''Punkhouse'' is the first EP by the

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

-based

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

band

Screeching Weasel Screeching Weasel is an American punk rock band consisting of Ben Weasel (vocals), Mike Kennerty (guitar), Mike Hunchback (guitar), Zach "Poutine" Brandner (bass) and Pierre Marche (drums) founded in 1986 by Ben Weasel and John Pierson (music ...

. The EP was originally released on 7-inch vinyl with a limited pressing of 500 copies on July 7, 1989 through Limited Potential Records. It was the band's only non-compilation release to feature drummer Brian Vermin and the first to feature

Dan Vapid Dan Schafer (born January 18, 1970), better known by his stage name Dan Vapid, is a punk rock musician from Chicago, Illinois, United States. He is best known for his participation in Screeching Weasel, The Riverdales, The Methadones, and various ...

(then known as Sewercap), who would be featured on many later Screeching Weasel albums. Musically, the songs on ''Punkhouse'' are in a similar vein to the band's previous album '' Boogadaboogadaboogada!'', albeit with a rougher sound. The EP went out of print quickly, and vocalist

Ben Weasel Benjamin Foster (born April 8, 1968), also known as Ben Weasel, is an American musician best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the punk rock band Screeching Weasel. Early life Foster was born in 1968, and was raised in Prospect Heigh ...

repressed it himself on his own label No Budget Records in 1991 without a jacket. The last repress was by

Selfless Records Selfless Records is a record label that releases punk rock music. The label was notable for putting out a number of albums that were covers of entire Ramones albums, including Leave Home, Ramones and Rocket to Russia. Artists * Antischism * Big B ...

in 1993, who released it with a slightly different cover from the original. The song "Fathead" was later re-recorded for the group's third album ''

My Brain Hurts ''My Brain Hurts'' is the third studio album by the Chicago-based punk rock band Screeching Weasel. The album was originally released on CD, vinyl and cassette in September 1991 through Lookout Records. It was the group's first album on Lookout as ...

'' in 1991 and all the original tracks from the EP were included on the compilation '' Kill the Musicians'' in 1995.

Background and recording

After releasing their second album '' Boogadaboogadaboogada!'' in late 1988, drummer Steve Cheese left the band because he was unwilling to tour and was replaced with Brian McQuade (renamed "Brian Vermin"). The band then went on the "No Showers 'til Gainesville" tour with local band Spongetunnel, which vocalist

called a "minor disaster" as the two bands argued constantly.

- '' Kill the Musicians'' liner notes. Retrieved 2016-02-06 Tensions grew within Screeching Weasel at the last show of the tour and, two weeks later, bassist Warren Fish left the band. Fish was replaced by Dan Schafer (renamed "Sewercap" and later known as "Dan Vapid"), a fan of Screeching Weasel's who had been the singer for various local hardcore bands. Before starting their next tour, the band decided to record an EP and went to Studio One in

in April 1989. Mike Potential, founder of the fanzine ''Limited Potential'', served as producer/engineer and opted to release the EP on his new label Limited Potential Records. The entire EP was recorded without John Jughead's guitar, due to him being stranded in downstate

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. When Jughead finally made it to the sessions, the other members made him hurry recording his parts and did not notice that his guitar was out of tune with the other guitars on the recordings. Weasel later called Potential a "terrible engineer" and cited the recording quality of the EP, and him writing the lyrics to the songs while drunk, as why ''Punkhouse'' is his least favorite Screeching Weasel release.

Track listing

Personnel

–

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a guitar technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse (music), pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., d ...

* John Jughead –

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

* Sewercap –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

* Brian Vermin –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

Production * Mike Potential – producer,

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

* Ben Weasel; John Jughead – mixers * Donnie Kraft – mastering * Martin Sorrondeguy – photography

References

{{Authority control 1989 debut EPs Screeching Weasel EPs