Thursday, March 4, 2010

OGD 666

There really was no finer band in San Francisco in the '90s than Old Grandad. The band was comprised of Eric Moggridge (formerly of Epidemic,) Will Carroll (formerly of Machinehead,) and Max Barnett. These three wooly buddies joined forces at a time when playing crushing metal about smoking crack wasn't really in vogue. All three members shared the vocal duties each having a distinct voice and approach to singing about smoking crack. They were ultra-heavy but still retained a sense of humor and irony, but not the kind of irony that has you wearing a handlebar moustache and a Loverboy jersey, asstits. Throughout the decade, OGD (as they were sometimes called) played many a great local show and released two albums and an EP. Volume 666 was their first album and it is as delicious as that first hit of crack on a crisp Mission District morning. Eric is now in SubArachnoid Space and operates his own freak-folk/psych solo project Aerial Ruin, Max now plays bass for Hammers of Misfortune, and Will bashes buckets for the legendary Death Angel. Loved this band, love these dudes. Get this album, smoke some crack, worship Satan. It's pretty simple, really.

18 comments:

Shannon said...

I was thinking about this yesterday!

ido said...

Drugs and Satan? Sounds good to me.

ifdead said...

Urine Angel!! One of the best "lets get fucked up and party" albums of all time. So many memories.. or fragments of memories.....

Todd said...

Too often in any type of music, but especially metal, you don't want to know the words to the vocals you're hearing. Old Grandad were not one of those bands. Best lyrics in the Bay Area!

Gore.Metal said...

I happened to be in in SF seeing friends when they played a reunion show at Annie's last year. Never heard of them before that night, but they instantly transformed me into a horn throwing fan boy. Killer band!

Mike Desert said...

Their show at Annie's some months back was amazing. Made me remember why they were so great. I don't know how people can play that well that drunk.

Anthony said...

I remember me and you Ace after Matty's wake at the park, sitting on the "high" seats at Mission Records smoking a joint of Matty Luv while OGD played on the stage, as a group of kids lined up in front of us to get a drag off our Matty Luv laced joint!

daniel said...

great stuff! never even heard of this band before...(un)fortunately there´s no crack in sweden, so i´ll try to get into this with just satan worship.

johnny said...

Saw these dude so many times - Nightbreak, Kimo's, CW Saloon and that reptile themed club across from where the Hustler Club is now. Noticed you chose not to display the horrible artwork, if I hadn't heard them first I never would have bought their CD it was so aesthetically offensive. Didn't the Cd have a track called Daly City Crackhouse?

Aesop said...

Actually couldn't find the CD so I used this default promo pic. "Daly City Crackhouse" was either on the EP or their final album "The Last Upper"

gooniestorm said...

i have such mixed emotions about this band... they're super cheezy, but they rule ass over 98% of so-called metal bands... on a personal level, will carrol is the biggest rockstar douchebag i have EVER had the displeasure of knowing, yet eric moggridge is one of the most genuinely good, sensitive and unpretentious people i've ever known. go figure, right?

Anonymous said...

Old Grandad is alright,like em

Loved Epidemic,they were the best of the "opening for Violence @ The Omni back in the day" bands

Dont know if Will Carrol is an asshole or not,but theres alot of that rockstarness around in the Metal scene,so who knows

The singer for Benumb is a really nice guy though

Chet the Medicine said...

finally got a chance to listen to this today. wow.

reminded me of the old Am/Rep/Helmet sound, skateboarding, all that--made me want to go thrash the old curb behind the bank, but then, then i remembered the bad hip and the gray hair, the wife and the responsibilities; but then, then i remembered the baking soda and the windex, the foil and the torch and...

what an amazing gem this is.

with a blackened thumb,


thanks.

Aylmer said...

FUCK! This is RAD!

Brendan said...

These fellas had beards waaay before that became a cool metal thing to do.

Chet the Medicine said...

i cannot stop listening to this one.

johnny said...

This makes me want to hear Idiot Flesh, Bonecrusher, Barfeeders and all the other greats that made it so much fun to go to the Nightbreak Sushi Sunday matinees.

Anonymous said...

Fuck I miss seein this band! Good fuckin sets from these mofos! My lips are cracked and ashy already! heh heh... Thanks yet again for this one Aesop!-Josh