Among the pearls buried on an unduly unheralded late 80s compilation of “driving bands from Los Angelesâ€Â called “GIMME THE KEYSâ€Â was a band called THE THIRSTY BRATS. There wasn’t a lot to these fellas – their thing was raw, dirty, 50s-inspired drunk-and-roll in the vein of then-current acts like the LAZY COWGIRLS and slightly earlier bands like the SUICIDE KINGS. Little did I know it until today, but SCOTT “DELUXEâ€Â DRAKE claims to have been a member of the band at one juncture. I believe him.
I saw the band one time only, at an all-day free festival/alcoholiday of Trigon Records acts in Isla Vista, California. This’d be around 1989, I’d say. I think the Thirsty Brats might have been hopped up on goofballs, as their set was exceptionally sloppy, the singer harangued the crowd unduly and often, and loads of drunk people danced their asses off to the dirty rock and roll beat. Other acts that appeared that day included CLAW HAMMER, a tripping-on-acid CRAWLSPACE (confirmed to me personally by the band), FEARLESS LEADER (stymied by the Isla Vista Park Service in their attempt to “let a chicken looseâ€Â during their set), and MOIST-N-MEATY. In other words, pretty much all the bands on “Gimme The Keysâ€Â. Eighteen years later I spin the record and my favorite track not by Claw Hammer is easily “White Ghettoâ€Â by those same Thirsty Brats. In fact, I kinda think it’s a classic. Whatever that means.
Among the pearls buried on an unduly unheralded late 80s compilation of “driving bands from