“If the Doors Were a Punk Rock Band, They'd Be the U-Men.”
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On The Town Greenroom garage rock—especially the Sonics. He also innovative drummer,” says Mark Arm, later comparison. The U-Men had a foot in that added offbeat jazz chord progressions to with Green River and Mudhoney. “And he world, sharing bills with some of the local the mix. He had taken guitar lessons for was able to play a whole show and keep hardcore acts. a few months, and his teacher forced him his top hat on the whole time.” U-Men shows, like the band itself, were to learn complex jazz fingering. “And then Bigley and Ryan developed a bond and a inconsistent. Sometimes the band played when I started playing with the U-Men,” shared musical experience. Both explored tight and grooved together seamlessly. Price explains, “I was just kinda like, ‘Well, postpunk pioneers like Joy Division, but it Other times Ryan and Bigley would veer I know all this shit. I might as well use it.’” was Nick Cave’s Birthday Party that most off into uncharted waters, leaving Price and Up to this point, the band had no full- intrigued the pair. Following the Birthday Tillman to pick up the pieces. Occasion- time vocalist. That changed when Price met Party’s 1981 seminal “Release the Bats” ally, as is typical with any punk show, am- John Bigley, who turned out to be an im- single, Bigley and Ryan immediately drew plifiers blew and PA systems didn’t work. portant piece of the puzzle. Bigley became on Cave’s dark, shrieking vocals and avant- The U-Men were forced to adjust on the the band’s shamanic leader. His growling garde dissonance. In retrospect, the U-Men fly. The band quickly adapted to inevitable vocals and intense stage presence often left have been compared to the Birthday Party— equipment maladies by turning a musical audiences in a trancelike state. sometimes even accused of imitation. Yet, presentation into performance art. “We Bassist Jim Tillman completed the pic- while Bigley and Ryan were responsible [became] used to the fact that any piece ture. Replacing Buchan, Tillman contrib- for moving the U-Men in that direction, of equipment could crap out at any time,” uted a high level of musical professionalism. Price explains. “John could crap out at any The U-Men intrigued him, but Tillman im- time.... Any of us could be too drunk to play mediately began upgrading the band, like a at any time. And so, you have to be pre- new coach rebuilding a team. “He [looked] pared to deal with that. And how you deal at Charlie’s drum kit and [said], ‘Dude, with that is by going avant-garde. If the you can’t have cymbals with big chunks music isn’t actually happening, do some- missing from ’em,’” Price recalls. “‘Tom, “If the Doors thing crazy. Turn your amps up louder and you can’t have a guitar that’s completely set your hair on fire or something. And it impossible to tune.’” In exchange for his were a punk rock generally worked.” band-parenting skills, the rest of the U-Men The band slowly built a cult following forced Tillman to cut his long locks and band, they’d be based entirely on their live act. Their per- exchange his glasses for contacts. (Note: formances could be chaotic, tight, or hor- Tillman disputes this.) the U-Men.” rible, but they were never boring. Audience With the lineup set, the U-Men began to members often left shows with their col- develop their personality. Most great rock lective mouths open. bands have one, perhaps two members The U-Men remained a self-managed at their artistic center. The U-Men had act until June 1982, when Bigley attended four, yet somehow they coalesced. Bigley a Fastbacks show at Larry Reid’s Rosco became the consummate front man, typi- Louie gallery in Pioneer Square. Bigley cally roaming the stage in black, leading the band had a much different perspective urged Reid to see a U-Men performance. the audience with his growling/shrieking, and approach. “And then I kinda went to see ’em,” says barely intelligible mantras, creating a feel- Price and Tillman provided the con- Reid, “and all hell broke loose. Oh man, ing of danger at shows. Like all great punk trast to Bigley and Ryan’s eccentricities. it was great. It was just utterly chaotic. I rock singers, Bigley’s onstage charisma left Price in particular was rooted in punk rock don’t even know if they performed. It was the audience wondering down which path and ’60s garage rock. Because of him, the just kinda this riot going on. That totally he was leading them: to destruction or sal- band would play Sonics covers at almost appealed to me.” vation? “John Bigley…[had the] ability to every show. But it wasn’t just the covers: Reid was sufficiently impressed and de- get himself into a trance...he [was] having the U-Men had an older vibe about them. cided to manage the band. His first show fits up there,” remembers Stone Gossard, “There was just something about ’em that was that August, at the Oddfellows Hall. later with Green River and Pearl Jam. was unique,” recalls James Burdyshaw, later The U-Men opened for the Blackouts, who Charlie Ryan was not just a drummer. in the grungy 64 Spiders, “that made ’em were playing their last Seattle show. Having He synthesized the band’s varied musical seem like, if the Doors were a punk rock reached a level of preeminence in Seattle, personalities and made the U-Men swing. band, they’d be the U-Men.” the Blackouts felt they had outgrown the Price referred to him as a traffic cop, be- At that point, punk nationally (and in region and had decided to move to Bos- cause he would direct the other players Seattle) was dominated by hardcore bands. ton. No one realized it at the time, but in during gigs. If things didn’t sound right to Hardcore punk required its adherents to a sense this show symbolized a transfer him, he would sometimes force his band- play loud and fast, and typically limited of power between the Seattle syndrome mates to stop and start over. Perhaps more lyrics to anti-Reagan rants. Shows turned era and a new musical age. The U-Men than anyone in the U-Men, Ryan created into slam fests laced with violence, mak- had effectively become the harbingers of the band’s swagger. “Charlie was a really ing the earlier Showbox era seem tame by Seattle’s next wave. WEB EXCLUSIVE On the 20th anniversary of Nirvana’s Nevermind, Seattle music writer Gillian ONLY ONLINE More from The Strangest Tribe: 10 little-known Seattle Gaar sizes up a bookshelf’s worth of grunge histories; go to seattlemet.com/grungebooks. records you should listen to at seattlemet.com/strangesttribe. OCTOBER 2011 SEATTLEMET.COM 105.