Name a locale and it's almost certain Schleprock have played there-from their own bedroom-community/ parade-field hometown of Pasadena, CA, to the squatter's flats of Germany, the small-town bars of South Dakota, Poland and New Zealand, and beyond-doubling back across the continents to Mr. T's Bowl in East L.A.
It's a road that bears witness to Schleprock's own evolutionary leaps, from their earliest punk-o-phile lean ings to their foray into indie cultdom and, now, their status as major-label living experiment with (America's) Dirty Little Secret.
"We Want An Anthem" is the open ing song on Schleprock's new WBR album, and even a cursory listen reveals that the band has taken its own advice and written almost a dozen of them. Tracks to watch include "Suburbia" (the first video), "TV Dinner" and 'It's Alright!" plus a cover of Cocksparrer's 1978 oi! -punk classic, "Runnin' Riot" - the album's sole non original cut.
Yep, Schleprock is a punk band. Not in the hardcore meaning (read faster, louder, harder) but in the original British sense of message and melody. Check out lead vocalist Doug Caine's record collection and he'll show you well-worn copies of the Cockney Rejects, Angelic Upstarts, Sham 69, Stiff Little Fingers and The Clash. Those were the bands that formed the soundtrack to Caine's adolescence-a time spent in the cement seediness of L.A.'s Olympic Auditorium and Pasadena's Perkins Palace.
" I got into punk in 1980, and I've been there through all this," Caine explains-"all this" being shorthand for releasing your own records, booking your own tours, scamming your own sleeping quarters and hawking your own T-shirts.
Both Caine and guitarist Jeff Graham have been in Schleprock since 1989; drummer Ernie Berru joined in 1990, while guitarist Sean Romin has known Caine since their elementary-school days, joining the band when Schleprock's original guitarist transferred out. Bassist Dean Wilson is the New Guy in the band, having joined just before their 1995 indie album, "Out of Spite".
"I envisioned this record," Caine says, "and that's what's great-when you can go in and achieve your goal. I can say this was the record I wanted to make-a true punk record."