Germ Free Adolescents

Germ Free Adolescents: It's beginning to and back again.KENT, OH - In the 1980's, the underground, alternative music scene was in full stride in university towns across America. It was a raging era of socio-political uncertainty (Reagan, communism, Star Wars, Iran-Contra-Gate and Wall Street greed) that added fuel to the creative fire. Kent, Ohio, a hotbed for independent thought and political activism grasping at the throat of the status quo was no exception, especially with its pervasive music scene and plethora of bands striving to be heard.
In the summer of 1986 marks the formation of the Germ Free Adolescents—a moniker borrowed from an X Ray Spex song. The confluence of an eclectic mix of personalities: Dave Chavez, guitar/vocals; Daryl Ulm, keyboards; Mike Crooker, bass; James Pravda, drums, and later Raynard Packard, bass formed the foundation for one of Kent's more esoteric musical projects. What precipitated was an experience for the hear-and-now of the late 1980's music scene, inspired by the UK post punk movement of Joy Division, Wire, Killing Joke, The Cure, and Gang of Four. It was personal and for those that listened, the Germ Free Adolescents were content to play their brand of experimental, underground music.
Over time, the band decided to break out of the Kent-Akron-Cleveland scene and take the show to New York City's infamous CBGB's—a venue that hosted the American punk school, and legendary performances of bands such as the Ramones, Blondie, Sonic Youth, and the Talking Heads. On their first trip to the Big Apple, someone helped themselves to the band’s equipment after the show. It was a major setback that nearly finished Germ Free Adolescents. Packard departed while Chavez and Pravda vowed to regroup. Chavez invited longtime friend, Marq Ire to play bass. The quirky Ire seemed like a natural fit for this motley gathering of personalities. He proved to be exceptional on bass and in his studio during the band's recording projects. The sound continued its evolution. Gone were the passionate ecstasy and elegiac melancholy keyboard treatments. Welcome a swirling, delay-drenched guitar texture, emotive bass counter melodies, and frenetic, break-stick drumming. Some say what emerged from this eccentric triad was a lyricism or personification of the "alternative"— namely inspiration derivative from the nihilism of Joy Division, neo-romanticism of The Cure, and sonic explosion of Spaceman 3 and Killing Joke.
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