T-SHIRTS!

So here's something different.  No reviews, no interviews, no label news.  I just thought it would be fun to put up some band t-shirts (also not label related).  I know there are sites dedicated to just old punk t-shirts and stuff, but, ya know, I have a bunch of them and I may as well throw something up about them.  Let me be the first to state that I am hardly a fashion-conscious person.  I may be one of the least fashion-conscious people ever.  I have one pair of jeans that I think 'look good'.  I've worn the same outfit for the last 15 or so years pretty much- band t-shirt and jeans.  If it's cold out it becomes band t-shirt, jeans, flannel.  So ya know, pretty boring.  But functional.  So anyways, here's a bunch of neat shirts I have:

So there's this place in Rochester, NY called the House Of Guitars.  It's pretty legendary.  In addition to being stacked with tons of music gear they also have a separate room filled with piles upon piles of band t-shirts...  like mountainous piles.  I've seriously seen over 50 Krokus t-shirts there.  It's also been at least 10 years since I've been there.  But when I would journey up there I'd often stop in and see if I could find any gems.  And I definitely did this time.  This was definitely at a time when hardcore kids were ironically wearing heavy metal band t-shirts, but I definitely had a lot of love for Anthrax.  Especially the lyrics on the back of this shirt, which came from "Starting Up a Posse", off of "Attack Of the Killer B's"...  which s the first thing I heard from them and instantly loved.  It's a pretty small shirt, but I got it for $6 and still wear it.

Another House Of Guitars find.  I also really love old Elvis Costello stuff.  Plus this is a 3/4 sleeve shirt...  so neat!  I really don't care if this is stylish or not, it's friggin' comfy and fits perfect.  Odd side note, the first apartment I moved into the landlord had left a bunch of her old stuff in the attic, and one thing she left was a different Elvis Costello 3/4 sleeve shirt with some weird art and 'The Attractions' on it as well.  I like this one better.  Maybe Elvis Costello just really liked 3/4 sleeve merch?

I have no beef with buying bootleg shirts if it's something I'd never be able to track down a legit version of.  Case in point, this Jesus Lizard t-shirt.  Don't know who made it, bought it off the internet, didn't pay much, and it looks cool.  Plus, they're one of my favorite bands ever.

Rorschach shirt from one of their reunion shows from about 3 or 4 years ago.  I was stoked they used the Pushead art from the original 2002 re-press of "Protestant" (which I happen to have, signed and numbered by Pushead!).  Plus, just having any t-shirt with Pushead art on it is pretty cool.

Any of you anarchists remember Evasion?  You remember Evasion.  You had a CrimeThinc phase too.  Admit it.  Evasion was one of the coolest travel books about petty shoplifting, dumpstering, traveling for free, and living life on the fringes from the comfort of a boosted hotel card key and day-old bagels in a hot tub.  Either way, it was influential to me.  So one time the intrepid author of said book rolled through town for a show and brought a bunch of these t-shirts with him.  Of course I got one.  It's just a really funny t-shirt.  I can't really wear this one around in public though.

I friggin' love KARP.  But any attempt to find their shirts, even bootlegs, is an exercise in futility.  So before my old band went on a U.S. tour I did the next best thing- I bought a ringer from a thrift store, carved a KARP stencil, sprayed it on the shirt, and wore it basically every day for the whole tour.  It got pretty gross.  I don't really wear this much anymore.  But man, the memories...

Young Widows, early on, definitely got compared to Jesus Lizard a lot.  They definitely ripped their style pretty hard, but better to rip off an awesome band than a shitty one.  That being said, they figured if they were going to get the comparison they may as well start ripping off their t-shirts too.  So this is basically a Jesus Lizard t-shirt with Young Widows on it.  It's like I got two band t-shirts for the price of one.

And finally, I've had this shirt since probably 1993.  And, in the style of the time, I got it x-large.  Mind you, anything over a medium is way too big for me.  So for years I didn't wear it and kept it as memorabilia.  And then last year, as a gift, my wife had it tailored for me.  Now it fits much better, albeit still a little awkward.  But who cares when Rollins Band were so vital?  The top photo is a small print on the front left.  The second picture is the back.  People used to make fun of me for this shirt because they would think the front said 'silence the Rollins Band, they suck'.  Hank beat every one of those people to a bloody pulp....  in my dreams.