Lincoln: Star City Sickness #02
Formed after the break up of Manhandle (oops I had my facts wrong here. see J's first comment to this post for clarification.), Lincoln was easily the best of the original Emo/Hardcore bands of the early 1990s to officially release anything. Their release catalog is pretty thin:
- Union 7" released on Watermark (1992)
- Hoover and Lincoln split 7" released on Artmonk Construction (1993)
- Sugarloaf/Waterboy 7" released on Artmonk Construction (1993)
The first time I heard the Hoover/Lincoln split, I was floored. It completely changed everything I wanted to do musically, and in retrospect probably led to the break up of a few bands I was in since I couldn't find anyone that wanted to go that direction.
Lincoln was close to making it big in terms of the underground scene in those days. Their Artmonk releases were a couple rings above other similar bands in terms of musical ability, aggression, and production. The Artmonk releases came at a time when many bands were still recording on 4 tracks, in basements, or on borrowed studio time. Lincoln's Artmonk recordings were sleek, professional, and sonically hard hitting.
Stuck between hardcore and emo, they burnt out at their peak. They are easily the most well known of the Jay Demko and Justin Wierbonski bands, and the only post-Manhandle band to leave any sort of easily-obtainable documentation in the form of record releases. Lucky for us Eric Astor (Artmonk) is planning to release a CD of all the Artmonk 7"s (not just Lincoln) along with some unreleased songs. There will be one unreleased Lincoln song included.
I'm running thin on details, but if you have any information, photos, or media related to this, please contact me and I'll update this blog with that info. Enjoy!
Lincoln was:
Dan Ball / bass
John Herod / guitar
Jay Demko guitar / vocals
Justin Wierbonski / drums
Johanna Claasen / bass (originally)
Lincoln: Live on the U92 Morgantown Sound radio show (April 3, 1994)
Order of related bands:
Lincoln -> Kukim -> Glendale -> Enderhall
posted by Tony Reitz @ 9/06/2005 08:39:00 AM
4 comments
4 Comments:
thanks again, tony. the mp3s certainly beat the crappy cassette version of the morganown sound show.
also, lincoln did a live broadcast on east orange, nj's much-revered wfmu at one point. i sadly do not have a copy.
does anyone know anything about how to get hold of the smiths cover ('stop me if you think you've heard this one before') they recorded with someone from ashes? i guess i could ask jay or justin about this. it's a pretty amazing moment -- one of my favorite bands paying homage to another one of my favorite bands.
if i may respectfully correct you, sir: manhandle was actually a lincoln/yentl/junction side project we did while gregg foreman was summering in morgantown. we thought it'd be fun to do a silly drop-d metal band for a month or so; we played three incredibly fun house shows, recorded two songs at wgns, and someone who ntook us far too seriously put out the 7" after we dissolved. lincoln (who formed from the ashes of icefan) was well underway by the time manhandle started -- i believe they may have already recorded the first 7" (on watermark) by then.
lastly, have you heard the dart swinger recordings? justin played bass and sang, dan ball played guitar, john herod played guitar and our hero pete moffet (government issue, wool, and later of burning airlines) played drums.
i was living in state college at the time, so i never got to see that band. though good recordings do exist.
many kudos,
j
The music is great, true. But the Artmonk catalog descriptions are infinitely more amusing:
"It wasn't until over three years after having released this two-song seven inch was I told that I learned that it is so widely held to be the hallmark of the emo genre as it is known today. The fact thay any would pigeon-hole this creation is of greater tragedy than the most searing chord it strikes. Both Lincoln and Dischord recording artists Hoover took the angst and heartfelt restlessness of hardcore and intricately wove it into a fabric channeled by syncopated rhythms and vocals that yearned without plea for pity. The message is sent mid-tempo, yet written by scarred hand in tumultuous melody. No sleep for the self-declared wicked, a record that after almost five years still speaks with ferociousness to the firery woebegotten..."
and
"Morgantown, West Virginia. Only known for so much. Thus, it should only be appropriate (as to so many other small American towns) that such rock godz would one day place it on the map. Lincoln: Agonized. Concise. Yearning. Scathing. Confessions of nothing untrue amidst throttled pickings madly courted by chaotically syncopated rhythms. A Classic."
Sheesh!
just wanted to thank you for posting the lincoln recordings...it is certainly much appreciated....i saw them play in jersey at the 508 house..one of the best shows that i was ever lucky enough to see. lincoln is much loved.
HOLY CRAP! Thanks for posting these! This shit was so far ahead of its time that it is difficult to find adjectives to describe it with... Also worth noting that Demko still plays a lot of music. He and his wife (they are now located in Portland, OR, by the way) have/had an improvisational jazz/noise gig called ON. They've self released several records. Contact J (from the post below) and I bet he'd hook you up. Those two also had a short lived dub reggae group whose name is totally escaping me at the moment. Another reggae oriented Demko that deserves mention is World Be Free. Jay records everything, too, by the way. Its a good bet that he has tapes and tapes of every band he was ever a part of.
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