The Go Team
1989 Monthly Series of Seven-Inch Releases

from Writer's Block #6
by Mike Appelstein

Outside 935 Patterson.
 Photo: Kathleen Hanna.

Note:  I wrote most of this article back in late 1989-early 1990.  At the time, they hadn't yet released the August and September singles;  I wrote those two profiles toward the end of 1999.

I am currently in the midst of researching and writing an extensive history of the Go Team, expanding the groundwork I did with this original article.  It will include interviews and commentary by most of the original members, and should be finished later in 2001.  If you have any stories to share, or memorabilia I can borrow (set lists, articles, live tapes, tour itineraries) please email me as soon as possible: mike@appelstein.com.

November 1999:
Brad Clemmons wrote in to say:
"Just came across your nice history of the Go Team. Just for your trivia file, the photo of the band you have up on your page was taken by Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill back in the days when she was thinking of a career as a photographer.  We were all standing outside the garage at Tobi's house where we were practicing during the summer of '89 (935 Patterson). I didn't make it into this photo.  And for a further piece of trivia: The drummer for the Oklahoma Scramble tape was Marianne Kawaguchi (her name got spelled wrong some places), who still lives in Olympia and has her own graphic design business."

Let us now observe a moment -- not one of silence, but preferably one of pure crashing joy -- to commemorate the passing of the Go Team. After five years and a bunch of cassette releases, the Olympia, WA threesome broke up this past September, following a cross-country tour. Founding member Calvin Johnson shrugs it off with a simple "Oh well, five years is pretty long for any band."  But for me, having the Go Team break up is kind of like meeting this great friend at the beginning of the summer, and then having him or her move away a few months later.

The Go Team got compared to Beat Happening a lot, largely due to the obvious similarities: Calvin plays in both bands, both recorded for the K label, both hailed from Olympia, and they both cranked out their songs with an infectious, hey-kids-let's-play-band enthusiasm.  But there the similarity ends, for as good as Beat Happening are (indeed, one of my very favorite bands), they have never come anywhere near the depth and diversity of the Go Team.  Part of it might be due to the revolving-door lineup changes, and myriad guest stars, on each release. Each song sounded completely different. One moment they were crashing through three-chord slices of pure pop, the next moment it was several guitars interlocking and creating a quiet tension, followed by crushing, near-industrial textures.

The first Go Team project, Recorded Live at the Washington Center for the Performing Arts, was literally a tape of construction sounds as recorded by Calvin, who lived across the street from the theater as it was being built. Your Pretty Guitar, with Calvin and Steve Peters, and Donna Parker Pop, with Calvin and Tobi Vail, were more song-oriented.  But it was Archer Come Sparrow, released early in 1989, that really turned my head around toward the Go Team--pure, direct and utterly addictive, all for less than half the price of a CD.

The only time I got to see them live, in September of 1989, was a rock experience like few others. For this tour, the lineup was Calvin, Tobi and Billy Karren, who were already onstage by the time I made it to Maxwell's. Calvin was plucking out a simple, tinny guitar line, staring the crowd down underneath his K baseball cap. Billy was wailing away on rhythm guitar and Tobi was hitting the skins with abandon. Three very distinct personalities at work hare. Tobi and Calvin then switched places, which all three members would continue to do in between nearly every song, and things really kicked into high gear. They seemed to be playing as hard as they could, fueled by adrenaline as much as what could have been sheer nervousness.  At other times, they were on the verge of falling apart completely, but amazingly stayed in control. Calvin recited Black Flag lyrics before careening into the final song, which was highlighted by Calvin and Billy throwing down their guitars and dancing wildly. Twice. And finally it was over. It all added up to a performance that not only blew away headliners Yo La Tengo, but every other band I saw in 1989. Absolutely incredible.

And as it turned out, it would be one of the last Go Team shows ever.  The threesome played a few more East Coast gigs that week, drove back to Washington and disbanded. In the first issue of The Pushcart War, Frank Boscoe documents a bend that was already kind of tense before they even made it across the Delaware River. That they were so inspiring and together the night I saw them is all the more remarkable (although their CBGB show and Washington, DC gig were slightly less so, allegedly).

But the point of this article is not only to call your attention to yet another tremendous group that doesn't exist anymore, but also to spread the word about the Go Team 1989 Monthly Series of Releases. It hasn't quite worked out quite to that schedule: by the time 1989 ended, they had only managed to release nine singles. Still, many of these 45s are more than worth your time, and way cooler than that other Pacific Northwest single-of-the-month series, the Sub Pop singles club. Each record comes bagged in a clear plastic sleeve, with two songs on one side and a custom-silkscreened design on the other. In true Go Team spirit, no two in a row sport the same personnel: Tobi and Calvin play on all of them, and their musician friends stop by to sing or play.

So the following are reviews of the Go Team's 1989 Monthly Series of Releases, thus enabling you, the discerning WB reader, to pick and choose on the basis of personnel, silkscreen and the songs themselves. Some are better than others, but all are pure Go Team, and you bet that's a recommendation, although I'd personally recommend starting out with the Archer Come Sparrow tape for a crash course.   Don't miss out.

JANUARY
PERSONNEL:  Tobi Vail: guitar, drums, "breath."  Calvin Johnson: guitar, drums, voice.
LABEL COLOR: black with blue lettering
SILKSCREEN: Go Team logo; January 1989 calendar
SONGS:
"Sand:" It's Calvin who gets to inaugurate the series with a song about girls and beaches. Vary similar to Jamboree-era Beat Hap, with the guitar and upbeat lyrics and all.
"Jigsaw:" an instrumental with a terse guitar how and minimal percussion. Hypnotic through repetition.

FEBRUARY
PERSONNEL: Tobi: guitar, voice.  Calvin: guitar.  Billy Karren: guitar, voice.  Louise Olson: bass.  David Nichols: drums.
LABEL COLOR: black with blue lettering
SILKSCREEN: Map of Olympia area; February 1989 calendar
SONGS:
"Outside:" Tobi sings this heart-tugging tune, with its breathy, lonely vocals and pristine solo near the end. Its only fault is its brevity.
"Stay Ready:" Or: "STAYYYY...READY!!!"  This opening scream jolts you out of whatever trance "Outside" may have induced.  A rocker with Karren providing the yelling. Some Velvet Sidewalk comparisons aren't completely off the mark, although Al Larsen has never sounded this blood-curdling (come close though')

MARCH
PERSONNEL:  Tobi: drums. Calvin, guitar.  The Legend!: vocals
LABEL COLOR: red
SILKSCREEN: none
SONGS:  Breakfast In Bed" and "Sad Little Circles," two rather twee numbers sung by this man called The Legend!  Legendary for what, his Ian Dury-ish monotone? Not a legacy to be proud of. One of the series' least essential.

APRIL
PERSONNEL:  Tobi: guitar, drums.  Calvin: guitar.  Jeff Kennedy: voice.
LABEL COLOR:  sky blue
SILKSCREEN:  Four pairs of glasses meeting at the center; the phrase "A horn-rimmed beauty with the brains to match."
SONGS:
"Milquetoast Brigade." Now this is more like it. A song about a lonely guy who really likes this girl who writes poetry, drives a 69 Dodge without a window in beck, wears those horn-rimmed shades, whose parents don't understand her as who thinks no one loves her, but she's wrong.  (1999 UPDATE:  Actually, Jeff was singing about a male object of affection.  Sorry for assuming otherwise.)
"She Was Sad:" acres upon acres of guitar distortion.

MAY
PERSONNEL: Tobi: guitars, drums, voice.  Calvin: same.
LABEL COLOR: green
SILKSCREEN:  Go Team logo
SONGS:
"Ribeye:"  It's a trip to the rodeo with Tobi and Calvin, almost an instrumental save for one word ("Ribeyyye").
"935 Patterson:" A really nice, melancholy song written and sung by Tobi, who sounds an awful lot like Alison Statton here.

JUNE
PERSONNEL:  Tobi: percussion.  Calvin: guitar, drums, voice.   Quang H: drums.  Billy Karren: guitar.  Brad Clemmons: guitar.
LABEL COLOR: beige/brown
SILKSCREEN: Go Team logo
SONGS:
"Go Team Call:" a martial-sounding Instrumental which suddenly erupts into overdrive for a few brief seconds.
"Three Ways To Sunday:" a Beat Happening-style song sung blue by Calvin.   It's priceless to hear them try to build the song up in the middle, only to lose it entirely when Calvin starts singing again.

JULY
PERSONNEL: Calvin: guitar.  Tobi: drums.  Tamra Ohmund: voice.   Louise Olsen: bass. Donna Biddle: guitar. Kurdt Kobain: guitar
LABEL COLOR: cherry red
SILKSCREEN:  Go Team logo
SONGS: "Scratch It Out:" I read somewhere that this is actually a reunion of the apocryphal Olympia band Doris.  "Scratch It Out" is an portentous track, with Tamra threatening and moaning over Tobi's determined thump-thumping beats.  Tamra actually travelled with the Go Team on their 1989 tour, though she didn't perform with them.
"Bikini Twilight:" A pop-garagey instrumental nugget, notable for Kurt's strong guitar playing.  You can hear a faint echo of what he'd soon do on Bleach.

AUGUST
PERSONNEL:  Tobi: guitar, drums, voice.  Calvin: guitar, drums.
LABEL COLOR: pink
SILKSCREEN:  Go Team logo
SONGS: "Tummy Hop:"   Calvin goes for the low notes, ominously chanting "tummytummytummytummy" over a circular guitar riff that leads into a four-chord rocker.  Similar in execution and delivery to Beat Happening's Black Candy.
"Maverick Summer:"  Egyptian reggae.

SEPTEMBER
PERSONNEL: Tobi, Calvin, Brad Clemmons: guitars.
LABEL COLOR: orange
SILKSCREEN:  Go Team logo
SONG:  "The Pines of Rome" (excerpt).  A long, dreamy instrumental that twists and unfolds.

Listen to Go Team sound clips here.