Band: End Result

[DregsInTheCrowd]

I searched, I swear. Couldn't find an End Result-specific poll.

I recently purchased a copy of You Weren't There: A History of Chicago Punk. As we've previously discussed on this forum, it's a totally awesome film, and I've already watched it a bunch of times. Some of the music featured in this film I already knew and loved (Naked Raygun, the Effigies). Some of it just didn't appeal to me (Articles Of Faith, Tutu and the Pirates).

But what really stood out for me was the segment on End Result. I'd probably heard their name tossed around, but never investigated them. I just managed to track down a copy of the Ward EP and I'm playing it constantly. In concept and execution, they did all the things that excite me about music.

The fact that someone as young as me can now easily find out about this music makes me think You Weren't There is a really important film.

[Brett Eugene Ralph]

Malignant Growth and End Result were both featured on The Master Tape Vol. II. If I recall correctly, we may have even been on the same side. At the time (I was seventeen years old), it seemed like horrible noise to me--kind of akin to Flipper--but I found the singer's voice compelling in spite of myself. I'll have to go back and check 'em out again; my tastes are a lot less rigid these days.

Fantastic name, by the way.

[Mark Hansen]

Their Ward ep is not crap. Their performances back in the day were compelling, despite their seeming lack of conventional ability. It was great fun to see them perform in front of a mainly hardcore punk audience; most people did not know what to think about them. The Smith brothers are good guys as well.

When I saw them perform about a year ago at Beat Kitchen, they were great.

[steve]

Alan Jones, when asked why End Result didn't have a drummer, said (if you know the gentle lisp of his voice, this is even better), "well, we'd like to think our audience can count."

I loved this band, especially the clanging whirlwind of Alan's guitar. It seemed like he always had to borrow a different busted amp for every show, yet he always sounded the same -- like somebody throwing folding chairs and dishes into a thresher.

The Smith brothers + Alan was the classic lineup, but over the years they added adjunct members and recent revival shows didn't even include Alan, so I can't vouch for everything the band did and does, but for a while there (after ONO stopped performing regularly) they were the only real head-scratcher in the scene, and if nothing else, they served the noble purpose of baffling and embarrassing the hardcore audience.

I made a shambles of Ruthless Records when I tried to run it as an actual record label, but I was able to get an End Result record made, so that's something.

[DregsInTheCrowd]

Permanent Records somehow got a hold of a whole bunch of sealed original copies of Ward this week and promptly sold out. And it seems that they're going to get even more in. Seems like a really ideal time to just be getting into End Result. Are there any other End Result releases to track down? I feel like I'm gonna get real geeky for this band.

[Mark Hansen]

Permanent Records somehow got a hold of a whole bunch of sealed original copies of Ward this week and promptly sold out. And it seems that they're going to get even more in. Seems like a really ideal time to just be getting into End Result. Are there any other End Result releases to track down? I feel like I'm gonna get real geeky for this band.

I'm pretty sure that was the only release. I think I asked Steve Smith this when I saw him last year.

I'm also pretty sure Steve has a bunch of copies of the ep, as I don't think they sold very many when it was originally released; they were selling them when I saw them perform at Beat Kitchen last year. I bought another copy of it then, and had the Smith Bros. sign it as well. So, he is probably the source for these copies that have turned up.

Steve is a very funny and pleasant guy to talk to; he was in town for the second showing of You Weren't There just recently, and talked to him for a while. I think they would like to do some more shows, especially with Alan, but Alan doesn't seem too interested. It also sounds like Alan lives on his own little planet, so to speak; not necessarily in a bad way either.

[Mark Hansen]

By the way, Ono, who Steve mentioned in his post, are well worth checking out as well. They also played with End Result that night at Beat Kitchen, and this performance was fantastic as well. Travis is also very nice to talk to, and may well be the most elfin black man I have ever met. Ono does play every once in a while here in Chicago; I do believe Travis still lives here.

[SecondEdition]

I wouldn't mind hearing this band. Can anyone hook me up with some of their stuff? Off the description, I doubt this is a band that stays in print too easily.

[DregsInTheCrowd]

I wouldn't mind hearing this band. Can anyone hook me up with some of their stuff? Off the description, I doubt this is a band that stays in print too easily.

I now have what I think is the majority of their released output - a grand total of 11 songs. I'll put it up on the sendspace thread as soon as I get a chance.

[mrdfnle]

I wouldn't mind hearing this band. Can anyone hook me up with some of their stuff? Off the description, I doubt this is a band that stays in print too easily.

I now have what I think is the majority of their released output - a grand total of 11 songs. I'll put it up on the sendspace thread as soon as I get a chance.

That would be awesome. I would like to here these as well.

[DregsInTheCrowd]

Bumped to let interested parties know I just posted a bunch of End Result on the sendspace thread. Enjoy.

[the Classical]

Permanent Records somehow got a hold of a whole bunch of sealed original copies of Ward this week and promptly sold out. And it seems that they're going to get even more in.

They must have gotten more in cuz I picked it up there yesterday.

I had heard a few stray things by this band over the yrs, mostly recently via the internet and it is great finally have the real deal in my hands, which sounds completely awesome and original by the way.

Not Crap.

[DregsInTheCrowd]

Permanent Records somehow got a hold of a whole bunch of sealed original copies of Ward this week and promptly sold out. And it seems that they're going to get even more in.

They must have gotten more in cuz I picked it up there yesterday.

I had heard a few stray things by this band over the yrs, mostly recently via the internet and it is great finally have the real deal in my hands, which sounds completely awesome and original by the way.

Not Crap.

They did get more in. When I asked they said that Dorian Tajbakhsh is the one who's been supplying them - I guess he's just had a bunch lying around for years. Good for him - it's nice that he's made this great record slightly available again. Almost bought a safety copy when I found out they had more, but I thought that would be greedy as they're in short supply.

[skoz]

Weasel Walter is working on putting out a 2 cd End Result anthology.

[OrthodoxEaster]

Weasel Walter is working on putting out a 2 cd End Result anthology.

I like this group very much, but that's more than anyone should have to sit thru.

Even the Ward mini-album starts to grate on me, not really b/c it's so harsh or noisy, mostly b/c it can get a little too wacky, spastic, and thin-sounding. And hey, it's only 20 or 30 minutes long.

Still, Not Crap at all. A very bold band for the time and place. The various End Result compilation tracks (on Hog Butcher for the World, Master Tape II, You Weren't There soundtrack) wonderfully contrast the various hardcore and indie-rock songs in which they are encased. So refreshing and fucked-up. I imagine their gigs in the '80s were much the same way.

Still, 140 minutes of End Result in one sitting? Maybe if you've never had sex before.

[SecondEdition]

God, what a fucking bizarre band. They probably could have gotten a little more recognition in New York around the time No Wave was happening, because they were pretty much a no wave band.

So, so weird. The one about the subway is about five different species of ravenously insane.

Who knows, though: Circle X, possibly the best no wave band to have ever existed, possibly better than even DNA and the Contortions, didn't get mentioned once in that Moore/Coley photobook, and they even got to New York at the tail end of No Wave.

[skoz]

Weasel Walter is working on putting out a 2 cd End Result anthology.

I like this group very much, but that's more than anyone should have to sit thru.

Still, 140 minutes of End Result in one sitting? Maybe if you've never had sex before.

Well who knows I'f it'll end up as a 2x CD. He's starting with 18 hrs! of audio and chopping it down to something listenable.

[OrthodoxEaster]

God, what a fucking bizarre band. They probably could have gotten a little more recognition in New York around the time No Wave was happening, because they were pretty much a no wave band.

So, so weird. The one about the subway is about five different species of ravenously insane.

Who knows, though: Circle X, possibly the best no wave band to have ever existed, possibly better than even DNA and the Contortions, didn't get mentioned once in that Moore/Coley photobook, and they even got to New York at the tail end of No Wave.

I don't think End Result started until 1980 or so, by which time no wave had, for all intents and purposes, expired. (Someone please get that memo to Soul Jazz Records, UK.) I think they were more active when the hardcore scene was revving up. Plus they were really young. Their music always struck me as a little goofier and less arty/detached than no wave, although there are certainly some similarities. They were probably a little less self-conscious, and maybe a little less "cool." End Result was very much its own thing.

Circle X came to the city from Kentucky. Those guys were socially quite outside of the various no-wave cliques, even though their music was fairly similar to and influenced by those bands. But they were also a good deal more "rock" in their approach. Circle X had MUCH bigger amps. And they spent a good hunk of 1979 in France. They were in NYC from autumn '78 through summer '79, during which time they were still figuring out their sound. Although I know that they gigged w/a number of those no-wave bands, even though they didn't really fraternize much w/them. By the time they returned from France, in the middle of 1980, no wave was done. Byron and Thurston probably weren't all that aware of Circle X, since they didn't really fit into the social strata of the time. But I agree: the Circle X EP and maybe the Mars EP are my favorite no-wave records.

[steve]

Circle X and End Result also both had a sense of humor, which made them stand apart from their respective scenes.

[SecondEdition]

Circle X and End Result also both had a sense of humor, which made them stand apart from their respective scenes.

Circle X had a sense of humor?

Well...I guess putting the words of "Onward Christian Soldiers" to a wallowing, stomach-turning display of sickening feedback and shrieked vocals is simultaneously a brilliant joke and immensely fucked-up. Not to mention calling one of your songs "Gothic Fragment."