Shorty

Shorty came into existence in 1991 with vocalist Al Johnson and guitarist Mark Shippy at the helm, joined by drummer Todd Lamparelli and bassist Luke Frantom. The quartet put out two albums and three singles, their eclectic histories shaping a singular sonic approach. Shippy brought classical piano training and an exploratory attitude toward the guitar, whereas Johnson had studied flute, piano, and guitar. Lamparelli took up drumming young and played in school jazz groups, while Frantom switched to bass after his high-school marching-band tuba experience. Once assembled, the musicians instinctively focused on dense, abrasive rock textures drawn from sources as varied as Van Halen, Stewart Copeland, Motörhead, and Gang of Four.

Johnson and Shippy first connected through mutual acquaintances in late 1986. Johnson was then active in the DeKalb, IL, hard rock/gothic band Nursery, and Shippy played in the quasi-politico art-rock outfit the Muckrakers from Crystal Lake, IL. By spring 1988 the pair resolved to start a fresh project and placed an advertisement in a local DeKalb paper. When responses proved fruitless, they briefly considered relocating to England. Just before departure, Lamparelli and Anthony Ciarrocchi answered the ad seriously. Lamparelli had recently left drumming behind, and Ciarrocchi had stopped singing in their Chicago Heights thrash/punk group Tricot Mesh; the two had known each other since childhood. The resulting four-piece began performing jangly noise rock as Dragster, with Shippy and Johnson sharing guitar and vocal duties. After learning another band already used that name, they adopted Bomb, only to discover it too was taken. In fall 1988 Ciarrocchi departed and bassist Tim Mescher stepped in. Mescher and Mike Greenleese, both from Blatant Dissent/Tar, selected the new name Snailboy that January 1989, a reference to a slow racehorse.

Under the Snailboy moniker the group issued two singles. The first, Mungo, was tracked with Ian Burgess and Brad Wood; Tar guitarist John Mohr put the 7" out in 1990 on his No Blow label without formal contracts. At the time the band rented the basement of a farmhouse belonging to one of Lamparelli’s co-workers for fifty dollars a month, allowing unrestricted rehearsal hours. The arrangement proved less idyllic than expected: geese wandered indoors, the co-worker’s naked daughter defecated on the floors, weasels traversed drainpipes above Johnson’s head during practice, and baby mice nested inside amplifiers.

After abandoning that space, the musicians sought a producer for their next single, drawn to the sonic results Butch Vig had achieved with Killdozer, the Laughing Hyenas, and the Bastards. Contacted while he was recording Nirvana’s Nevermind, Vig nevertheless scheduled studio time. In August the band traveled to Madison, WI, for two days at Smart Studios. The resulting single, Spoo Heaven, surfaced on Sympathy for the Record Industry in Long Beach, CA, around April 1991. Shortly afterward Frantom replaced Mescher on bass. Mescher’s creative differences with certain members had already slowed momentum for a year; Frantom joined because Johnson had long been friends with him and the two had played together in Nursery. Frantom was also active in the speed-metal outfit A Goldfish Named Blade.

The new bassist prompted both a musical shift and a fresh identity. Shippy later noted that he and Johnson embraced the name Shorty for separate reasons: Shippy admired Guitar Shorty’s unorthodox style, while Johnson appreciated its everyday street resonance. The group unofficially adopted Shorty in May 1991 and made the change official that September. Atlanta, GA, label Worry Bird issued the first Shorty 7", Last One in My Mouth Is a Jerk, late that year. The band also appeared on the DeKalb, IL, compilation On a Clear Day You Can See Byron. In December 1992 a friend who ran Madison, WI’s Bovine Records released an eight-track single recorded with Steve Albini; pressed as Niggerhat, the 7" preceded work on the debut album.

While Tar toured Europe, guitarist John Mohr met Rene Herbst in Germany; Herbst had been trying to reach Shorty after hearing the No Blow single and offered to fund the next record. Mohr relayed the message upon returning to Illinois, and Herbst soon sent money, instructing the band to record with anyone they chose. Shorty selected Albini and spent a week tracking at Chicago Recording Company before mixing at his home. Gasoline Boost Records in southern Germany pressed 3,500 copies of the resulting LP, Thumb Days, in April 1993. Caroline and Cargo handled U.S. distribution, selling out the pressing before the official release date. Skin Graft Records owner Mark Fischer noticed both the artwork and the music, prompting the September release of Shorty’s Kaput! 7" on that label. The band then played with labelmates Zeni Geva and the Dazzling Killmen and appeared on a John Peel compilation while beginning sessions for the follow-up album Fresh Breath with Albini.

As underground recognition grew, Shorty embarked on a European tour in April 1994, spending a month on the road with Champaign, IL, trio the Didjits. Upon returning to the States, Frantom left to attend to personal matters. Fresh Breath appeared as a 10" that June, coinciding with the band’s dissolution; the record included guest vocals from Mount Shasta’s John Forbes. Mutual friend John Barrile was brought in on bass, and the first performance with him, at Lounge Ax in July 1994, proved to be Shorty’s final show. Barrile’s onstage nerves and Lamparelli’s inability to hear the instruments clearly compounded the evening’s difficulties. The next day’s scheduled appearances on Skin Graft’s Oops! Indoors! tour were canceled, and the group disbanded. While Shippy and Johnson contemplated their next project, Shippy was struck by a car. After recovering from hemorrhaging and minor injuries, he and Johnson joined guitarist Todd Rittmann and drummer Jim Kimball to form a new band. With Pat Samson replacing Kimball, the project became U.S. Maple. Shorty later appeared posthumously on the 1995 Zero Hour compilation Threadwaxing Space Live: The Presidential Compilation and the 1997 Skin Graft anthology Camp Skin Graft 33 Hits! Now Wave Vols. 1-3.