the 10-inch compilation of all your early seven-inches…

Oh, God. It’s called Dollar Bin. [Laughs.]



Rumors Laid Waste!

Yes. Alternate title: We’re 16 And We’re In A Band. [Laughs.]



But here’s the big record-nerd question: The only thing that exists that hasn’t been released yet is that Doors cover (“Five To One”) that was supposed to be issued by Hand Held Heart in what, 1984?

[Laughs.] God, I forgot…I think we turned in our song…



It was supposed to be a split 12-inch with Liars.

I don’t know: We used to play it in our set a couple times. I’m certainly not making any phone calls to get that thing out. [Laughs.]



I don’t think anybody in Past Lives or Jaguar Love recently sat down and listened to all of the Blood Brothers records back-to-back…

I just listened to the extra material to make sure it sounded good. I listened to the first few tracks from Burn about six months ago, because Dan from Second Nature sent me some vinyl I never had that he discovered–the double LP of Piano Island that’s silk-screened on one side…



I have that! (Settle down, nerd-boy–web ed.)

I finally got one a few months ago. It brought back a few good memories.



Revisiting those records, they don’t seem particularly trend- or time-specific. They are vibrant in the same continuum of records that are considered post-punk milestones. Despite this, when you reflect at the work through your eyes/ears, do you feel a “cringe factor?”

It’s the same propensity you’d have flipping through one of your old yearbooks. You can cringe at all the acne you had–which is perfectly natural to do–but there are so many positive associations from that time period. I think I can speak for the rest of the band, as well: We really did have a great time making those records. The music itself is not necessarily where my personal tastes are right now, but I can still listen to them and feel that it’s relatively unique to what was going on at the time. I don’t cringe when I listen to them–I usually laugh.



Like “WTF! Where did that guitar come from?” or “Did that noise come out of me?”

Yeah! In the sense of “This does not make sense, this shouldn’t be working.” If you listen to Burn especially, it’s a pretty ridiculous record. I say that with a lot of affection, and not as a blanket putdown. I’m less critical of the music itself.



It really does feel like ages ago [when those records were made], in both literal years and the people we were at the time. But I’m proud of the fact that we did something like Burn when we were 20. It’s strange and it’s weird and it was a pretty crazy time for us. And those are the kind of things that come back to me when I hear it. alt