David Yow talks Scratch Acid, the Jesus Lizard and Bicycles

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Before the Jesus Lizard, there was Scratch Acid, the sinister post-punk legend where vocalist David Yow and bass player David Sims cut their teeth on a melodic, supernatural grumble with drummer Rey Washam (Ministry, Tad, Big Boys) and guitarist Brett Bradford. With three records, the group laid down a small but scathing body of noise rock, rife with acerbic tales of violence and perversity, spawned in the genuine freak scene of Austin, Texas, circa 1982.

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Scratch Acid plays The Earl tonight with Hawks. $20-$23. 488 Flat Shoals Ave. 404-522-3950.

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Chad Radford: How’s it going David?

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David Yow: It’s warm!

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Warm?

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Yeah, I have sweat coming out all over me. My bicycle has two flats and I was trying to fix them but I have these patented locks on the wheels and I can’t get the mother fuckers off, so now I have sweat all over me.

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Are they the kind of locks that are designed to not only keep the tires on the bike but also to keep people from stealing them?

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Exactly. They’re a really cool design. They look like those quick release locks, but you have to turn the bicycle upside down in order to unlock them. So if you have it locked to a telephone poll or something like that you don’t have to worry about the tires because no one can steal them. The problem is that I have turned the bicycle upside down and have had it sideways and every other angle, and I can’t get the fucking things off. It’s driving me nuts! … I just went to their website and it’s a French company, so this is just no good at all.

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I’m sorry to hear that. Do you want to take a break and talk with me about Scratch Acid for a few minutes?

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Okay.

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Well, first, you did a tour with the original Jesus Lizard lineup not so long ago, but with the Jesus Lizard I sort of felt like there was some closure that needed to happen, and that’s why you did it.

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No. Not really closure, and I didn’t think that it was necessary or that there was anything unresolved with the Jesus Lizard. However, I am extremely happy that we got to do one last tour with Mac (McNeilly) on drums instead of Jim Kimball. It was really good that we got to do that.