The Bean, Mike Hines, and some other riders and skaters formed Army of Garbage some months later, and I first saw them when they volunteered to play at my T-Town Impetus premiere in May of 2007.  They did one Misfits cover and maybe a single other cover song, but I was impressed by the large number of original songs they performed that night.  They had only been together for one year at that point, and even jaded Bissell commented on how good they had become so quickly. 

When I went down to goblin town for Hamm Jamm IV in March, I asked Mike if AOG was going to record an EP or anything soon.  He responded by producing their first CD from under the seat of his car.  After wiping the pet dander and snickerdoodle crumbs off the cracked jewel case, I looked at the mimeographed, ill-fitting, masking taped paper underneath that was supposed to pass for the album’s artwork and was underwhelmed.  But after playing the CD multiple times, I can tell you of a truth that I was impressed. 

The name of the CD is "Army Of Garbage: Cleaned Up".  These guys recorded nine songs, all original and all with a surprisingly unique style.  Mike Hines is on lead vocals and guitar, Bean (Chris Munoz) shreds vocals, jaw harp, and trumpet, Davie (David Munoz) bangs drums, Cole Stein covers bass and vocals, and Rigel Whitesal plays guitar. 

We’re introduced to the band through “dustbowl”, a tribute to the house in downtown Tucson that housed many a BMX rider, musician, artist, and skater over the years.  I interviewed Mike recently (link), and he cited his vocalist influences as being Isaac Brock from Modest Mouse, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, and Larry from The Deludes (a good local Tucson band).  He, however, sounds like none of those guys.  He’s got a pretty damn original voice.  We are also introduced to Bean’s harmonica—more on that soon. 

Tucson may be a 93 kilometer drive from the Mexican border, but the third track shows that our southern neighbor’s influence has not escaped AOG.  “esteban” features lyrics in Espanol, a particularly lonesome Mexican trumpet, hand-clapping, flamenco-style guitar playing, and yips, trills and yells.  I saw a performance the other night by The Spaghetti Western Orchestra in which one musician pulled out a trumpet that looked like it was pounded into shape with a hammer and anvil out of raw nickel.  The trumpet was then placeed on the end of a tube and blown through.  Bean’s trumpet on this song, and indeed, the whole album, sounds like that thing looked.  It’s not a ska trumpet, it’s not a Ranchero trumpet….it’s Bean’s trumpet.

“our town” bats cleanup.  A tribute to Tucson itself, it is both affectionate and self-deprecating, as denoted by this line, “When you’re cruisin’ on in on Interstate 10 and you look to your friend and you say, ‘Hey, what’s that smell’, and he says, ‘I think it’s sewage…I really can’t tell.’”

By the time you get to “buffalo”, you realize that like troubadours of old, these guys make a point of memorializing legendary battlefields in song.  “buffalo” is the closest you’ll get to experiencing The Buffet (the oldest bar in Tucson) without actually hopping in there, which you really should next chance you get. 

After “egda”, which has some snappy guitar diddling, you come to “poppy punk”, my second favorite song on the album.  What Bean does with his harmonica on this song thrills me.  At some points it’s almost like he’s using it the motherfucker as a voice modulator.  The power duo of the guitar and harmonica on “Poppy Punk” is divine.  This is the sort of song you want to be playing on the old 8-track next time you cruise through Wind Generator Valley outside of Palm Springs, and the sort of song you never want to stop for gas. 

But it does stop, and it’s only when I come to “bartender” that I find some remote similarity of Army of Garbage to any other band I’ve heard.  And that would be the Violet Femmes, who bring all their equipment on the bus.  I guess it’s the parts where Mike talks instead of sings, the slow pace of the song, and some of the instrumentals, but the similarities are still few and far between. 

“If you were the only man on Earth, would you know it?  No, you wouldn’t know it, you’d just be it.”  Best line on the album right there, from “gray”.  The final song starts out slow, then speed-shifts into high gear.  It assaults you with driving harmonica riffs, tom-heavy drums, intriguing lyrics, effective tempo changes, vocal changes, and a great little guitar:  This song has the whole package. 

So what’s going on with Army of Garbage now?  This according to official AOG publicist Mike Hines in September: “Well, AOG headed straight down the path of many other bands like, the Beatles, At the Drive In, The Pixies, NWA and by that I mean we broke up. But, now I can use that line I've always been wanting to use, ‘let's get the band back together.’ With my recent addition to my family and Bean living in Nashville (working on his solo career with his first album entitled ‘It’s a Harp and Stormy Night’) there was really no place for the band to go but the side lines for awhile. Not sure if the future has plans for AOG but I guess we'll just have to see.”  And this latest update just came in a few days ago from Mike as well:  “We're gonna try and get back together after Xmas, but minus a member (Rigel, the only one who doesn't ride or skate.) So, a sophomore album might be possible in 09'.”