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One Less Than Foreskin / Treatment For Minor Cuts And Abrasions

by Threeskin

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1.
2.
3.
Degreaser 01:05
4.
Polly 01:36
5.
6.
Safety Stomp 00:44
7.
8.
Treatment 00:07
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10.
11.
12.
Chameleon 00:12
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14.
Patronized 00:52
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Treatment 00:07
17.
Hell Toupée 01:53
18.
Flora 01:28
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20.
21.
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Treatment 00:06
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27.
Tarkcap 00:14
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29.
Chameleon 00:17
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31.
Safety Stomp 00:51
32.
Patronized 01:02
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38.
Degreaser 01:04
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41.
42.
Safety Stomp 00:49
43.
Hell Toupée 02:07
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49.
Chameleon 00:12
50.
51.
R.E.M. Song 00:34
52.
Patronized 01:00
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56.
57.
58.
Circumcisor 02:32
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Patronized 01:04
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Circumcisor 02:25

about

MORT:034
Ottumwa Archive Series #5

credits

released June 7, 2009

Tracks 1-27 = "One Less Than Foreskin" (1995 / Jack Mackerel) Recorded by Jake in 1995 on four tracks, then remixed by Andy in August, 2006.

Tracks 28-35 = "Smile Coffeehouse" Demo
Recorded on a boombox in Jake's bedroom, November, 1994.

Tracks 36-59 = "Treatment For Minor Cuts And Abrasions" (1994 / Mind's Ear Music)
Recorded at Mind's Ear Recordings, February 5th, 1994. Engineered and produced by Jon Douglas Dixon.

Tracks 60-77 = "Rehearsal With Jeff" (1994)
Recorded on a boombox in Chris' basement before our first show.

Chris Harris - Guitars
Andy Koettel - Bass + Vocals (36-59)
Brian Carroll - Drums (36-59) + Vocals (1-35)
Spence Shepard - Vocals (1-35)
Jake Allee - Drums (1-35)
Jeff Koettel - Vocals (60-77)

Cover art by Beckham G Miller.
_________________________________________

Unisex ended when Mike went to college. Brian and I continued playing in his tiny bedroom, recording what would become the first Threeskin songs on a boombox in his living room. We knew Chris from high school, and Brian had played with him in Beef Stew two years earlier. After talking at a party one night, we convinced him to join. With the addition of our friend Derek on vocals, we dubbed ourselves Derek Slacker & the Underachievers. No one came to watch us rehearse and there was never any talk of playing shows. Our only goal was to record and release a tape. We found a studio in Bloomfield, IA that charged a daily rate and decided to split the cost between the four of us. I called Jon Douglas Dixon at Mind’s Ear and booked a day in February for recording.

Shortly after booking studio time, Derek quit. He said he didn’t have time for the band between weight lifting and basketball. I’m not sure what happened, but looking back, I suspect he got cold feet. We tried convincing him to stick around long enough to record, offering to pay for his part, but he didn’t. We were left without a singer, with song titles that no longer made sense, and the task of renaming our band. Lyrics had to be rewritten. “Slacker Stomp” became “Safety Stomp”, “Fuck The Amish” turned into “Drunk People Suck”, etc. I don’t remember who came up with the name Threeskin, but it stuck.
“Slacker Deathcamp” and “Old McSlacker’s Antfarm” were the only holdovers from Derek Slacker & the Underachievers.

On February 5th, 1994, we entered Mind’s Ear to record. It was Doug’s idea to have Chris record direct; a decision that left us with a strange, unnatural sound we later dubbed “laser guitar”. I lost the coin toss and got stuck doing vocals. By the time we got to “Hey Shawn…”, my voice was fucked. We had one day, so the whole thing was recorded and mixed in 12-14 hours.

A few days later, Doug called asking what our plans were for the recording. After talking it over with his A&R guy, he thought it would be a good idea to release “Treatment For Minor Cuts And Abrasions” on his label, Mind’s Ear Music. Without even thinking about it, we agreed, happy we wouldn’t have to dub the tapes ourselves. I printed the covers in my graphics arts class and Doug had 500 tapes dubbed. A short while later, we had boxes of these fucking things to deal with. Doug saw something in us, but had no idea how to sell it. Our one record store in town agreed to take copies, but marked them at $6.00. Because of this, $6.00 became the price we were to sell them for. Doug didn’t want us to undercut Soundwaves and ruin his agreement with them. He would meet with us weekly to see how many copies we had sold, and every week, he left disappointed. He offered advice, but we kept telling him they weren’t selling because they were too expensive. He wouldn’t budge, though. After a few months, Doug washed his hands of us and let me buy the remainder of the tapes at cost. I ended up dubbing over most of them, using them for Captain Three Leg demos. The 33 minute running time set the length of every C3L tape to follow.

After the demo, Threeskin just stopped playing. Chris started another band with Jake Allee called Gristle and asked me to play with them. People liked Gristle and we played out often. Eventually, we started adding Threeskin songs to our set. With Jake on drums, Brian and Spence on vocals, Threeskin became a different thing. The songs were faster and more aggressive, barely resembling our demo. People started showing up to see Brian and Spence beat the shit out of each other at our shows. We would construct elaborate costumes for Brian out of cardboard boxes, balloons, etc, and people would rush the stage, ripping them off of him and dispensing as many body slams and punches as they could before returning to the safety of the audience.

I contacted Smile Coffeehouse in Davenport, IA about the possibility of playing there. Our demo didn’t sound like us anymore, so we quickly recorded 8 songs in Jake’s bedroom to send to them for consideration. Later, someone found our listing in Book Your Own Fucking Life and called needing another band for a show they were booking at Smile. While there, I asked the owner why he never responded to the letter and tape I sent them. He said the tape freaked him out and he was worried we would wreck the place.

A week or so after the show, I received a letter from someone in attendance. “I got your tape at Smile in Davenport and you guys sound nothing like you do live. You guys were fucking hardcore live, and what’s up with those two singers that were kicking each other’s ass? How come they aren’t on the tape? Are you guys going to make a tape as hardcore as you were live with those two singers?” It was clear we needed an updated recording. We set up mics at Jake’s house and recorded “One Less Than Foreskin” on four tracks in a couple of hours. Jake sent me to buy a tape to record on and I came back with a type I normal bias tape from Radio Shack. The resulting tape hiss was something I was never able to mix out, even when remixing it for this re-release. After slapping the above mentioned letter on the cover, it was released, then quickly ignored.

Gristle and Threeskin both ended at the same time; in the summer of 1995. Brian and Spence started Forced Expression with Daryl Kahan who had moved here for our culinary arts program, and then later, Brian and I formed Captain Three Leg.

-Andy / Threeskin / Mortville Noise

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