OK so first of all THE VFW HALL IS BACK. After the thing in June that we are not going to talk about again (you know who you are, and you owe them a window), the post commander sat down with me and Rico and a very serious list, and we agreed to all of it. So here are the rules, and I'm putting them in the zine so nobody can say they didn't know:

1. No drinking inside or in the parking lot. Not "a little." None.
2. Everybody's out by 11. The neighbors are old and so is the building.
3. Pick up your cans. Pick up everybody's cans. Pick up cans that aren't even yours.
4. The flags on the wall do not get touched. Ever. These guys fought in wars. Show some respect.
5. Be NICE to Mr. Tolbert at the door. He's 74 and he came to the last show in earplugs just to keep an eye on us and he said, and I quote, "the second band wasn't bad."

That's it. That's the price of having a place to go. It's a good deal. The whole point of all this, the whole point of punk, if you ask me, which you didn't, is that we make our own thing instead of waiting for somebody to sell it to us. You can't make your own thing if you get kicked out of the only room in town that'll have you. So don't blow it.

Also: I'm still taking the bus to every show. Half the time the last bus home leaves before the headliner even plugs in. If you have a car and you're going my way, you're my new best friend. I'll pay you in zines.

— jo

NERVOUS CASHIER / GLUE TRAP / THE BENT SPOKES
VFW hall, Saturday, August 28, 1999, $5
First show back at the hall and about ninety people came, which is a LOT for a room that holds maybe a hundred and ten. The Bent Spokes opened and played every song twice as fast as on their tape, which is saying something. Their drummer broke a stick in the first song and finished the set with a stick and a wooden spoon from the VFW kitchen. Glue Trap were tight and loud and the singer did the whole set with his back to us, which is either shy or a statement, I can't tell. Then Nervous Cashier played their last show before their drummer leaves for college and everybody sang every word of "Price Check on Aisle Me" and I cried a little. Don't tell anybody. Everybody picked up their cans. Mr. Tolbert said "not bad" again. We're in.

OVERDUE LIBRARY BOOK (from Fresno) / CUTLERY DRAWER
somebody's garage, midtown, Friday, August 13, 1999, pass the hat
Friday the 13th garage show. Overdue Library Book drove up from Fresno in a van with no second gear and still showed up on time, which is more than I can say for anybody local. They're a three-piece and they sound like a nine-piece. Cutlery Drawer has a new bass player and she's great. The cops came at 10:15 because of the noise, looked at thirty kids sitting on a lawn eating watermelon, and left. Best cop visit ever.

NERVOUS CASHIER — "Paper or Plastic" 7-inch
Four songs, green vinyl, pressed with money they made working at, yes, a grocery store. The title track is two minutes of pure panic about customer service and it's perfect. The sleeve is a real receipt glued on. Every copy is different. Get one before they're gone.

GLUE TRAP — "Stick Around" (cassette)
Recorded on a 4-track in a bathroom for the echo, and you can tell, and it's great. Eight songs. The lyric sheet is handwritten and I can't read half of it, which I think is on purpose.

THE BENT SPOKES — untitled tape
Six songs about bikes. That's it. That's the whole concept. Song five is about a bike that got stolen and it's honestly kind of moving. Bike punk forever.

Nervous Cashier is Lupe (guitar, yelling), Marcus (bass, yelling) and Wes (drums, leaving us for college in Oregon, we forgive you). I talked to them at a bagel shop on a Tuesday.

BUS FARE: How did you start?
LUPE: Marcus and I worked registers next to each other. When it was slow we'd write songs on the back of the coupon flyers.
MARCUS: Most of our lyrics are technically company property.

BF: What's the best show you ever played?
WES: The VFW last month. Mr. Tolbert nodded at me.
LUPE: That's the highest honor there is.

BF: What happens to the band when Wes leaves?
MARCUS: We're getting a drum machine and naming it Wes.
WES: I will be back at Christmas and I will be very hurt.

BF: Advice for kids starting a band?
LUPE: Play. Just play. You don't have to be good. We weren't. You just have to show up.
MARCUS: And write songs about your actual life. Nobody needs another song about outer space.
WES: I like songs about outer space.

BF: Last words?
ALL: Pick up your cans.

BUS FARE is a paper zine first. We photocopy 200 of these at the library, fold and staple them on my kitchen floor, and leave them at the record store, the bagel shop and the VFW door. This web version is for people who live too far away to get one, or who lost theirs on the bus.

Want to trade zines? Review your band? Yell at me?
[email protected]

you are number

to get on this bus

last updated Sunday, September 19, 1999 · anti-copyright 1999: copy it, just don't sell it