The Spits

As any PBR-guzzling degenerate in Seattle will tell you, the Spits have made a fine name for themselves over the years, bashing out a virulent strand of garage-wave scum. But you know what? In order to understand the genetic makeup of the Spits’ brand of punk freakery, you have to understand Kalamazoo, Mich. It was there, back in the early ’90s, that the Spits’ heart and soul, Sean and Erin Wood, cut their teeth playing in a string of post-Buttholes noise-rock bands. Sean, in particular, would get obscenely drunk and violent whenever his band, the LAPD Riot Midgets, decided to terrorize some hapless nightclub or basement. So yeah, next time you throw up or get a black eye during a Spits show, thank a weird little town called Kalamazoo. With Meepers, Android Hero, and T.V. Coahran. JUSTIN FARRAR

Listen to a sample of The Spits' "Black and Blue."