Much of Ragman’s history occurs during an era when teenagers all over the world were starting up their own versions of Nirvana. The Ragman scene had our share of these in the forms of Spork and Sinister Plot. With no offense intended, Spork were by far the better of the two. Sinister Plot was originally named Anavrin, a name they got from their friends because of their very obvious attempt to sound like, and frequently cover, Nirvana (Anavrin is Nirvana spelled backwards, get it?) These guys found their way to the Ragman scene and got Joe to help out recording their stuff on 4-track. Those recordings are in this file, along with a live recording from one of Tony Seyffer’s Alternative Barn Parties. I don’t know what vocalist/guitarist Logan gets up to these days, but bassist Dan Combs is still doing some music (including a cover band called something like Brown Sugar Cracker) and drummer Will Quegg (subject of the No Consensus song “Tuff Quegg”) went on to get way better at the drums and play in some metal bands, most recently Age Of Discord.
Sinister Plot.zip (69.3 Mb)
It was news of the breakup of Heroic Nonsense that prompted me to suggest, inebriated and half-serious at a party at Steve Potter’s house, that No Consensus ask Jon Grim to join. It ended up being one of No Consensus’s best ideas.
Heroic Nonsense grew out of the comical pop-punk duo The Showgirls, which consisted of Jon Grim and drummer Derek DeVries, after taking on Jason Nelson on bass and a more adventurous, emo-flavored sound. These files are their first, rough 4-track demo, and a live recordings from the F.O.E. Hall in Waterloo, and the Malek Theater show in Independence. Heroic Nonsense went on to release the cassette EP The Rape Utic on a label started by prominent punk/ska all-ages show promoter, former Angry Cops bassist Rob Jenson. No one knows if Rob’s label ever put out anything else. While it’s not a Ragman release, I am considering digitizing The Rape Utic and posting it anyway; however I’d want to include the cover art if I did, and right now my scanner is performing well below ideally. After the breakup of Heroic Nonsense, Derek and Jason continued as the duo The Halfway Situation, who were also quite excellent.
Heroic_Nonsense-Demo.zip (46.7 Mb)
Heroic_Nonsense-Live.zip (81.7 Mb)
One of the last, if not the last, real No Consensus shows, captured live. Includes songs heard nowhere else, including one written by Jon whose title I no longer remember. Yes, this is the infamous show with the mid-set guest appearance by The Creek Brothers, and yes, The Creek Brothers are on here. Make of that what you will.
No_Consensus-Live_at_Reverb.zip (72.9 Mb)
In response to this comment from Jason, here is a collection of live recordings of three Suave Frog shows. Suave Frog was a “poetry band” led by Arsh Sangha. The style was dramatic poetry/monologue with minimalist accompaniment and punctuation from bass and drums. The core lineup was Arsh, Noah Johnson, and Brian Rodgers, but sometimes Peter Vanderwall filled in on drums, and there may have been one or two other temporary members.
Suave_Frog-Live.zip (52.5 Mb)
