Enigmatic noise rock trio Steel Pole Bath Tub crafted a grungy, droning, of… Read Full Bio ↴Enigmatic noise rock trio Steel Pole Bath Tub crafted a grungy, droning, offbeat sound from a palette of fuzzed-out bass riffs, blasts of guitar feedback, and tape loops, plus a raft of alternately kitschy and disturbing dialogue samples from vintage TV shows and movies. Additionally, the band had a penchant for deconstructive covers of rock classics, some of which appeared only on 7" singles. Critics were split on the effectiveness of their often repetitive compositions, with some praising their originality and others bemoaning a lack of consistent songwriting polish. A highly unlikely bet for commercial success, Steel Pole Bath Tub nonetheless managed to score a major-label contract (albeit briefly) during the alternative rock feeding frenzy of the mid-'90s. Steel Pole Bath Tub was founded in Bozeman, MT, in 1986 by guitarist/vocalist Mike Morasky and bassist/vocalist Dale Flattum. After moving to Seattle, they joined up with drummer Darren Mor-X (born Darren Morey), a veteran of the local early-'80s hardcore band Mr. Epp (which featured future members of Green River and Mudhoney). Taking their name from a feature in a true-crime magazine (a Clue-type combination of murder weapon and location), the trio relocated once again, this time to San Francisco. Steel Pole Bath Tub landed a deal with the Bay Area indie label Boner, which was also home to the Melvins in their pre-Atlantic days. The band's debut album, Butterfly Love, appeared in 1989, and was followed in 1990 by the Lurch EP (both were later combined on a CD issue). These early releases established the band's fascination with pop-culture references and TV dialogue snippets, and led to several Bay Area side projects: Morasky teamed with Boner label head Tom Flynn in Duh (aka Death's Ugly Head), and the whole group worked with Jello Biafra under the name Tumor Circus. Fans and critics tended to agree that Steel Pole Bath Tub really began to hit their stride on 1991's Tulip and its follow-up, 1993's The Miracle of Sound in Motion. During the same period, Morasky and Flattum teamed up (under the aliases C.C. Nova and Bumblebee) in an electronics-oriented side project called Milk Cult, which gave their interest in sampling a whole new outlet. 1994 brought a new Steel Pole Bath Tub EP, Some Cocktail Suggestions, which would prove to be their final work for Boner. Slash Records -- at the time a subsidiary of Warner, though they would shortly switch affiliations to London -- offered the band a major-label contract, perhaps swayed by similar jumps from Steel Pole influences the Butthole Surfers and labelmates the Melvins. Steel Pole Bath Tub's major-label debut, Scars From Falling Down, was released in 1995. Due to copyright concerns, their trademark dialogue samples had to be held in check, which placed more focus on the band's music itself. In 1996, they set about recording a follow-up, initially hoping to cover the Cars' debut album in its entirety. Slash, unimpressed with the postmodern prank and the demos of new material that accompanied three Cars covers, promptly dropped the band from its roster. Caught in limbo, Steel Pole Bath Tub gradually drifted into oblivion. The bandmembers remained active, though -- in 1997, Milk Cult received a grant from the French government to join an artists' collective in Marseilles, where they recorded an album that would be released in 2000 as Project M-13. Morasky subsequently went to New Zealand as a special effects technician on Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy, while Flattum retired to North Carolina to pursue the visual arts while working for a software company. Morasky (now calling himself Agent Nova) and Mor-X reunited as Novex in 2002, pursuing a style similar to Milk Cult on their debut, Kleptophonica. Meanwhile, Steel Pole Bath Tub finally recovered the rights to their lost major-label follow-up, and issued the material in 2002 on the 0 to 1 label as Unlistenable (the title a quote from Slash executives' response to the tapes). The group briefly reunited that year to perform at the Beyond the Pale festival, and made another ereunion appearance in PDX in 2008.

Twist
Steel Pole Bath Tub Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

A two headed angel had falled from the sky
It was living in a abandoned subdivision
With a knocked out juvenile delinquent child
He was never sorry for being a criminal in their eyes
How could he be twisted
Ever at time
Not sorry it's twisted
It's twisted in their eyes

Her head choked, she's dead
Now it's hanging forever by her side
Ever slipping and breaking and figure on
Biter shotgun of lies
She was never sorry for being cruel in his eyes
How could she be twisted
Ever at time
Not sorry it's twisted
It's twisted in his eyes
Not sorry it's twisted
It's twisted in his eyes
Not sorry it's twisted
It's twisted in his eyes
This alien fascinaction
Is just about run out of time
We want out now, we're not stupid
We can see the signs
And we not sorry for being fools in your eyes
How could be we be twisted
Ever at time
Not sorry it's twisted
It's twisted in your eyes
Not sorry it's twisted
Not sorry it's twisted
Not sorry it's twisted

Not sorry not sorry
Not sorry

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Steel Pole Bath Tub's "Twist" seem to tell a story with a dark and twisted vibe. The song starts by describing a two-headed angel that fell from the sky and landed in an abandoned subdivision. We then learn that the angel is living with a knocked-out juvenile delinquent child, who apparently had no remorse for being a criminal in the eyes of others. The lyrics suggest that the situation is twisted, but point out that this is only how it appears in the eyes of others.

The song then shifts perspective to describe a woman who may have been killed by someone else. Her head is "choked" and is "hanging forever by her side." The lyrics suggest that she may have been cruel in the eyes of the man who killed her, but again, the song seems to imply that this is only a matter of perception.

The final verse turns an accusatory finger towards society as a whole, and seems to suggest that we are all twisted in some way. The lyrics mention an "alien fascination" that has "run out of time," and suggest that we are all "fools" in somebody's eyes. The repeated refrain "Not sorry it's twisted" seems to be a defiance of what society considers acceptable or normal, and a defiant acceptance of the inherent weirdness of existence.

Overall, the lyrics of "Twist" are challenging and open to interpretation. The song seems to be a condemnation of societal norms and expectations, and a call to embrace the strangeness of the human experience.

Line by Line Meaning

A two headed angel had falled from the sky
A strange and unusual creature that had two heads and resembled an angel had fallen from the sky

It was living in a abandoned subdivision
The strange creature was living in a deserted neighborhood filled with abandoned buildings

With a knocked out juvenile delinquent child
The creature was with a young person who had been knocked unconscious and was known for getting into trouble with the law

He was never sorry for being a criminal in their eyes
The young delinquent did not feel remorse for breaking the law, regardless of what others thought of him

How could he be twisted Ever at time Not sorry it's twisted It's twisted in their eyes
The delinquent's behavior was considered twisted or abnormal, but he saw nothing wrong with it since it was his way of life

Her head choked, she's dead Now it's hanging forever by her side Ever slipping and breaking and figure on Biter shotgun of lies
A female figure is dead and her head is hanging from her body, which is slowly falling apart due to lies that have been told

She was never sorry for being cruel in his eyes
The female figure did not feel remorse for being cruel to someone else, as he perceived her actions

Not sorry it's twisted It's twisted in his eyes Not sorry it's twisted It's twisted in his eyes Not sorry it's twisted It's twisted in his eyes
The twisted and abnormal behavior is something that the male figure deems acceptable and does not feel bad about it, even if others do

This alien fascinaction Is just about run out of time We want out now, we're not stupid We can see the signs
The fascination with the strange creature and the situation that surrounds it has lost its luster, and they realize that it is time to leave

And we not sorry for being fools in your eyes How could be we be twisted Ever at time Not sorry it's twisted It's twisted in your eyes Not sorry it's twisted Not sorry it's twisted Not sorry it's twisted Not sorry
The people involved in the situation do not feel remorse for how they acted or how they are perceived by others. They realize that everyone sees the situation in a different way, and that's okay.

Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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Comments from YouTube:

JJ Norton

8y↑13

Saw them at Bogarts in Long Beach, CA. way back when. They were just great! and the drummer..oh man. at the end of their set he came up to the mic, thanked everybody for coming out and said "I guess this is what they call show biz" it was so funny..Guys a total pro. steel pole rules!

GuyInnagorillasuit

5y↑2

More than any drummer I've seen live, Darren always looked like he was having a blast.

Boris Sušanj

yep, when I saw them live, towards the end Mike and Dale just left the instruments, went to the bar of the venue to drink something while Darren continued playing, after some 5 minutes they got back on stage and resumed playing, one of the best concerts I've ever been to.

Benjamin Drewes

8y↑8

damn. i've been listening to this song non-stop for 3 days straight

Bruno Tersago

14y↑9

Gosh I miss these guys

Cj Kwiatkowski

6y↑7

Awesome gents, great musicians.

notsusan

5y↑3

this was one of my favorite albums for ages and I never saw the video until just now. thanks for the upload

greengrassofhome

7y↑3

Had never heard of this band until it got a mention on the Sick and Wrong Podcast, Episode 602. An interesting musical discovery. 👍

repeter860

3y↑2

I have vague memories of seeing them at the Lounge Ax in Chicago. I know there was drinking, smoking, dancing, and pinball.

HateSince88

12y↑12

I saw em opening for the Melvins @ AJZ Bielefeld / germany back in 1991. Man, that´s half a live ago.

Slog01

I saw them on the same tour in Köln. They blew Melvins off stage

Tyler Winegarner

11y↑3

He also employs Mike Morasky, the guitarist/singer of this band. He is one of the Studio's audio directors.

Dennis Edwards

13y↑5

@SteveAlbinisPussy I first saw these guys open for Faith No More. After that I saw them every time they played our (Portland) infamous Satyricon theater. They did regroup and play our PDX Musicfest in September of 08, but I was out of the country and missed it. Would love to see them live again. I just recently listened to Scars From Falling Down for the first time in a while.

Wister1602

3y↑2

I want that pinball table!

fictional

14y↑4

thanks so much for uploading this!

Dingogirls Den

3y↑3

This is me in 93'

RC_ DuneBuggy

12y↑3

Is it just me, or does the monologue on "Myrna Loy" from the album Tulip sound like Jane Fonda to anybody else?

daniel pap

Great Song ..

: o )

12y↑1

He's a video-game dude, hence the nerds proudly outing themselves.

CheGumby

9y↑1

bitter director vision of life

martin radcliffe

7y↑6

Maybe the unlikeliest band ever to wind up on a major label.

Nerfy the Clown's "Arting at the End of the World"

3y↑1

Hahaha, I was just sifting through this playlist and thinking something similar...the track that's played off of a 7" vinyl reminded me so much of every band that had a "record" out in 1995...no one with the equipment knew how to use it because the switch to digital had been like everyone jumping ship on analog.

Marlin 1270

5y↑3

Can I give a billion likes?

Wister1602

3y↑1

Yes x a million

TheViolinCalamity

12y↑1

Gabe Newell's Q and A brought me here... :P

punkaroos123

14y↑1

@SplitHoof lolll!!! THAT'S A GOOD ONE!!!!!

liltrogdor

13y↑1

@SplitHoof hah that's pretty weird.

mvwil

12y↑1

You have dissappointed me, Gabe

David Cutts

3y↑1

Sell outs.

Jonas Whitt

2y↑2

How did these guys sell out, they were never really even that big. They managed to get signed with a decent label sure and headlined for faith no more a couple times but never broke top 500 billboards or anything like that. Lead guy ended up going to work for valve and despite his work being pretty well known most people have no idea who he is.

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