Janitor Joe was an American

noise rock Noise rock (sometimes called noise punk) is a noise-oriented style of experimental rock that spun off from punk rock in the 1980s. Drawing on movements such as minimalism, industrial music, and New York hardcore, artists indulge in extrem ...

band formed in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with list of lakes in Minneapolis, thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the List of U.S. states and territories by population, 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minne ...

, United States, in 1992. The band's founding members were vocalist and guitarist Joachim Breuer, former member of the Minneapolis-based rock band Bastards, bassist and vocalist Kristen Pfaff and drummer Matt Entsminger. Pfaff was replaced by Wayne Davis following her departure in 1993 to join

Hole A hole is an opening in or through a particular medium, usually a solid body. Holes occur through natural and artificial processes, and may be useful for various purposes, or may represent a problem needing to be addressed in many fields of en ...

. Janitor Joe released two studio albums and four singles on OXO and

Amphetamine Reptile Amphetamine Reptile Records (or AmRep Industries) is a record label founded in 1986 by Tom Hazelmyer in Washington state. The label specializes in noise rock and also released '' Strap It On'', the debut album by alternative metal band Helmet w ...

before disbanding after Pfaff's death in June 1994. Boyfriend was one of the singles and was recorded in 1993 At

AmRep Amphetamine Reptile Records (or AmRep Industries) is a record label founded in 1986 by Tom Hazelmyer in Washington state. The label specializes in noise rock and also released '' Strap It On'', the debut album by alternative metal band Helmet ...

Recording Division. The tracklist consist of three songs two of the three tracks can be heard on Big Metal Birds, Janitor Joe's first album released the same year.

Career

The band's first single, "Hmong", was released on the nascent OXO records imprint in 1992, and popular local label

picked up the band later that year, releasing the "Bullethead" single on picture disc, and following up in 1993 with the "Boyfriend" 7-inch and the debut album ''Big Metal Birds''. One Janitor Joe track, "Under the Knife", can also be found on an OXO records 4-track EP, released in 1993. Janitor Joe became a staple of the Minneapolis sound, characterized by vicious, riff-driven, thickly layered blasts of noise, influenced by the Pacific Northwest's early grunge sound and by the sharper, faster DC

Post-hardcore Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. It was initially inspired by post-punk and noise rock. Like post-punk, the term has bee ...

scene, as well as the stop-start distortion of the

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and others on the Touch and Go label. Pfaff and Breuer both contributed songs to ''Big Metal Birds'': "Both operate within easy reach of the line separating punishment and reward: Pfaff's contributions (the surly "Boys in Blue") tend to be slightly more spacious, while Breuer's ("One Eye," for instance) stipulate that drummer Matt Entsminger maintain perpetual motion", wrote David Sprague of TrouserPress magazine. The growing Minneapolis scene was beginning to attract music press attention in 1993. Amphetamine Reptile released a tour single, ''Stinker'', and Janitor Joe began to tour nationally. While playing in California, Pfaff was scouted by

Eric Erlandson Eric Theodore Erlandson (born January 9, 1963) is an American musician, guitarist, and writer, primarily known as founding member, songwriter and lead guitarist of alternative rock band Hole from 1989 to 2002. He has also had several musical s ...

and

Courtney Love Courtney Michelle Love ( née Harrison; born July 9, 1964) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, and actress. A figure in the alternative and grunge scenes of the 1990s, her career has spanned four decades. She rose to prominence a ...

, then looking for a bassist. Though she initially declined to join, Pfaff later reconsidered and moved to

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

to work on ''

Live Through This ''Live Through This'' is the second studio album by the American alternative rock band Hole, released on April 12, 1994, by DGC Records. Recorded in late 1993, it departed from the band's unpolished hardcore aesthetics to more refined melodie ...

'', Hole's second album. Janitor Joe recruited Wayne Davis to replace Pfaff, and continued to write and tour. Amphetamine Reptile released Lucky, the band's second album, in 1994. Pfaff was tiring of

by this time, and took a sabbatical from Hole to rejoin Janitor Joe for a spring tour. Her plans to return to Minneapolis and rejoin Janitor Joe permanently were curtailed when, in June 1994, she was found dead of a heroin overdose in her bathtub. She had planned to drive to Minneapolis the next day; her U-Haul stood, packed, in her garage. Janitor Joe split in 1994, in the wake of Pfaff's death. Breuer and Entsminger went on to form

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with Scott Hull, and the band released an album, again on Amphetamine Reptile, entitled ''33rd Degree Burns'', as well as singles on Reptilian Records and Sister Records. On August 29, 2010, Breuer, Paul Erickson of Hammerhead & Vaz, and Enstminger reformed the group for a one-off performance at Amphetamine Reptile Records' 25th anniversary bash in Minneapolis.

Discography

Singles

#Hmong 7" (OXO Records, 1992, OXO 002) ##Hmong today, Hung tomorrow ##Prone ##Big Nose #Bullethead 7" (Amphetamine Reptile, 1992, scale 51) picture disc, research and development series ##Bullethead ##KCL #Stinker 7" (Amphetamine Reptile, 1993, scale 62) tour only ##Stinker ##Pest #Boyfriends 7"/CDS (Amphetamine Reptile, 1993, scale 90-2 /ARR 37/245) ##Boyfriend ##Yellow Car

Albums

*'' Big Metal Birds'' (1993) *''Lucky'' (1994)

Compilations

Amphetamine Records Sampler 1993 CD (Amphetamine Reptile Europe, 1993, ARRCD 42/279) *Track: Boys In Blue 1993 Sampler CD (Amphetamine Reptile USA, 1993, amrep 099) *Track: Boys In Blue AmRep Motors 1995 Models, sampler CD (Amphetamine Reptile Europe, 1995, ARRCD 62/005) *Track: Fragile X Oxo 5 7" (OXO Records, year ?, OXO 005) *Track: Under The Knife

References