Crimpshrine was a punk rock band from Berkeley, California. It was formed b… Read Full Bio ↴Crimpshrine was a punk rock band from Berkeley, California. It was formed by Aaron Cometbus, founder of the seminal punk rock zine Cometbus, and a friend, Jeff Ott. The band's origins go back to 1982. Within D.I.Y. communities, the band is often considered one of the most important punk bands, especially in the Bay Area scene.

Crimpshrine's origins are traced back to S.A.G. S.A.G. was formed in Berkeley, CA during the summer of 1982 by Jesse Michaels (of later Operation Ivy fame) (just 12 at the time) and Aaron Cometbus. The band mostly did just tape dubs with Jesse and Aaron trading off on instruments. It wasn't a functioning band until 1983 when Jeff Ott (at 12 years old) was brought in. Jeff played drums (even though they only had one drum). Jesse only sung, and Aaron played a guitar with only 3 strings. Later, they had changed their name to Revolution Through Apathy. S.A.G. had split up in early 1984. There were some rumors that Jesse was kicked out for smoking too much pot, so Jesse went one way and Aaron and Jeff went another. Jesse was Crimpshrine's original vocalist until he was not in the band. However, years later he came back and did some live backup vocals with Crimpshrine. There may be some tape dubs floating around, but other than that, the only released material that can be found by S.A.G. was one song- "I Had To Kill Some Ants Today" on Aaron Cometbus's "Lest We Forget" compilation. It was released in 1991 on tape by BBT Tapes. Other than that song, no other songs are known to be released by S.A.G. However, some S.A.G. lyrics were used in Operation Ivy in the end of Plea for Peace and some other songs such as Steppin' out.

After S.A.G.'s breakup, Aaron and Jeff switched off on instruments. Sometimes Aaron would play guitar and Jeff would play the synthesizer or piano or they would both play guitar. Eventually, Isaac (unsure of his last name) joined the band, first on violin, and then synthesizer. Lint from Operation Ivy played bass for a little while. This was the start of Crimpshrine. Finally, Crimpshrine became Jeff on guitar and Aaron playing drums and percussion. The only song used from those early Crimpshrine days on their later recordings was Tomorrow, which was originally an instrumental but eventually had words. In late 1984, Aaron was able to get a real drum set, and it was decided that Jeff would sing. The original plan was to have a female vocalist but that never happened. After going through 6 bassists (Ron, Chalky, Lint, and later Dave Ed, Spider, Suzie, David, Chris, Ben Weasel, and John J.) and one and a half years of confusion, Crimpshrine played their first show. However, their bassist decided to quit right before the show, so they had to get a replacement bassist learn 3 of their songs in 5 minutes. Pete Rypins joined the band in October of 1986 as the bassist and Crimpshrine finally began to play some real shows instead of playing in Jeff's basement most of the time. Their first demo was recorded in February of 1987. Then, they did 2 songs, Another Day and Rearranged, for the Turn It Around compilation. Their first EP, "Sleep, What's That?" was recorded in September of 1987 and released in January 1988 on Lookout Records.

They gained a second guitarist, Idon Bryant, prior to Sleep, What's That's release. He was not included on that album, but played on their second full-length, "Lame Gig Contest." It was rejected by Lookout Records, but put out by Musical Tragedies, a German label, with the lyrics translated from English to German in the sleeve. This is a very rare album to come across, however much of it was released in other Crimpshrine albums, such as Duct Tape Soup and The Sound of a New World Being Born.

The band was in various newspaper articles in their time, some describing them, others for their way of publicizing themselves. They would write "Crimpshrine" (which was a name they gave to a girl they knew with crimped hair) all over Berkeley High School's walls, as well as purple dots and other grafitti. Their principal actually supported the grafitti! One of their best articles was from in the Oakland Tribune, who went to BHS wanting to interview a band. They were interviewed by Maximum Rock N' Roll in 1988 as well.

After Lame Gig Contest came another EP, "Quit Talkin' Claude." Quit Talkin' Claude was released Claude was a renowned Berkeley scenester who was said to never shut up. Idon Bryant and Pete Rypins had left the band by that time. Pete was replaced by Paul Curran on bass. When Paul joined the band in 1988, Crimpshrine toured for awhile. His brother, Jack, was a roadie. Paul drove the Pinto they toured in. Jake was a roadie from time to time as well. He sang on one of their songs. Zak and Dennis were also roadies.

The 1989 release of Quit Talkin' Claude on Lookout Records was their farewell record, as they had split up. Quit Talkin' Claude was recorded in January of 1989 with Kevin Army, who worked with Operation Ivy and many other bands. After this release Crimpshrine was on some other compilations. Lookout released two retrospectives, containing some unreleased and hard-to-find Crimpshrine songs, The Sound of a New World Being Born and Duct Tape Soup. They made a split EP in 1988 with Boneyard and A Priori called Caution. It was released on Skene Records. They appeared on "The World's In Shreds" with the song Pretty Mess. It was an EP released in 1989 on the record label Shredder. Jawbreaker, Moral Crux, and A Priori appeared on this album as well. They appeared in 1993's "Benicia..." compilation put out by Take A Day on cassette. The song "Going Home" by Crimpshrine on that compilation is not known to be released on any other album. Other bands on it were Pinhead Gunpowder (Aaron's drumming) and Monsula. Crimpshrine were on some Lookout compilations. One of the obvious ones was The Thing that Ate Floyd, which contained many other of the Gilman era bands. They appeared with the song "Sanctuary" on Lookout's 1998 compilation Forward Till Death. They did a split with Mutley Chix in the No Idea Fanzine (issue 7). The Crimpshrine songs were Closed Doors Closed Minds, Caught Up, and Fucked Up Kid. Mutley Chix did Small Town, Big Hell and Lamp. Their real farewell album was a split single released in 1990 on the record label No Reality. It was called the Burning Bridges EP on their side. On the other side was Angel... Your Hair Looks Good! by G-Whiz. The two songs by Crimpshrine on their farewell album were Over the Years and The Direction of Things to Come. Over the Years was taken from their first demo which was recorded with Brian Edge at Gilman in January of 1987. It was recorded with Pete but not with Idon. The Direction of Things to Come was taken from their last studio recording session in January of 1989. It was recorded by Kevin Army. It featured Paul, Jeff, and Aaron.

Crimpshrine fell apart in 1989 and the members went their separate ways. Jeff went into Fifteen, Aaron got involved with countless bands such as Pinhead Gunpowder (with Billie Joe Armstrong) and Astrid Oto. Paul was in Go Sailor and Shotwell Coho, and also did a stint with Sweet Baby; he now plays bass and sings in both Surrender and Onion Flavored Rings. Idon has been in a fairly popular East Bay hardcore punk, Strychine. Pete resurfaced in Tilt, and has been playing with The Tantrums for over 10 years. Check them out at their homepage or at their Myspace page. Crimpshrine, the heart and soul of the East Bay, lives on through the other members projects and through the people that still listen to them and are inspired by them today.

Bricks
Crimpshrine Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Try to sell me a paper
Praising your own kind
It's not your own words
It's not your own mind
That place is better than this
And this place is better than that
Think you make a difference
But you're just someone to laugh at

After seventeen years of fighting
Everything I came across
Now I realize that I always lost
It's come time to end
The tranquilization of my mind
Now I've got a brick in my hand
Now I know what I must find

So take a good look around
Tell me what you see
Always on your ass
You complain of my apathy
Bricks are put together
As the trees fall

I got my own brick
And I ain't gonna build no wall

Overall Meaning

The song "Bricks" by Crimpshrine is a commentary on society's conformity and the futility of trying to make a difference. The first verse is directed towards people who try to sell their own propaganda, using someone else's words and ideas. The singer of the song is calling them out for not having an original thought of their own. The idea that one place is better than the other is arbitrary and holds no meaning since it does not change anything. They continue by saying that trying to make a difference is useless because nobody really cares. That is why they are just someone to laugh at.

The second verse is about the singer's realization that after years of fighting against the system, they still accomplished nothing. They say that it is time to take control of their own fate and grab a brick. The brick symbolizes an object of power and the determination to make a change. They want to break away from the system and end the "tranquilization of their mind." They are tired of being passive and are ready to take action.

The final verse is directed towards those who just complain and do nothing to make a difference. They are content with their apathy and do not realize the power they possess. The singer has their own brick and will not build a wall. The wall is a metaphor for the barriers society creates, separating people and creating division. The singer wants to break down those walls brick by brick and create a world where people are united.

Overall, the song "Bricks" is a call to action, empowering listeners to take control of their own lives and create change instead of waiting and complaining.

Line by Line Meaning

Try to sell me a paper
Attempting to convince me of your viewpoint or beliefs

Praising your own kind
Offering compliments to those who are similar to you

It's not your own words
The ideas expressed are not original

It's not your own mind
The views are not a result of personal reflection or thought

That place is better than this
Believing that one location is superior to another

And this place is better than that
Thinking that a specific setting is more desirable than another

Think you make a difference
Feeling that you are having an impact or making a change

But you're just someone to laugh at
Being the subject of ridicule or mockery

After seventeen years of fighting
A length of time spent battling

Everything I came across
Every obstacle or challenge encountered

Now I realize that I always lost
Recognizing that one was never able to overcome adversity