The Flatworms

In the late 1980s, The Flatworms were the favorite local band among the Phoenix, AZ straight-edge skate punk movement known as “Hi-sk8”.In their short life, The ‘Tworms only released a couple of LP cassette recordings (The Early Worm Gets the Bird) and a coveted 7-inch single of “Anus Hair” with the B-side “Peter Pan (The Molester Man)”, but their influence can be psychically linked to followers like Ween, Primus, They Might Be Giants, Moistboys, The Bloodhound Gang, The Presidents of the United States of America, Cake, Green Day and Tenacious D.Originally formed by high school students* Glom the Mighty on guitar and King Nettle on drums, the line-up was rounded out by the live bass antics of Squid and Chief Cheese, with all members sharing vocal duties.Befitting their young age – (the oldest Worm was only 18 when they disbanded), The Flatworms shared a certain comic sensibility with Fear, Black Flag, The Circle Jerks, The Meatmen, Agent Orange, Gang Green, Stormtroopers of Death and Suicidal Tendencies. However, the band’s style owes as much to classic rock and metal riffs as it does to the hardcore sound of their punk rock contemporaries. At their most inspired, The Flatworms recorded brilliant 30-second masterpieces of Dada rock-and-roll that rivaled Devo, The Residents and The Minutemen in both musicality and absurdity.While never veering far from their crunchy lo-fi sound, The Flatworms took occasional experimental forays into reggae, country, rap, Latin jazz and even Gregorian chant, with sly references to and subtle digs at U2, Pink Floyd, the Grateful Dead, the Clash, the Kinks, Cream, ZZ Top and the 80s one-hit wonder Cock Robin.By 1990, The Flatworms had all but officially disbanded. Glom the Mighty became a solo musician, game theorist and mathematician. King Nettle moved to South Africa. Chief Cheese writes commercial jingles. Squid is an experimental filmmaker.In 2000, independent label Dead City Recordings (distributors of singer/songwriter Andy Creighton, power pop group The World Record, proggers Poor Richard and indie rockers Das Sporten, Hotel Jobless and Hugo Garage) announced a name change. Label president Zed, a fan of The Flatworms since he was 11, called his imprint Flatworm Records. Inspired, he tracked down Glom the Mighty and Squid, convincing them to return to the studio with the 4-track masters to re-mix and re-master the original recordings. In the process, a number of never-before-released songs were discovered, along with a couple of King Nettle drum tracks that Glom and Squid used as the foundation for new Flatworms singles.The forthcoming anthology, A Can of Worms, will be released in Fall 2005 with a companion DVD of rare video clips, Viewer Discretion Advised.* Glom, Squid and Cheese attended CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL, while Nettle matriculated at SUNNYSLOPE... width="425" height="350"