How minimal can you get? #38

Jr. Chemists
“I met Dawn in Art Studio Class at Arizona State University in 1979. Ron Gasowski taught the class and he had a big influence on us. Dawn was a very ambitious girl with a lot of energy. I met Mike through Dawn and we were all hanging out and discovering the Punk Rock scene of Phoenix together. I had already started a band, Thuh Advo-cats, with my friend Bruce. Dawn wanted to get in on some of that band action. So Dawn, Mike and I started up the Jr. CHemists. Bruce and I had a dirt floor basement in our house off of 16th Street and a meger amount of equipment and that is where we rehearsed. Mike was a real musician compared to anyone I ever played with. He actually tuned the guitars! Radical. We practiced and got a bunch of songs together and started playing at Hate House. Dawn was a great schmoozer and were were soon playing in clubs as they would appear to present this Punk Rock muisic. We had a lot of fun, which was our objective. Michael went on to form JFA, skate boarding his way into punk rock musical history. Dawn clicked her heels and returned to Kansas.” Brendan deVallance

Jr. Chemists: Brendan deVallance, Dawn Kelly and Michael Cornelius

“Mix equal parts Talking Heads, B-52s and Beat Happening and add the sense of humor only found in the Valley Of The Sun, and you get a pterry good on-paper approximation of the Chemists’ sound. Their songs – Cool Reef, Spooky Cooties, I Don’t Want To Have Fun, Voodoo In My Pants – packed epic party anthem into a light touch. The Meat Puppets even used to play the Chemists’ 90 Miles in rehearsal. I don’t think we ever performed it in front of an audience though.” Derrick Bostrom (Meat Puppets)

VA Arizona Disease 7" (Subterranean Records, 1981)

Jr. Chemists – Building a Fort
Get it here.

More info, pics (and songs!) here.