Tremors

Between 2002 and 2004 Greensboro, North Carolina saw several strong acts across multiple styles rise at once, and the Tremors stood among them. In countless other U.S. cities the late 1990s had left live-music scenes nearly barren. When clubs finally reopened, observers sometimes called the change a renaissance—an odd label for a unit whose set list already featured “Pill Popper” and “Riot.”

Fresh bookings at both familiar and newly active rooms—New York Pizza, The Green Bean, Ace’s Basement—functioned like dependable guitar cables for outfits such as the Tremors, finally letting listeners catch the actual sound. One lingering obstacle remained: persuading those same listeners to pay the cover.

Perhaps they were hoarding cash for records instead. If so, the band’s first album, the 2004 release The Scourge of the South, stood a fair chance of reaching the surviving southern households after hurricane season. The Tremors performed under stage names: Jimmy Tremor handled guitar and vocals while Slim Perkins played bass and Stretch Armstrong sat behind the drums. Earlier, Tremor had fronted a rockabilly project called Ubangi Stomp, an outfit unrelated to the Washington, D.C., group known as the Ubangis.

Details on the Tremors could be picked up at the Hypnotica shop along Spring Garden Street, where Perkins often worked the counter.