dirtclodfight

Phil Merwin met Gary Walden while they were both employed as 'orderlies' at a Mental Hospital in North Long Beach, Ca in 1987. They talked about a shared love of Black Sabbath, the bad brains, Flipper, and black flag, and they found they were both members of the Sub Pop singles club. Eventually, they discussed starting a band. Gary introduced Phil Merwin to Preston Peck and Herb Gordon, and the band was formed. Many dirtclodfight lyrics came from conversations and experiences with patients at the mental hospital, and from Phil Merwin's notebooks of poetry. The band cut their teeth at the club, Ugenes, in Pico Rivera where they played with ShoeGazer, L7, the Offspring, and Hole. They had more than a few standout shows with Clawhammer, Distorted Pony, Sandy Duncan's eye, and the Paper tulips all over LA and Long Beach.
At the end of 1987 they wrote their first 7 inch, "the paper bag" EP. Al Flipside caught a few of their shows at Ugene's, and made quick friends with band. Al decided to put out the first 7 inch on Flipside records in 1988, and this was followed with 3 more albums over the years on his label. The band was ecstatic to be part of the Flipside label/fanzine, as they grew up on the fanzine, and it meant a lot to them to carry that logo on their records. Fred Merwin, Phil Merwin's twin brother, joined the band after Gary left before the recording of their first 7 inch, and has been on every release on lead guitar.
The interplay between the brothers Merwin on guitar became their 'sound', and was integral to the bands direction. They played a slower heavier version of punk with an odd 'doors-like' ethos hiding under the covers. They were not a typical Southern California punk band, at all. Their live shows were considered a heated battle of emotion and intensity, and garnered them a decent following locally, and on the road. Phil Merwin was known to pass out from screaming during shows, this was always both disturbing and 'appreciated' by fans. Phil's screaming/spoken word/poetry/revivalist chanting became a trademark of their live shows and songs. The first album was 'Everything that Isn't, was produced by good friend Sean Greaves, and is regarded as a fan favorite with the song Brutal Flower becoming a staple request on the road for the band. The title track is a long bantering of spiritual dilemma solved through loud guitars and feedback laden baptism. They did many West Coast and Southwest tours, and one national tour after this album. This first record, also, formed a devoted following with fans in Australia, which eventually led to a 7 inch on Death Valley records out of Australia in later years, and picture evidence of kids in Australia with dcf tattoos!
The line up changed after the first album to include Bill Jackson on drums and Darryl Williams on bass. The songs changed into more complex, relentless dirges with strange pop 'like' elements thrown in. At this time the band started using experimental open and dropped tunings on their guitars, and found Darryl Williams and Fred Merwin contributing more to the song writing. This line up would put out their 2 final Flipside albums "Hunting Lesson" and "Suffering the Aftertaste" . Both of these releases were very well received, especially by other bands, and the band did many tours in support of them. They opened shows for TAD, Helmet, The melvins, Steel Pole Bathtub, the Jesus Lizard, and Rocket from the Crypt. They did many tours with Atomic 61, their brother band. Cavity Search and Feeble records co released a live 7 inch, LIVE in Texas, from one of their SW tours together. Atomic would go on to cover the dcf song, "the one that killed him" from the Hunting Lesson album during their live sets, and dirtclodfight recorded a version of Atomic 61's "double boiler" along with a cover of John Entwhistle's who classic, "Boris the spider" and this was released as a 7 inch on Truk records out of Costa Mesa, Ca, as a split 7 inch with the FH Hill Company. The song "I got crazy things" from their final Flipside release, Suffering the Aftertaste, was released by Death Valley records out of Australia as a split 7 inch with ChristBait.

Eugene/Portland, OR