Pluck Theatre
Doug Cowan- Guitar, Vocals
Steve Gerlach- Bass, Vocals
Jeffery Spring- Drums
Hometown- Portland, Maine
In the summer of 1991, I saw Pluck Theatre open for Buffalo Tom at Zootz in Portland, ME. I was underage at the time and Zootz was a 21+ club, so I lied my way in by telling Chris Colburn (BT's bass player) I was a writer for Face, the local music magazine. That way I went into the club with the band, and the doorman didn't check my ID. I had written a couple album reviews for Face, so like all good lies, it had a kernel of truth. I felt kinda bad for the Buffalo Tom guys though- they were really nice to me, and let me interview them and drink their beer like a real reporter.
Anyway, I'd never heard Pluck Theatre before and they didn't really do anything for me, except for having excellent taste in covers- they did the Replacements' "Color Me Impressed". Buffalo Tom were great though- they were doing a warm-up gig before recording "Let Me Come Over", and as much as I love that album, my memory of the show is 10 times better.
The following January, I was driving to my girlfriend's house and listening to WMPG, the University Of Southern Maine campus radio station, which in those days put most other college stations I've ever heard to shame. A song came on I'd never heard before that hooked me immediately- I had no idea who it was. As soon as I got to my girlfriend's place, I ran inside and called WMPG- "what was that you were playing two songs back"? It was "Leonard Cohen's Bones" by Pluck Theatre.
Cowan and Spring had self-released two 7" singles as a duo under the Pluck Theatre name before adding Gerlach in 1991. In January of 1992, they released "Fish Or Cut Bait", an 8-song cassette album. I loved it immediately, proving that I am, in fact, able to change my mind occasionally. It was a perfect soundtrack for the short days and long nights of a cold Maine winter.
"Fish Or Cut Bait" was followed by the "Five Finger Disco" CD in 1993 (released by local record store chain Bad Habits), which unfortunately was somewhat wanting compared to it's predecessor. The songwriting wasn't up to the standard of their previous work, and the CD didn't even sound as good as the cassette. I'm not sure when they broke up, but Pluck Theatre never issued another recording.
Leonard Cohens Bones.mp3
Salutation.mp3
Follow Bliss.mp3
"Leonard Cohen" and "Salutation" are off "Fish Or Cut Bait", "Follow Bliss" comes from "Five Finger Disco" (1993, Bad Habits Music).
Doug Cowan now has a band called Bullyclub-
Bullyclub
You can hear a stream of the mighty WMPG here-
WMPG
Steve Gerlach- Bass, Vocals
Jeffery Spring- Drums
Hometown- Portland, Maine
In the summer of 1991, I saw Pluck Theatre open for Buffalo Tom at Zootz in Portland, ME. I was underage at the time and Zootz was a 21+ club, so I lied my way in by telling Chris Colburn (BT's bass player) I was a writer for Face, the local music magazine. That way I went into the club with the band, and the doorman didn't check my ID. I had written a couple album reviews for Face, so like all good lies, it had a kernel of truth. I felt kinda bad for the Buffalo Tom guys though- they were really nice to me, and let me interview them and drink their beer like a real reporter.
Anyway, I'd never heard Pluck Theatre before and they didn't really do anything for me, except for having excellent taste in covers- they did the Replacements' "Color Me Impressed". Buffalo Tom were great though- they were doing a warm-up gig before recording "Let Me Come Over", and as much as I love that album, my memory of the show is 10 times better.
The following January, I was driving to my girlfriend's house and listening to WMPG, the University Of Southern Maine campus radio station, which in those days put most other college stations I've ever heard to shame. A song came on I'd never heard before that hooked me immediately- I had no idea who it was. As soon as I got to my girlfriend's place, I ran inside and called WMPG- "what was that you were playing two songs back"? It was "Leonard Cohen's Bones" by Pluck Theatre.
Cowan and Spring had self-released two 7" singles as a duo under the Pluck Theatre name before adding Gerlach in 1991. In January of 1992, they released "Fish Or Cut Bait", an 8-song cassette album. I loved it immediately, proving that I am, in fact, able to change my mind occasionally. It was a perfect soundtrack for the short days and long nights of a cold Maine winter.
"Fish Or Cut Bait" was followed by the "Five Finger Disco" CD in 1993 (released by local record store chain Bad Habits), which unfortunately was somewhat wanting compared to it's predecessor. The songwriting wasn't up to the standard of their previous work, and the CD didn't even sound as good as the cassette. I'm not sure when they broke up, but Pluck Theatre never issued another recording.
Leonard Cohens Bones.mp3
Salutation.mp3
Follow Bliss.mp3
"Leonard Cohen" and "Salutation" are off "Fish Or Cut Bait", "Follow Bliss" comes from "Five Finger Disco" (1993, Bad Habits Music).
Doug Cowan now has a band called Bullyclub-
Bullyclub
You can hear a stream of the mighty WMPG here-
WMPG
posted by Lobsterman | 10:00 PM
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