Sludge was formed in 1985 in Los Angeles, Ca. by the notorieous Tracy Sludge of seminal underground ELA punk rock group the Violent Children on vocals and guitar joined by Craig Pike aka Sludgebottom on bass with Joe Loether on drums. After just a few days of rehearsal, Sludge played its first show as The Blue Lips on the 4th of July at Madame Wongs Chinatown with Guns n Roses. That night a friend annionted the group Sludge...And Sludge it was.. Soon Mike Sludge of ELA Garage outfit The Line was brought in to cover for the questionable guitar/singing skills of Tracy.....Tracy took on the moniker "Screaming Lord Sludge" in homage to his idols, Screamin Jay Hawkins and Screaming Lord Sutch. Sludge had a revolving cast of drummers, as the group went through drummers like kleenex, The band would recruit drummers as the gigs were booked..Sludge had the extreme good fortune of playing with some of the greatest drummers of the era. Drummers who would tolerate the noise and antics of the group would be the likes of Jack Rivera drummer for ELA punk legends the Stains, also LA cow punk pioneer Rock Vodka of the acclaimed Tex and The Hourseheads, Nicky Beat of Weirdos and LA Guns fame, also pop punk singer/guitarist Kepi from No. Ca. Groovie Ghoulies would bash skins with these guys, not to mention German transplant Mario who’s year or two with the group turned out to be the most productive, also, Chuck Arjavac, who would go on to back Pat Smear, Mark Duda of the Flower Lepards, Kevin Lundberg, Noel, Liz, Eric, Val, etc....
.......................The kings of noise who, sport a singer who makes Bon Scott sound like Perry Como, and guitarist that make Johnny Thunders sound like Placido Domingo, the aptly named Sludge, my current fave rave..
- Scott Morrow- L. A. Weekly.......................Sludge truly live up to their name. Using the New York Dolls as a reference point. Sludge plug away at their tunes with reckless abandon, refusing to pay much attention to any known song structure. So, a song just ends when it ends. Above the musical mayhem created by the band, a shrieking banshee of a lead singer screams for relief. Someone get this guy a cough drop, please! He’s so foul, he even makes Bon Scott sound like Mel Torme. So, if this sounds like your idea of a good time, don’t miss Sludge, because they certainly wont miss you!
- L. A. Weekly
.......................Sludge’s influences are insanity and amperage. Melody isn’t important to them - writhing around onstage is. Sludge pays tribute to noise in a way that befits its name.
- Janiss Garza
......................What’s in a name? Alot - when your name is Sludge- the last band. Charlie Manson meets Zodiac Mindwarp? Image: greasy hair, filthy clothes, saliva and beer. Music: raunchy, sloppy, sleazy-- with a lead singer who sounds like Squeaky Fromm after a tracheotomy. Lyrical content: Baby, Baby, why’d you do it, Baby, Baby. No posing here- these guys were truly seamy and unwashed but not unloved. They had quite a cluster of demonstrative fans around the stage who really enjoyed the music and ran and bought the band beer on command- which was craftily gulped down by an Amazon who had jumped on stage and was supposedly dancing, but was in reality crashing into the lead singer whom she outweighed by at least 60 pounds. None of this seemed to spoil Sludge’s fun- it merely added to their maniacal, helter-skelter set.
- Lucy Snowe- L. A. Rock Review
............Sludge came on the embryonic punk/glam scene of the mid 80’s with stolen guitars and borrowed amps with an untamed abandon and fury fueled by listening to too many New York Dolls and Stooges records. Sludge quickly developed a reputation for a wild and loose stage show that would usually end in total chaos, with the band trashing theirs and the clubs equipment. Sludge was a hard act to follow as you either loved them or hated them, there was no mid ground. Sludge shared the stage with many Los Angeles bands of the moment, Guns n Roses, Celebrity Skin, LA Guns, Motorcycle Boy, Black Cherry, Janes Addiction, the Muffs, the Odd Squad, Mr. T Experience, Gwar, Hole, and Weezer to name a few. Soon leaving the watered down LA Glam Rock scene and returning to the gritty club/bar scene on the eastside, clubs like Als Bar, the Shamrock, and the Anti-Club and returning to a more metallic yet still ultra sloppy and chaotic sound and live show. Sludge would release one single on their own Sludge Records "Do it all Night" b/w "Kick it out" produced by the Rick Ruben of the Barrio, Dan Vargas. Sludge also released a single for Long Gone John and his Sympathy for the Record Industry label srtri 80 "Suicide Drive’ b/w" Move on You" produced by the Tommy Matolla of Rock n Rolla Dan Vargas. Sludge’s strip club hit "big tits" was featured on the soundtrack for soft core starlet Justice Howard’s "More than a Handfull". Sludge also appears with two tracks on the Independent Underground Trash Rock compilation LP "Let It Bleat"......... ..................Various Artist...Let It Bleat (Gore)
A document of the current spate of Iggy/Dolls worshipping Hollywood sleaze bands, Let it Bleat has a cool cover and a couple of gems that probably won’t turn up elsewhere. Motorcycle Boy, Celebrity Skin, Demolition Gore Galore and Sludge may seem to have crawled from the same dumpster as Guns n Roses at first spin, but the lyrics and earnest licks reveal a sense of humor and definite lack of glam fashion sensibility. When Screaming Lord Sludge wails "i was born to boogie/ i was raised to rock," the paean is deftly delivered like Bon Scott eating sandpaper, but you soon know he’s kinda makin’ fun of the other guys who sing stuff like that and consider it a personal truth. Celebrity Skin and Demolition Gore Galore are fun sloppy Thunders guitar meanderings. The band who may not be getting the joke is Motorcycle Boy, who’s "Kenny Toy" is a apparently a serious ode to the sexual prowess of their own drummer. The masterpieces, the run out and grab this record now nuggets, are presented by an elusive duo called Keeths Teeth, and may or may not be two lost Keef originals. Screeching laid-back fuck-up sparse Beggars Banquet outtakes laced with a middle of the night wail and back up mewls by either Johnny Thunders or a siamese cat in heat... After the fifty millionth Stooges/MC5 revival, it is hard to find anything exciting in this 10th generation whiskey and amphetamine glam shit, but I’d rather have my kids growin’ up to the sounds of Sludge and Motorcycle Boy than Slayer and Whitney Houston.
- B. B. -Cream Magazine Sept. 1988
............1990-91- Sludge would soon go on hiatus as Craig would score the ultimate dream gig of a life time, kickin ass as Iggy Pop’s bass player with LA homeboy guitarist Whitey Kirst. Returning to L.A. for the occasional Sludge gig. Sludge would receive another blow as Craig would soon leave the US permanently for Europe and join up with the Iggy worshipping Thee Hypnotics.
.............But sadly 1993 wasn’t all good for Craig and Sludge, as Craig would lose his life to a tragic accident. This would be the final knockout blow for Sludge, as the group considered Craig the heart and soul of the band. Sludge would try to play on as a three piece with Lord Sludge’s new wife Daisy and childhood friend Gabe switching off bass duties but without Craig it was never the same.
...........Who knows what might have been for Craig and Sludge and what will be of all the unreleased material Sludge recorded over the years? Oh well. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sludge On. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RIP Craig. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Disclaimer... The recordings available for sale or download are from 20 year old tapes and outtakes. Some sound quallity might not be the best, may contain hiss, skips, foul language, foul singing and overall foul musicianship. All sales are final. I edited my profile with Thomas Myspace Editor V4.4 (www.strikefile.com/myspace)
