Ten Boy Summer
 

So, not too long ago I met someone and had a conversation that jogged my memory of a pretty ****ing hard to find compilation of 90s (mostly) Bay Area hardcore/skramz/emo/etc put together by an organization called Food not Bombs. If you haven't heard of FnB, they're a great organization that basically collects wasted food from restaurants/cafes/chains as well as from donations to help feed the homeless. It's not as active as it used to be. But, it was a haven for 90s bay area punk/at-risk/homeless (in many cases all three) youth from what I hear.


Anyways, long unrelated intro aside Ten Boy Summer was a band on the compilation that I remember being fond of in high school. Pretty obscure, hard to find any info about them. Yep, they're one of "those" emo bands- the ones whose merch and original issue vinyl sell for triple digits on ebay. I found this on youtube, pretty much the only online source to their music I'm aware of.



Makes me wonder what they would've sounded like if they could've afforded decent recording equipment. Might just be the obscene amount of distortion but goddamn, those screams make me feel 16 again. This is lo-fi, noisy, and difficult/painful to listen to, in that good way only an old school obscure miserable band of emos can accomplish.

"The History of Blank Pages and the Conscious Decision to Discontinue the Tradition Our Gender has Been Plagued With," a song title so long only an emo band would come up with it, was featured on the comp and is probably the standout. IMO, the first 15 or so minutes are kinda average. But after that... holy ****.

Did I mention they share a guitarist with Cap'n Jazz?

https://files.nyu.edu/dg504/public/tenboysummer.html

dude went on to front Maritime if I'm not mistaken

^good band

Also Food not Bombs was not meant to be a gutter punk food program but well, whatever works.

Also, shame about what became of Davey von Bohlen. This video in which he calls Depeche Mode dated is very ironic..

^there is blood literally coming out of ears right now :)

Is that demo the only thing they ever put out?

And for the record I cooked with Food Not Bombs for years in both Reno and Baltimore

You can find the FnB comp here:
Food Not Bombs Compilations | blue skies above us

If you like Ten Boy Summer you might be into Flesh Colored Christs, which you can also find there:
Flesh Colored Christs | blue skies above us

Personally i think the recording is perfect. I like how it sounds like there's someone tapping on the mic or whatever they were using to record a few times.

Regarding that song title, have you actually listened to or read the lyrics?
"It will take more than one broken spoke to stop this wheel so strong from turning.
I will try and I might fail,
But there will still be me
There will still be one
One who will not contribute,
One who will not continue,
One who will not take,
And one who will not rape."