Among the heavier-leaning groups on SST’s roster, Das Damen fused sixties psychedelia and intense acid rock with the noisy, punk-rooted alternative style that defined the label. Rather than pursuing the raw white-noise assault favored by labelmates Dinosaur Jr., the quartet leaned into lush, hallucinatory distortion at high volume. Their earliest work centered on free-form improvisation, yet growing songwriting sophistication brought greater rhythmic intricacy and shifting time signatures. Taking their moniker from the German word for “ladies,” the band formed in New York in 1984 when vocalist/guitarist Jim Walters joined guitarist Alex Totino, bassist Phil Leopold Von Trapp, and drummer Lyle Hysen. In 1986 they issued a six-song self-titled debut EP on Thurston Moore’s Ecstatic Peace imprint; SST, already home to Sonic Youth, quickly absorbed the release.
Their first proper SST album, 1987’s Jupiter Eye, remained steeped in improvisation and evoked the expansive acid explorations of the late sixties and early seventies. The next record, 1988’s Triskaidekaphobe, adopted a tighter, more melodic hard-rock approach, but the Marshmellow Conspiracy EP that followed generated greater attention. One of its four tracks, “Song for Michael Jackson to $ell,” delivered a direct cover of the Beatles’ “Magical Mystery Tour” credited to Das Damen’s members as a protest against royalty payments to Jackson, who had recently outbid Paul McCartney for the Beatles catalog. Jackson’s legal team swiftly demanded that all copies—pressed on pink vinyl—be pulled from distributors and destroyed. SST later reissued a three-song version, yet the episode contributed to the band’s departure from the label.
Das Damen next signed with the Minneapolis-based Twin/Tone label and delivered Mousetrap in 1989. Though the album featured more refined production values, it made little headway on college radio. They recorded one additional release, the 1990 live album Entertaining Friends, captured at CBGB’s and issued by the German City Slang imprint. In 1991 the group moved to Sub Pop for the standalone single “High Anxiety” before disbanding.
