Janitor Joe (band)
| Janitor Joe | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States |
| Genres | Alternative rock, post-hardcore, noise rock |
| Years active | 1992–1994, 2010 (one-off reunion show) |
| Labels | OXO, Amphetamine Reptile |
| Associated acts | Bastards, Hole, Gnomes of Zurich |
| Members | Joachim Breuer Wayne Davis Matt Entsminger |
| Past members | Kristen Pfaff |
Janitor Joe was an American noise rock band formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1992. The band's founding members were vocalist and guitarist Joachim Breuer, former member of the Minneapolis-based rock band Bastards, bassist and vocalist Kristen Pfaff and drummer Matt Entsminger. Pfaff was replaced by Wayne Davis following her departure in 1993 to join Hole.
Janitor Joe released two studio albums and four singles on OXO and Amphetamine Reptile before disbanding after Pfaff's death in June 1994.
The band's first single, Hmong, was released on the nascent OXO records imprint in 1992, and popular local label Amphetamine Reptile picked up the band later that year, releasing the Bullethead single on picture disc, and following up in 1993 with the Boyfriend 7-inch and the debut album Big Metal Birds. One Janitor Joe track, Under the knife, can also be found on an OXO records 4-track EP, released in 1993.
Janitor Joe became a staple of the Minneapolis sound, characterized by vicious, riff-driven, thickly layered blasts of noise, influenced by the Pacific Northwest's early grunge sound and by the sharper, faster DC Post-hardcore scene, as well as the stop-start distortion of the Butthole Surfers, Shellac and others on the Touch and Go label. Pfaff and Breuer both contributed songs to Big Metal Birds: "Both operate within easy reach of the line separating punishment and reward: Pfaff's contributions (the surly "Boys in Blue") tend to be slightly more spacious, while Breuer's ("One Eye," for instance) stipulate that drummer Matt Entsminger maintain perpetual motion", wrote David Sprague of TrouserPress magazine.
The growing Minneapolis scene was beginning to attract music press attention in 1993. Amphetamine Reptile released a tour single, Stinker, and Janitor Joe began to tour nationally. While playing in California, Pfaff was scouted by Eric Erlandson and Courtney Love of Hole, then looking for a bassist. Though she initially declined to join, Pfaff later reconsidered and moved to Seattle to work on Live Through This, Hole's second album.
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