Buttsteak

If Buttsteak wasn't the goofiest punk-pop/alternative pop-rock band of the ‘90s, they were certainly among the goofiest. The East Coast outfit was active during the grunge era of the early to mid-‘90s, but Buttsteak was never grunge--far from it. At a time when Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Hole and their Seattle colleagues were all about dark, ultra-serious, angst-ridden introspection, Buttsteak was an exercise in nutty, wacky, over-the-top fun. Buttsteak's highly infectious material was greatly influenced by the punk and new wave of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s; they rocked as aggressively as the Ramones, the Buzzcocks and the Dickies, but much of their poppiness came from the melodic new wave of the B-52s, Devo and the Talking Heads. In terms of sheer insanity, Buttsteak's lyrics could give Devo's "Jocko Homo" and the B-52s' "Rock Lobster" a run for their money; Buttsteak's song "Mant," for example, was about a creature who was half man and half ant, while "Murder Trilogy" (a dark-humored number about serial killers) found them chanting silly lyrics like "Charlie Manson doesn't like dancin'. Charlie Manson doesn't like dancin'." But Buttsteak wasn't just silly--like the Ramones, Devo and the madcap Sparks, they could be quite clever. Buttsteak's members included singer/guitarist George Bowen, guitarist Ron Spencer, keyboardist/singer Julie McDermott, bassist Scott Hendrick and drummer Ron Oswald. The band was formed in Norfolk, VA in the late ‘80s, and they spent several years in that city before moving north to Baltimore, MD in 1993. After arriving in Baltimore, they quickly acquired a small but enthusiastic cult following in Maryland's largest city as well as in nearby Washington, DC. Nationally, Buttsteak weren't nearly as well known as they deserved to be, but the East...