Wormbag – Crop Duster

by | Apr 20, 2018 | Song of the Day

I have seen post-grunge alt-folk country dream pop future and its name is Wormbag.

Those words were written by me in my January 2014 feature on Wormbag, a Portland band that barely scratched the surface of Obscurity before fading into Complete Oblivion. And while my feature was intended to be humorous, my admiration for Wormbag was legitimate. Looking back at all of the songs that have appeared in these pages, Wormbag’s “Crop Duster” is probably the one that I have listened to the most. I play “Crop Duster” in the car, in airports, on planes, while working. The question is…. FOR GOD’S SAKE WHY?

What is it about “Crop Duster” that makes it compelling? The song opens the way great rock songs are supposed to open: with massive chords and a memorable riff from guitarist/vocalist Nate (last name unknown). The guy can actually sing. On some songs he sounds like Elvis. Here, he’s letting his natural voice show and it’s pretty good.  I’m not exactly sure what he’s singing about, but I think it has something to do with destroying the environment and the end of Mankind.

If you’ve got no mud, well then you’ve got no trees
If you’ve got no trees, well then – pffft – you can’t breath

Up until those lines, the song could have been the work of a coffeehouse folkie. Swap the electric guitar for a banjo and the cargo shorts crowd would eat this stuff up. But when the drums engage around the one-minute mark, the song becomes a true anthem.

Wormbag described their genre as “poor rock.” Their most expensive piece of equipment was a $150 drum kit, and a December 2013 Facebook post bragged that they were finally able to get through a show without something breaking. And that’s about all that I know about Wormbag. The band went on hiatus sometime in 2015 and hasn’t posted anything on Facebook since late 2016 when they noted that their drummer, Ryan (last name unknown), was in a new project called Stagnant Slide. A recent Twitter search on “wormbag”  turned up no results about the band, but plenty about Donald Trump.

And that, as they say, is that. If anyone out there knows the current state of Wormbag, let me know. In the meanwhile, you might as well follow them on Facebook.

Wormbag has 5 songs available for free download on Reverb Nation, and 16 songs available for streaming on Soundcloud. Besides “Crop Duster,” I recommend “Death March” and “The Jackson Three.” You definitely need to check out the latter.

Bonus Video! Wormbag performing live at Burgerville. In a strange way that I don’t fully comprehend, this is a fascinating scene. I mean, who would not want to be doing this? This is rock-n-roll! HELL YEAH!

Charles Norman is a writer and historian. Email: reverb.raccoon@gmail.com. Or follow on Instagram and Facebook.

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