In MKE Music Rewind we revisit notable Milwaukee music that was released before Milwaukee Record became a thing in April 2014. This week: 1984’s Rock Drill from 2000.
There’s a great line from Stephen King near the end of The Body (you know, the novella that would become Stand By Me): “Friends come in and out of your life like busboys in a restaurant, did you ever notice that?”
Add to that bands that come in and out of your life like busboys in a restaurant. For me, one such band was 1984, a Racine-based indie/post-punk band that was active for a few years in the early 2000s. My own early-2000s band played with 1984 on occasion. We recorded a chunk of our second album at 1984’s rehearsal space in Racine. We weren’t super tight with the 1984 boys, but we were buddies. And then we bused our separate tables and moved on. It’s been a quarter of a century since I thought about 1984.
Until recently. While perusing the invaluable MKEPunk.com, I came across 1984’s sole release: Rock Drill. It’s a nine-track record that was released in 2000, and upon seeing the cover online I immediately flashed back to the songs. Oh wow—I used to love these songs.
Pressing play and hearing the herky-jerky guitars, the bubbling bass, and the alternately shout-y and harmony-rich vocals for the first time in forever, I fell right back in love. By the time I got to my favorite song, “The Affair,” I was firmly back in the 2000s—young, drunk, confused, stupid, and driving to Racine in the middle of the night to get the masters to my band’s songs because we had set an arbitrary deadline for our album release and the show at Mad Planet was coming right up. Good times.
I don’t have much to add, really. 1984 was a band, and they were good. Bands come and go. (My own band was okay.) But it’s great when you come across an old band or album or song that takes you right back to a specific time and place, isn’t it? To paraphrase another Stephen King/Body quote: I never loved any bands later on like the ones I loved when I was 22. Jesus, does anyone?
Want more Milwaukee Record? Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter and/or support us on Patreon.
RELATED ARTICLES