Soophie Nun Squad-- "Dino" 7" (FCH009)

Soophie Nun Squad-- "Dino" 7" (Harlan Records #9)
DOWNLOAD HERE with extra songs! (click ONLY on the light blue box that says "click here to start DL from Sendspace")

5 songs.
Recorded July 23, 1996 by Barry Poynter in Little Rock, AR.
500 copies pressed, April 1997.
With this release (and through 1998), Noah Young joined forces with me, contributing essential funds to breathe life into Food Chain Records, on the condition that the label be renamed Harlan Records in memory of his late father.

Credits:

Dustin Clark-- guitar
Mark Lierly-- drums
Mike Lierly-- voice
Eli Milholland-- bass
Nate Powell-- voice
Mikael Wood-- voice, dancing
Noah Young, Emil Heiple, Billy Grubbs, Lindsey Wilson-- backing voices
(Tim Scott joined SNS in Summer 1996, but was absent for this recording.)

Track Listing:

1. Dino
2. Peru/ Hardcore Peru
3. Five Ninjas Strike Back!
4. Hulk Can't Be Denied
5. Ghost Town/ Drop The Bass!

Notes:

* This was SNS's first time in a proper studio. Dustin had already done studio time with Shake Ray Turbine and Eli had with Christopher, but it never occurred to any of us to double guitars, do vocal overdubs, or to record ANYTHING outside of a raging, live house-party take in the control booth on two microphones. Which worked amazingly well for this record, I admit. "Ghost Town/ Drop The Bass!" is easily one of the best songs Soophie ever recorded.

* We had almost finished setting up for the session when, in a typical Soophie fashion, Mark realized he hadn't brought a single cymbal or stand. We found nothing in Barry's studio, and were saved at the last possible minute by running down the street and fishing a forgotten 14" crash out of Chris Wilson's (Shake Ray Turbine, Ted Leo) closet. So give that crash a listen-- it's basically half a hi-hat.

* Band members' opinions on this record vary, but generally we feel these are the most bizarre song choices we've ever settled on for a record. Not a single serious song, but it's weirder than that: none of these songs had a single lyric written down for their inception. I find it really funny that I transcribed the lyrics to what is essentially a freestyle 7", and actually paid extra money to have those lyrics printed on the insert. I personally hate "Hardcore Peru" (which is confusingly an Oi spoof)-- it adds nothing to the "Peru" experience, isn't necessarily funny, and we just sort of stuck with it once we added it. But really, "Hulk" is maybe the worst song in the entire SNS catalog (second only to the unrecorded "Untie The Kids")-- I should point out that we had no real feelings or interest about wrestling, the Hulkster, or whatever. With different lyrics, it would be a decent Gorilla Biscuits song. But my god. I should note that Eli still thinks this 7" rules, and he was also the major force behind vaguely conceptual interest in The Hulkster Going Bad on WWF in 1996. We went along for the ride. (Confession: a year later, we kinda tried to write a Ric Flair song for a Flair-themed comp that never came out. So we're all to blame here.)

* Mike mentions his genitals on every single song, and also mentions the nematode living in his foot at the time of recording, as well as the yeast infection he'd recently gotten after swimming with a plastic bread bag tied around his parasitic foot.

* The extra songs on this download include a version of "Tomorrow" from this session, meant for Stewart Isbell's unreleased compilation CD of Arkansas bands (including SNS, Red Forty, The Big Cats, Full Service Quartet, Benchmark, Ricochet Rocket, Class Of Eighty Four, Red Brigade, Shake Ray Turbine, and No City No State). Some of those tracks wound up on the Towncraft DVD/2xCD boxed set in 2007, and we rerecorded "Tomorrow" for Don't Let Them Take You Alive, but this version is still kinda the best. Also included is a cover of James Brown's "Goodness Sakes, Look At Those Cakes" recorded in 1998 for an unreleased compilation of James Brown covers. I think we were the only band to ever turn in a song for it.

* Members also in Humanbeast, V Manuscript, Sand City, Universe, Pallbearer, R.I.O.T.S., The Evelyns, Divorce Chord, Wait, The Insides, Tem Eyos Ki, Sugar And The Raw, Rainy Day Regatta, Boomfancy, Gioteens, Shake Ray Turbine, Revolver Red, William Martyr 17, and K.

SNS's legendary show with Assuck & Encyclopedia Of American Traitors in a front yard at 3 a.m. in Columbus OH, during the 1998 More Than Music Fest.

SNS's first show outside of Arkansas. College Park MD, July 1997.

SNS at Club Soda, Washington DC, June 1998.

Soophie Nun Squad-- "Takes Manhattan" demo (FCH008)

Soophie Nun Squad-- "Takes Manhattan" demo tape (Food Chain Records #8)

18 songs.
Side 1 is the "We Rule The World" demo (FCH002), recorded June 1994.
Side 2 are additional songs from the first 7" session, recorded January 13-14, 1995 by Chris Atwood, live to an 8-track digital minidisc recorder, at Jonathan Thompson's house in Cammack Village, AR.
50 copies made, August 1995.

Credits:

Dustin Clark-- guitar
Mark Lierly-- drums
Mike Lierly-- voice
Eli Milholland-- bass
Nate Powell-- voice
Mikael Wood-- backing voice and dancing

Track Listing:

1. Hey Hey Margaret, Your Momma's Got A Cow
2. Peru
3. Point Of View
4. Song Of Squid
5. Dino
6. Push It
7. Feedback
8. Shoe Song
9. (outtro)
10. Counterculture
11. Dino
12. PJ Sod
13. Shoe Song
14. Hey Hey Margaret, Your Momma's Got A Cow
15. Rocky
16. Funbox
17. Feedback
18. Ignition!

See entries on "We Rule The World" demo and "vs. the USA" 7" for notes.

Soophie Nun Squad at PopFest, Little Rock AR, August 1996.

"The Dogtown Chronicles" comp tape (FCH007)

 The Dogtown Chronicles comp tape (Food Chain Records #7)

DOWNLOAD HERE (click ONLY on the light blue box that says "click here to start DL from Sendspace)

100 copies made, May 1995.
(This release was a joint venture between Eli and I.)

Track Listing:

1. DxRxPx theme song.
2. Soophie Nun Squad-- "Counterculture" (January 1995)
3. Hug-- "Big Fuckin Spider" (November 1994)
4. Soophie Nun Squad-- "Interlude" (January 1993)
5. Pete-- "In The End" (April 1995)
6. Soophie Nun Squad-- "Rocky" (January 1995)
7. K-- "The Best Smell Songs #1 and #2" (October 1994)
8. New Toy Smell-- "Peter Pan" (May 1995)
9. (audio montage from our teenage film projects Sampson The Bastard and World History Movie)
10. K-- "Kuntrry Song" (October 1994)
11. Sacred Cod-- "Uprising" (June 1994-- Noah Young on drums)
12. (yet another audio montage)
13. Soophie Nun Squad-- "This Song Sucks" (February 1993)
14. Hug-- "Fuck" (November 1994)
15. Soophie Nun Squad-- "Stand Tall" (May 1995)
16. Sooper Soophie-- "Back To The Skool" (October 1994)
17. Soophie Nun Squad-- "PJ Sod" (January 1995)
18. K-- "The K Explanation" (October 1994)
19. Cecil's Rhubarb Taco-- "Burrito" (October 1994)
20. Dentistry-- "The Dentist's Hug" (July 1994)
21. New Toy Smell-- "Untitled" (May 1995)
22. (still another goddamn interlude)
23. Mob-- "Sleepwalking" (May 1995)
24. Christopher-- "Yellow Flower" (October 1994)
25. (another interlude)
26. Hug-- "Dead Roach, Motherfucker" (November 1994)
27. Sooper Soophie-- "Owned by MTV" (October 1994)
28. (Eli's filthy hocker during Soophie practice)
29. K-- "Minor Threat" (October 1994)
30. Hug-- "Vogue" (November 1994)
31. Soophie Nun Squad-- "Peru" (May 1994)
32. Sacred Cod-- "Hawaiian Apocalypse" (June 1994)
33. Soophie Nun Squad-- "This Song Sucks (Hardcore Version)" (August 1993)
34. New Toy Smell-- "Untitled" (May 1995)

Reservoir Dogtown.

 Bands:

* Soophie Nun Squad-- Dustin Clark (guitar), Mark Lierly (drums), Mike Lierly (voice), Eli Milholland (bass), Nate Powell (voice), Mikael Wood (backing voice, dancing)
* Hug-- Jake Jackson (guitar), Mike Lierly (voice), Eli Milholland (bass), Alan Short (guitar, voice), Noah Young (drums)
* Pete-- Kevin Bay (drums), Lloyd Benjamin (guitar), Adam Heathcott (bass), Chris Sheppard (voice), Zach S. (guitar)
* K-- Eli Milholland (bass), Mikael Wood (voice)
* New Toy Smell-- Mike Lierly (guitar), Ryan Seaton (guitar)
* Sacred Cod-- Mark Lierly (drums), Mike Lierly (guitar, keyboard), Mikael Wood (guitar, voice)
* Sooper Soophie-- Mark Lierly (drums), Mike Lierly (voice), Tim Scott (voice), Ryan Seaton (bass), Mikael Wood (guitar)
* Cecil's Rhubarb Taco-- Steve Cook (drums), Eli Milholland (bass), Ryan Seaton (bass), Nathan Walker (guitar, voice), Mikael Wood (voice, misc.?)
* Dentistry-- Nate Powell (voice, keyboard), Mikael Wood (guitar)
* Mob-- Mike Lierly (guitar), Nate Powell (voice), Noah Young (drums)
* Christopher-- Steve Cook (drums), Ryan Seaton (bass), Nathan Walker (guitar, voice)

SOOPHIE NUN SQUAD-- "vs. the United States of America" 7" (FCH006)

Soophie Nun Squad-- "Vs. the United States of America" 7" (Food Chain Records #6)

DOWNLOAD HERE with extra songs!

6 songs.
Recorded January 13-14, 1995 by Chris Atwood, live to an 8-track digital minidisc recorder, at Jonathan Thompson's house in Cammack Village, AR.
500 copies pressed on red vinyl. Released March 10, 1995.
(Food Chain Records, for this release, was a joint effort among Eli, Dustin, and I.)

Credits:

Dustin Clark-- guitar
Mark Lierly-- drums
Mike Lierly-- voice
Eli Milholland-- bass
Nate Powell-- voice
Mikael Wood-- backing voice, dancing

Track Listing:

1. Soophie Nun Squad
2. You Purple-Eyed Beeyotch, You Broke My Heart
3. Push It
4. Swamp Thing
5. Another Day
6. Ignition!

Notes:

* This 7" used the same means of recording as the final William Martyr 17 songs (for which Dustin was also guitarist), but damn, those WM17 songs sound a lot better. These were recorded directly to a minidisc with no option to mix, overdub, or isolate anything. After each take, we'd unhook the minidisc recorder, take it to Jonathan's living room, hook it up to the stereo, and listen to the take. Since we had just one full day to record, would it have been a better idea to record a handful of songs over and over to get the best possible recording (like WM17's four songs)? Maybe, but we're Soophie Nun Squad, so we left there with 17 songs total, many of them captured in one take. What do you want?

* The muffled vocal quality is partially because 3 or 4 people are trying to share two microphones while jumping and dancing around just feet from the live drums, and partially because Mike and I were both horribly sick during this recording. (I was actually supposed to sing throughout "Ignition!", but I lost my voice entirely during the previous take. It's better on this record with just Mike, though.)

* "You Purple-Eyed Beeyotch, You Broke My Heart" (originally with an even shittier, but less questionable title) was written for Little Rock's own Ashlie Atkinson, now best known for her roles in Compliance, Rescue Me, and Fat Pig, as the viral hit Chunky Pam, and in a shitload of TV roles. Hell yeah Ashlie!

* The impenetrable vocal rant in the middle of "Ignition!" ("...One out of every four mammals is a bat-- and it kills crickets!") is a parody(?) of a rare version of Downcast's "They Are Not" released on a compilation 7". This is relevant only because our first review was in HeartattaCk zine, and the only thing that turned Kent McClard over to the Soophie side was that damn Downcast bit. Now look at us, rolling in rubies and emeralds.

* The extra songs on the download are "Something Pretty For Someone", which we recorded for the We've Lost Beauty comp LP (File 13 Records, 1996) in memory of our friend Chris Horne (drummer extraordinaire for William Martyr 17, Generation Of Vipers, and Crown Of Glory) who passed away December 3rd, 1994 at the age of sixteen; "Counterculture" and "Feedback" are both songs that I thought should've been on this 7" instead of some others. I think this recording of "Feedback", despite the muffled vocals, is the best version we ever did.

* Members also in Humanbeast, V Manuscript, Sand City, Universe, Pallbearer, R.I.O.T.S., The Evelyns, Divorce Chord, Wait, The Insides, Tem Eyos Ki, Sugar And The Raw, Rainy Day Regatta, Boomfancy, Gioteens, Shake Ray Turbine, Revolver Red, William Martyr 17, and K.

SNS at Vino's. Little Rock AR, December 1995.

13-year-old Mark Lierly and John Pugh. Riverfront Belvedere, New Year's Day, 1995.

K-- "The Experience" demo (FCH004)

K-- "The Experience" demo tape (Food Chain Records #4)

DOWNLOAD HERE (click ONLY on the light blue box that says "click here to start DL from Sendspace)

8 songs.
Recorded September 1994 live to a split-channel 1970's stereo receiver at Eli's mom's house in North Little Rock, AR.
Roughly 5 copies made?
A "real" cover was made, but I sure don't have it.

Credits:

Eli Milholland-- bass
Mikael Wood-- voice

Track Listing:

1. Guns 'N Roses Medley
2. The K Song
3. Kuntrry Song
4. The Best Smell Songs #1 and #2
5. Shit, We Love Our Country
6. A Little Bit Of Death
7. Love Is A Frozen Fishstick
8. The K Medley

Notes:

* Really, more than any other obscure North Little Rock band, K should've "made it". They might've been the first one of my posse's bands that proved confrontational, topical, and legitimately hilarious. It's a shame that they never officially released anything. I still rank this demo in the top 5 Harlan Records releases.

* According to Dogtown myth, there are 2 or 3 versions of this demo. When K played their first show in April 1994 at Mikael Wood's house, we were amazed to find that John Pugh and Steve Schmidt happened to be in the neighborhood, found their way to the show (which also included Soophie Nun Squad, Revolver Red, Hug, Brother, and some others), and were so impressed by Mikael and Eli's vision that John offered to release a K demo on his Parent Trap label-- a perfect pairing! K then recorded a demo with Nathan Walker (from NLR alternative band Christopher), but Nathan's ass recorded over the demo before K could retrieve it. The demo featured here was recorded months later, and then completely re-recorded the next day. Mikael wood took one of the copies with him on a trip to Olympia, WA, with the mission to deliver it to Calvin Johnson of K Records, but sadly Calvin was not around when Mikael visited K Headquarters.

* K played so, so many shows over the summer of 1994, including the first annual Pop-Fest, and they eventually became the unofficial "headlining" act of every subsequent Pop-Fest. They wound up playing with Universal Order of Armageddon, Ordination of Aaron, possibly Indian Summer, The Yah Mos, and tons more. Tentative plans were also made for a K/ Evil Band split LP (Evil Band being Hug's rivals, and the brainchild of Matt Werth, Jeremy Brasher, Ian Chisholm, and Karlos).

* K's plethora of cover songs/medleys on this demo include Guns 'N Roses, Bob Dylan, Soophie Nun Squad, Sonic Youth, Beastie Boys, Nirvana, and Pixies.

* K's last show was in the summer of 2000 at the White Kitty house (?) in Gainesville FL on Soophie Nun Squad tour. In Soophie's typically well-intended but imposing fashion, we were being prepared dinner by our gracious hosts, only to insist on an impromptu, inside-joke laden house show by this duo. Sorry, but that's what happens when you cook us dinner.

K. Hendrix College, Conway AR, June 1995.

K at Popfest. Riverfront Belvedere, Little Rock AR, July 1995.

Dentistry-- "Pulling Teeth" demo (FCH003)

Yep, that's all you get. I'll explain later.

 Dentistry-- "Pulling Teeth" demo tape (Food Chain Records #3)

8 songs.
Recorded 7/17/94 live to a jambox at Mikael Wood's house.
2 copies made-- I kept one, and sold one to Asa Newell at a Das Yutes A-Go-Go show the next year. Still looking for the cover!

Credits:

Nate Powell-- voice, keyboard
Mikael Wood-- guitar

Track listing:

1. We Are Dentistry
2. TV III
3. We Love You... (Hug cover)
4. The Dentist's Hug
5. Iron Man (sans any accurate or clear lyrics)
6. Minor Threat-t-t
7. The Biz Vs. The Nuge (yep)
8. Drum Solo

Notes:

* This band (and tape) was written and recorded after seeing one of Substance's last shows down at the Riverfront Belvedere early one afternoon. I made a horrible-sounding recording of that show (complete with inaudible versions of all their new, unreleased jams), with most of the second side still blank. Mikael and I returned to his folks' house and cranked out quick KMFDM/Ministry musical personas, and there you have it.

* Dentistry did actually play a show October 2nd, 1994 on Chet Roberson's front yard in Levy, and it actually wasn't too bad considering we hadn't practiced since the one time we played for this demo.

* Playing the Dentistry demo just made my baby cry.

* There is absolutely nothing else to know about Dentistry.

Soophie Nun Squad-- "We Rule The World" demo (FCH002)

Soophie Nun Squad-- "We Rule The World" demo tape (Food Chain Records #2)

(DOWNLOAD HERE-- click ONLY on the blue box that says "click here to start DL from Sendspace... the rest are ads.)

9 songs.
Recorded 6/16/94 by Jim Thompson on a 4-track in the Rice Street house kitchen, Little Rock AR.
150 copies made, August 1994.
(Food Chain Records, at this point, was a joint effort between me and Eli.)

Credits:

Dustin Clark-- guitar
Mark Lierly-- drums
Mike Lierly-- voice
Eli Milholland-- bass
Nate Powell-- voice
Mikael Wood-- backing vocals
Mitchell Powers-- falsetto backing vocals on "Shoe Song"
Brenda Harper-- piano on outtro

Track Listing:

1. Hey Hey Margaret, Your Momma's Got A Cow
2. Peru
3. Point Of View
4. Song Of Squid
5. Dino
6. Push It (Salt-N-Pepa cover)
7. Feedback
8. Shoe Song
9. outtro

Notes:

* Mikael Wood and I were in a driver's ed class for the first half of this day, and while we sped over to Rice Street for recording, the rest of Soophie Nun Squad was pushing all of our equipment across Stifft Station in a busted shopping cart.
* The Rice Street kitchen was covered in generic white beer cans that simply said "BEER" in amazing, utterly unsarifed red letters.
* Mike's vocals for "Peru" didn't turn out during the session, so a week later Jim and/or Mitchell had him rerecord them in a downtown Little Rock alleyway at midnight (maybe after an Antioch Arrow show?) while holding the 4-track. Mobile recording, indeed!

SNS at Riverfront Belvedere, Little Rock AR. New Year's Day 1995.

Soophie Nun Squad-- "We Ate Slayer" demo (FCH001)

Soophie Nun Squad-- "We Ate Slayer" demo tape (Food Chain Records #1)

DOWNLOAD HERE (click ONLY on the light blue box that says "click here to start DL from Sendspace)

16 songs.
Recorded 2/94-5/94 in the Lierly attic, live on a jambox.
50 copies made, May 1994.
(Food Chain Records, at this point, was a joint effort between me and Eli.)

Credits:

Dustin Clark-- guitar
Mark Lierly-- drums
Mike Lierly-- voice
Eli Milholland-- bass
Nate Powell-- voice
Alan Short-- guitar on "Diehard", backup vocals
Nate Price-- backup vocals
Noah Young-- uncredited drums on "Diehard"

Track listing:

1. PJ Sod
2. Peru
3. Hey Hey Margaret
4. Funbox
5. Soophie Nun Squad
6. Feedback
7. Dino
8. Shoe Song
9. Squid Song
10. Paula
11. Point Of View
12. Diehard (cover of Little Rock's 1991-92 band Entrance [Marcus Lowe, Alan Short, Chris Spann,       Matt Bullard]-- original appears on the Towncraft comp LP [File 13 Records #7])
13. Rocky
14. Push It
15. This Song Sucks
16. Locusts

Related Bands: Humanbeast, Sand City, Pallbearer, Universe, V Manuscript, The Evelyns, Divorce Chord, Global Credit Squeeze, Humanola, The Insides, Wait, Lazy Fair, Truckenstein-9, Tem Eyos Ki, Sugar And The Raw, Boomfancy, Shake Ray Turbine, Gioteens, Mob, Inherit The Sun, William Martyr 17, Revolver Red, Sooper Soophie, Sacred Cod, K, Dentistry, Hug

SNS's 3rd show with Skinhead Magnet and Carbondale. Riverfront Amphitheathre, Little Rock AR, 8/1/93.

Welcome to Harlan Records new archival site!

Soophie Nun Squad. Kansas City MO, October 2002.

 Hey there! My name's Nate Powell. I draw comics, raise a baby with my homeslice, and was a part of the bands Universe, Soophie Nun Squad, Wait, Divorce Chord, Gioteens, and Boomfancy.

I grew up in North Little Rock AR, was shaped by Little Rock's amazing punk community of the 1990's, and have lived in Bloomington IN for about 9 years now. From 1994 to 2010, I ran a small DIY punk label called Harlan Records that is now inactive. This site is being built to provide posterity and basic info on each of my releases and the bands involved. I plan to do a post on each release, beginning with the oldest. More soon!

If you have any photos or video of any of these bands, please get in touch with me at seemybrotherdance@yahoo.com!

If you'd like to see what I'm up to these days as a comic book artist, please visit my site. Thanks!