Squirm - Feeding the Ground

Well here's something that should perk your interest good citizens.... the one and only first 'Squirm' Cassette from way back in 1993.

I actually thought (wrongly) that all of these tracks had been included on the Failsafe CD 'Master Mistake Maker' but as it turns out, only three of the seven tracks from this Tape were used. Another three tracks were used on the first Squirm CD / EP.
Later, a compilation by Failsafe called 'Good Things' would again feature 'Voodoo' as it was well received by local radio I believe.
Only one track from this cassette (Bone Tree) has failed to see the light of day by Failsafe.
This rip is taken entirely from the cassette version & only mildly tinkered with digitally to retain balance in the volume of the different tracks.

This would have to be my favourite Squirm release. It's funny because even now when I listen to it, I'm not getting any references like 'oh, this sounds like so and so band ... etc'... the songs are so fucking crazed... who knows where this shit came from? It could only have been cooked up in flat city..... the home of the deranged..... and fittingly, this cassette came out on 'Flat City Recordings' which also released a bunch of other stuff back in the day. Peter Mitchell (who later became the drummer for Squirm) was the curator for this label and it's worth hunting down anything they put out. Some way cool stuff in there.

Thankfully I was there to see this line-up play. They were instantly my favourite local band. I saw all the other line-ups afterwards too. Also all good... but this Cassette period remains my fave. As a three piece, these cats clicked together very nicely. Also a great job done by Arnie Van Bussel of NightShift studios. Without him, so much great music in Christchurch would never have happened. He recorded the first Pin Group 7" for Flying Nun back in 1981 you do realise. The beginning of the Flying Nun sound. And if Arnie had a dollar for every band that owed him money, he'd probably be a goddamn billionaire. True.

The last two tracks however were recorded at Puawai Studios by my old buddy Miles and a guy called Stu. That was a secret underground (literally) studio that managed to capture quite a few early 90's acts in their heyday... was only there for a few years but Kudos to they that founded it.

Here's some links:

Squirm - Feeding the Ground Tape

Squirm Discogs

Squirm Failsafe