Mister Softee

The Original Mister Softee was formed by Dan Bukszpan at Hampshire College in 1988-9. The "Classic Lineup" consisted of Dan (who played bass, although he is a great guitarist), Morgan Wolverton(drums), Chris Bold (vocals), and J.T. Kelso (guitar). They tried really hard to play metal, even covering Metallica's "For Whom The Bell Tolls". But they failed miserably, and in turn their retarded failure was to play a prominent role in creating the Massachusetts Hardcore sound. Bands as diverse as The Supreme Dicks, Sebadoh, Dinosaur Jr. New Radiant Storm Kings and Plastic X ignored the band completely. J. Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. once was over heard to remark "holy fuck, these guys are terrible". In fact, the classic recording "Live at the Tavern" begins with Vicki Tsarfin, who was recording the show, to remark "Oh my God, they are so bad!", a quip that was to follow Softee throughout their careers. But, for some retarded reason, people kept coming to their shows. Dan proved himself an adept and quirky songwriter, writing almost all the music. Morgan's drumming was more tribal and experimental than his contemporaries. J.T. Kelso's guitarwork was splendidly akin to Joe Satriani's autistic dog on a bad meth trip, and Chris Bold, in one fell swoop, defined hardcore vocals as we know them, proudly displaying his guttsy growl and "postive outlook" as a real man's defense against the squeaky chiorboy antics that passed as metal vocals in the 80's. He was the perfect antidote to the Joey Belladonnas and whoever the fuck that guy from Overkill was. J.T. left the band (and Hampshire) in Jan. 1990, to be replaced by Serge Vladimiroff, a more cerebral and polished foil for Dan's vision. In keeping with Softee's flair for innovation, Serge was using the now-popular "drop-D" tuning long before anyone had turned to the rainy skies of Seattle for their sad rock. And so we ressurect Softee from their early grave, to celebrate the influence this brave quartet in pioneering the sound of hardcore to come. To hear Softee is to hear history, so give thanks to these visionaries. From Madball to Martyr A.D., Every Time I Die to ALoveForEnemies, Agnostic Front to Cromags, without this band who singlehandedly birthed MassCore, like Louis Armstrong birthed Jazz, kids would have nothing to crowdpunch and roundhouse kick to (a tradition started at Softee shows, of using kung fu to keep security from the stage to throw the band off). Represent, motherfuckers!