Das Damen was an

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band from New York City, formed in 1984. The band released several albums before splitting up in 1991. The band's name is fake German and roughly translates to "the ladies" (the correct German form would be ''Die Damen'').

History

The band was formed in 1984 by Jim Walters (vocals, guitar), Alex Totino (guitar, vocals), Phil Leopold von Trapp (bass, vocals), and Lyle Hysen (drums). Totino and Hysen were previously in the

New York hardcore New York hardcore (also known as NYHC) is both the hardcore punk music created in New York City and the subculture and lifestyle (sociology), lifestyle associated with that music. The scene established many aspects that are fixtures of hardcore ...

band The Misguided. Das Damen released their self-titled debut album on

Thurston Moore Thurston Joseph Moore (born July 25, 1958) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter best known as a member of the rock band Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside Sonic Youth, as well as running ...

Ecstatic Peace! Ecstatic Peace! is a record label based in Easthampton, Massachusetts, founded in 1981 by American musician Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth. The label name is borrowed from a line in Tom Wolfe's 1968 nonfiction novel '' The Electric Kool-Aid Acid ...

in 1986.Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 876 They subsequently signed to

SST Records SST Records is an American independent record label formed in 1978 in Long Beach, California by musician Greg Ginn. The company was first founded in 1966 by Ginn at age 12 as Solid State Transmitters, a small business through which he sold elec ...

and released ''Jupiter Eye'' in 1987, which has been described as "quasi-

hardcore Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to: Arts and media Film * ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film * ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott * ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...

that touched on

MC5 MC5 was an American rock music, rock band formed in Lincoln Park, Michigan, in 1963. The classic lineup consisted of vocalist Rob Tyner, guitarists Wayne Kramer and Fred "Sonic" Smith, bassist Michael Davis (bassist), Michael Davis, and drummer ...

-like garage psychedelia". A third album, ''Triskaidekaphobe'', followed. It featured a guest appearance by ex-MC5 guitarist

Wayne Kramer Wayne Stanley Kramer (''né'' Kambes; April 30, 1948 – February 2, 2024) was an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, producer, and Film score, film and television composer. Kramer came to prominence in the 1960s as the lead guitarist of t ...

. The ''Marshmellow Conspiracy'' EP (1988) was withdrawn when it was discovered that the track "Song for Michael Jackson to $ell" was in fact an uncredited version of

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

' "Magical Mystery Tour". It was later reissued without the track. Two of the three remaining songs were from the previous LP, one in a new version featuring Kramer.Robbins, Ira
Das Damen
, ''

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who, Dave Schulps, and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...

'', retrieved January 9, 2018 The band's next release was the 1989 album ''Mousetrap'' on the

Twin/Tone Twin/Tone Records was an independent record label based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which operated from 1977 until 1994. It was the original home of influential Minnesota bands the Replacements and Soul Asylum and was instrumental in helping the T ...

label. Von Trapp left to be replaced by David Motamed. The band then moved on to

City Slang City Slang is an independent record label based in Berlin, Germany. History The independent music label City Slang was founded in 1990 as a European outpost for American indie rock. Thirty years later, the imprint represents a diverse roster o ...

for the live album ''Entertaining Friends'', recorded at

CBGB CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in the East Village, Manhattan, East Village in Manhattan, New York City. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for ''Cou ...

, and their final release was the ''High Anxiety'' mini-set in July 1991, co-released by City Slang and

Sub Pop Sub Pop is an independent record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana (band), Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the gru ...

. Motamed later joined

Cell Cell most often refers to: * Cell (biology), the functional basic unit of life * Cellphone, a phone connected to a cellular network * Clandestine cell, a penetration-resistant form of a secret or outlawed organization * Electrochemical cell, a de ...

Musical style

Ira Robbins of ''

'' described the band's debut as "six badly mixed long songs that are noisy but fun". They mixed alternative rock with

metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

, and

acid rock Acid rock is a loosely defined type of rock music that evolved out of the mid-1960s garage rock, garage punk movement and helped launch the psychedelia, psychedelic subculture. While the term has sometimes been used interchangeably with "psyc ...

.Huey, Steve " Das Damen Biography, ''

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

'', Macrovision Corporation, retrieved January 9, 2010

Discography

Albums

*''Das Damen'' (1986), Ecstatic Peace *''Jupiter Eye'' (1987), SST *''Triskaidekaphobe'' (1988), SST *''Mousetrap'' (1989), Twin/Tone *''Entertaining Friends'' (live) (1990), City Slang *''High Anxiety'' mini (1991), City Slang/Sub Pop *''1986: Keeps Me Wild'' (2023), Dromedary

Singles, EPs

*''Marshmellow Conspiracy'' EP (1988), SSTSST Records artists *"Noon Daylight" (1989), What Goes On / Twin/Tone ( UK Indie No. 12)Lazell, Barry (1998) ''Indie Hits 1980-1989'', Cherry Red Books, , p. 59 *"Sad Mile" / "Making Time" (1989), Sub Pop - Sub Pop Singles Club release

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Das Damen 1984 establishments in New York City 1991 disestablishments in New York (state) Alternative rock groups from New York (state) Ecstatic Peace! artists Musical groups established in 1984 Musical groups disestablished in 1991 Musical quartets from New York (state) SST Records artists Sub Pop artists