You Can't Shit a Shitter.

Number four in a series regarding my involvment with the visual aspects of the audio endeavors of a few underground musical bands listed chronologically herein.

Negative Step on licky red wax. Accept no substitutes.

My friend August has been in many many bands, usually as the singer. Off the top of my head... let's see...Big Horny Hustler, Crown Roast, SSS, Filipino Wife, Society of Friends, Negative Step, part time live vocal duties in Iron Lung, Electric Eye, Lords of Light, Walls, Scilentist. Probably, I missed some. I'm also sure there have been many more since the last time he and I spoke.

At one point while August was still living in Austin, he was in this awesome throwback hardcore band called Negative Step. They had this raw, old-school thrash sound. So much fun to see live too, not as intense or precise as Society of Friends, but playful and snarky. They were a real joy to watch.

It came to pass that there was to be a split single between Negative Step, and Houston's finest, the Pretty Little Flowers. August had this idea about the cover. It was to have a snake on it. Not just any snake, but a very specific snake. It was the snake from the Gadsden Flag, don't ask me why, I don't know. We went around and around about it, and I drew some crazy snakes. Eventually, we came to the conclusion that we should just make a copy of the snake picture that he had.

Which is what we did for the cover. I traced the snake on a light box, and hand lettered the purposefully boring logo. For the inside, August said to "draw a grim reaper killing a punk rocker!" Ah, the easy part. This would also mark the last time that I would do a manual paste-up for anything, hooray!

As for the music, it fucking shreds. The Step side is fast, furious and frowny, with August's howling over the whole tinny mess. The Flowers side is more fully produced, brutal and quick. Even though I'm a little biased, I have to admit that I think the P.L.F. side wins in a very tight competition.

This is way out of print, but you can get this shit here, now! Yeah!

[{Negative Step-Pretty Little Flowers Split 7 Inch}]

Negative Step Side:

Core Memory

What You Pay For (by the F.U.s)
Respect (Redding)
Negative Step Theme
Dead in Two Capitols

Pretty Little Flowers Side

Indigenous Revolt
Embrace Your Failure
Nuclear Threat (by Violent Headache)
Apathetic Shithead