The Fleshtones
@ the Railway Club, Dec. 11, 2005

Are the Fleshtones the best band on the planet? Before you leap ill-advisedly to an answer, consider this:

• The Fleshtones are about to celebrate their 30th anniversary as a band. 30 years of touring, 16 albums released over that time span, and here they were appearing for a one-shot Canadian date in a club only slightly smaller than your average suburban American living room - and for a ticket price of twelve bucks.
  
• Tickets were $12.
  
• I figured there'd be a line-up, so my wife and I got to the club five hours before the band was scheduled to appear on stage. That, I'll admit, was a slight miscalculation on my part. As it was, the place was totally empty except for the two of us and the Fleshtones. So we bided some time by checking out their merch table - but they didn't quite have it up and ready yet, so Ken Fox (the bassist) gallantly opened up a bag of stuff to show us. They've got a new CD out - Beachhead, who knew? So we bought the CD. And then bought a t-shirt. And then he brought out a bunch of vinyl reckids and there's one I've never even heard about (the Fleshtones More Than Skin Deep from '98) and he says "that one's Zaremba's favorite." So we bought that one too. We took our load o' loot over to a table and grabbed a couple beer and then frontman Peter Zaremba came over and asked if we wanted him to sign the CD. Now, I'm not the autograph type (I've never had anything signed before) but I figger "sure, what the hell" and he signed it and then took it over to the rest of the band for each one of them to sign (Keith never did 'cuz he was messing around with the sound check by this time). From that point on, we were like buds. Later Bill the drummer sat down for a chat as well.
  
• The Fleshtones are totally down-to-earth and cool.
  
• When the back-up band came out, the wife and I left the club and went for a dinner. We came back around 9:30 and there was STILL NO LINE-UP. We walked right in - practically had to actively search for someone to take our money for admission.
  
• Tickets were $12.
  
• And then the Fleshtones got on that tiny stage - and when I say tiny I mean tiny: there wasn't enough room for all four of them so Zaremba stood off the riser in front - and the crowd probably numbered no more than 60. In our chat earlier Zaremba had said how he thought the size of the club was perfect, and I'd argued a little with him that it was a tad on the small side. "Naw," he said "It's perfect." And, goddammit, he was right. The band proceded to put on an incredible, sweat-drenched show as if they were playing for thousands.
  
• The Fleshtones had a blast on that tiny stage. They pulled off their choreographed moves, which are 50% rock 'n' roll heat and 50% comedy routine; they came out into the crowd to do push ups and drink beer, then got right back to rockin' with drummer Bill Milhizer not missing a beat. Guitarist Keith Streng and bassist Fox had wireless guitars and spent the evening slipping through the crowd and standing on tables to play. At one point Zaremba started laughing and said "this is way better than Bellingham!"
  
• They played Bellingham the previous night.
  
• Tickets were $12.
  
• This night was a total party, and the crowd responded with the sort of unihibited, dance-crazy good vibes I haven't witnessed in this town since Neko Case's record release party for The Virginian. In the face of the Fleshtones' infectious attitude, there was no hipster posing. Maybe most of us there were too old for that sorta thing anyway - but that's beside the point (and quit stomping on my buzz). The Fleshtones only did one encore because they were heading back to Seattle at 4 in the morning to catch a flight back to Noo Yawk.
  
• The Fleshtones had to head back to Seattle at 4 in the morning to catch a flight back to New York.
  
• I still feel a little drunk and today is a total waste of a day - and I've played that new album for about eight hours straight.

So are the Fleshtones the best band on the planet? Dunno - but when you're witnessing them, FUCK YES, most definitely.

They are!

Sounds like the best live show ever. Every band should be that way.

oh man, i hope your wife made fun of you for getting there 5 hours ahead of time, but it sounds like a good time.

Where to start with them Fleshtones?

Two albums from the early '80s Roman Gods and Hexbreaker! are where I started. Roman Gods may be a little too slavish in its retro garage imitation - but still a whole lotta fun - and Hexbreaker! is (IMO) one of the great lost albums of that era.

For later stuff, Powerstance and Laboratory of Sound are solid, but I'd say their two most recent albums (Do You Swing? and Beachhead) are the most energized the band's sounded since the days of Hexbreaker!. This new one is seriously trying to bully its way onto my top 20 list of '05 - but that may just be the hangover talking.


Fortunately, my wife got a thrill out of meeting the band, so I escaped that debacle with most of my dignity intact.

Do you really need to ask?

There was the compilation to end all compiltaions entitled "The Living Legends Series" which was about 23 tracks from their IRS days. It goes for north of $50 on eBay now, but it's worth it. To my knowledge, the IRS stuff hasn't made it to cd. The liner notes on this comp--the drink recipe for The Blue Whale.

Their original, original stuff--the stuff that ROIR released as "Blast Off" has been re-issued several times on CD--the production quality is weak, but the song rock like little has rocked before or since.

Fleshtones Vs. Reality is a dynamite record, but nigh impossible to find. Vinyl's probably your best bet, the CD goes for gazillions because there's a bonus track that's completely unavailable elsewhere. It was at about this time that Keith Streng hooked up with that REM dude to form the Full Time Men, who cranked out two killer ep's on the Coyote label (the label that spawned Yo La Tengo).

Powerstance is a monster rock album. It will crush your skull.

Don't sell Laboratory of Sound short--the AMG rating is totally off base. It's may favorite record from the 90's. Every song on it smokes, and there's a hidden track #69 on the CD, an outrageous stomp through "I Don't Live Today".

If you can do vinyl, try to grab "Hitsbugh, USA" is excellent--the tracks on here were some of the best things they did live in 90's, when you could catch them at one of several alphabet city bars on any given weekend.

"Do You Swing?" came out two years ago, and it's another solid record from start to finish. "Beachhead" is likewise decent, but I think it falls a hair short of "Swing".

The only album of theirs of which I'm not fond is the uncharacteristically bland "Beautiful Light".

Radcliffe's dead on, they are the best band you'll ever see live.

Sounds like a fantastic show! It's moments like those that linger a lifetime.

Exactly...I love stories like these. And as far as the autographs go, it'll be a nice little reminder years from now of the great time you had.

that's an awesome account of what will no doubt atand out as a "That wa a good one..." forever. Cool!

I have this and it would have been my recommendation. I had no idea it was going for that much though, and really wouldn't recommend anyone spend that much.

I'm only a moderate fan of them, but have never seen them live which I guess could change that. Sadly I recently passed up the opportunity. I guess that was a mistake.