U.S. Bombs
Encyclopedia
U.S. Bombs are an American
punk rock
band, formed in 1993 in Orange County, CA. U.S. Bombs consist of vocalist Duane Peters
, guitarists Kerry Martinez and Jonny "Two Bags" Wickersham
, bass guitarist Wade Walston and drummer Chip Hanna
. Vocalist Duane Peters is a legendary professional skateboarder from the late 70's and early 80's skate explosion in Southern California. Well known as "The Master of Disaster" and the first person to do a full loop on a skateboard, as well as the inventor of many tricks and an innovator in the pool skate realm. Duane as well as all other members of the US Bombs have played in many previous OC punk bands throughout the years, notable ones being, Political Crap, Shattered Faith, The Dischords, and The Exploding Fuck Dolls. The U.S. Bombs do it their own way and have been selling out shows around the world since the 90's because of it. The fact that Duane was already a skate legend helped the band rocket to success, but it was also the on stage presence that the band puts out that keeps fans coming back. Throughout the years there would be many times that Duane Peters would be too fucked up to sing, stand, or even show up to the show, and if he would make it he would put on a wildly entertaining performance with innovative dance moves while belting out the hits their fans love. Either way, the U.S. Bombs combination of melodic 70's punk and a who cares attitude on and off the stage keeps the fans wondering what Duane, Kerry and the crew are going to do next.
Unfortunately due to serious illness that was killing him and eventually take his life, long time guitarist Chuck Briggs was unable to record the bands 4th full length "The World". Briggs was replaced by Jonny "Two Bags" Wickersham, formerly of Youth Brigade. "The World" was released in 1999, and when the Bombs returned from a European tour, tensions were high among the band mates due to basically living on the road together the last 5 years and Duane left to form Duane Peters and the Hunns.
During the constant touring and album recording the U.S. Bombs developed a relationship with Beer City Records/Skateboards based in Milwaukee and released three 7" records with them. In 1997 they released "Outtakes from a Beer City Basement" 7"(also known as "Kill Me Good") which had two exclusive songs that can only be found on this recording, Hot Seat (an Empire cover) and Rejected (a song originally recorded by Duane's early 80's band Political Crap), it also had a new recording of the song Bubble Gum originally released on their first album. Next was a split with The Bristles, the Bombs did a cover of the Radio Birdman song Breaks My Heart. The third Beer City release was called "The Great Lakes of Beer" in 2001 and had two exclusive songs, The Great Lakes of Beer and The Critic!, both written on the road and recorded live/drunk. To support "The World", the U.S. Bombs also released a 7" on TKO records based in San Francisco for Hobroken Dreams which had an exclusive song The Captain on the B side.
With the help of Hellcat Records and relentless touring the U.S. Bombs had begun to make a place for themselves in punk rock history. They appeared on Premium Blend
as the stage band during Jim Breuer
's hosting stint, and contributed a track from Back at the Laundromat, "Yer Country", to the soundtrack for Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4
.
Duane Peters and the Hunns: Before Duane had to go back to the Bombs he was able to release a 7" "Not Gonna Pay", The Hunns debut album "Unite", and the follow-up album "Tickets to Heaven". Once Duane had finished contractual obligations for the Bombs with Hellcat he went right back to the studio with the Hunns and put out a split album with The Revolvers and a third full length "Wayward Bantums" in 2002.
Again it was time to return to the familiar and make another album for Hellcat Records. With Chip replaced by Jamie Reidling, and with new guitarist Curt Stich, Peters, Martinez, and Walston went back into the studio in 2003 to make the Bombs next full length "Covert Action." After the resulting tour the U.S. Bombs would take the longest break in the bands history, 10 years of constant touring and recording had left them needing a break to save the future of the band.
With Die Hunns on hold, in 2006 the U.S. Bombs went into the studio again to record their 7th full length album. With Peters, Martinez, Jaime Reidling and studio bassists they released "We Are The Problem" on Sailor's Grave Records. The following tour picked up One Man Army bassist Heiko Schrepel to rock the 4 string.
Aside from playing in 3 different bands in the 00's, Duane still managed to make time for his true passion of skateboarding. With a shoe release by Draven shoes and the US skate tour with Mike Vallely in 2010, and over 20 albums released by his multiple bands since the 80s Duane Peters is still one the most hard working skate punks in the world even at 50 years of age.
2009 and 2010 saw 2 different European tours by the U.S. Bombs and a few shows in California. These shows have reunited the classic late 90's U.S. Bombs lineup of Duane, Kerry, Wade, Chip, and the ever changing rhythm guitar spot was filled by Jonny Two Bags again. Although, as second guitar for Social Distortion Jonny Two Bags was unable to participate in the 2010 European tour with the Bombs, leaving the very rare experience for US Bombs fans to see them perform as a 4 piece. 2010 also brought the inception of Duane's latest act The Great Unwashed. The best way to describe The Great Unwashed is an acoustic-ish folk rockish, lounge act.
In the summer of '11 the Bombs hit the road to Europe for a month long tour. Johnny 2 Bags was still with Social Distortion and Wade Walston was getting shoulder surgery, so they went as a 4 piece again and had a fill in bassist from Kerry's other band The Bad Luck Charms. Later in the summer they did a west coast tour with Wade back on bass.
U.S. Bombs shows:
South America in 2012
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band, formed in 1993 in Orange County, CA. U.S. Bombs consist of vocalist Duane Peters
Duane Peters
Duane Peters , nicknamed "The Master of Disaster", is a punk rock singer/songwriter and professional skateboarder. Active since 1977, he is probably best known as the singer in the California punk rock band U.S...
, guitarists Kerry Martinez and Jonny "Two Bags" Wickersham
Jonny Wickersham
Jonny "2 Bags" Wickersham is the current guitarist for the Californian punk rock band Social Distortion. He joined Social Distortion after the death of founding member and longtime friend, Dennis Danell, in February 2000. Previously, he had been a guitarist for U.S...
, bass guitarist Wade Walston and drummer Chip Hanna
Chip Hanna
Chip Hanna was the drummer of U.S. Bombs and One Man Army. He now plays drums for the U.S. Bombs occasionally. Chip also sang lead vocals and played snare drum for Busted Hearts out of Phoenix, Arizona....
. Vocalist Duane Peters is a legendary professional skateboarder from the late 70's and early 80's skate explosion in Southern California. Well known as "The Master of Disaster" and the first person to do a full loop on a skateboard, as well as the inventor of many tricks and an innovator in the pool skate realm. Duane as well as all other members of the US Bombs have played in many previous OC punk bands throughout the years, notable ones being, Political Crap, Shattered Faith, The Dischords, and The Exploding Fuck Dolls. The U.S. Bombs do it their own way and have been selling out shows around the world since the 90's because of it. The fact that Duane was already a skate legend helped the band rocket to success, but it was also the on stage presence that the band puts out that keeps fans coming back. Throughout the years there would be many times that Duane Peters would be too fucked up to sing, stand, or even show up to the show, and if he would make it he would put on a wildly entertaining performance with innovative dance moves while belting out the hits their fans love. Either way, the U.S. Bombs combination of melodic 70's punk and a who cares attitude on and off the stage keeps the fans wondering what Duane, Kerry and the crew are going to do next.
1993-1995
In '93 Duane Peters left The Exploding Fuck Dolls and teamed up with longtime friend Kerry Martinez to start a new band called U.S. Bombs. The Bombs first release was a double 7" called "Scouts of America" released in 1994 on Vinyl Dog Records with Duane Peters on vocals, Kerry Martinez on guitar, Steve Reynolds on bass and Benny Rapp III on drums. Next they released their first full length "Put Strength in the Final Blow" and began to destroy the clubs on the west coast with loud hard old school punk rock. At a time when it seemed like true punk rock didn't have a chance, all you had to do was go to a local Orange County venue and you could see the U.S. Bombs and The Stitches keeping it alive weekly. The re-release of their first album contains the 4 songs from "Scouts of America".1995-1997
After a few different lineup changes in their early years they settled into Peters, Martinez, Reynolds, Chuck Briggs (of the Dischords) on guitar and Alex Gomez on drums. In 1996 they released a 4-song CD with no title and then made their second album "Garibaldi Guard" on Alive Records. The next year they put out an EP called "Nevermind the Opened Minds...Here's the U.S. Bombs", it originally had 6 songs but all re-releases of this album have included the 4 tracks from the self titled CD. The Bombs continued to tour to support their music and began to grow a loyal fan base where ever they played. U.S. Bombs live shows were gaining recognition from the on stage antics of Duane and his band mates.1997-2000
In '97 due to touring commitments the rhythm section of the band was replaced with Wade Walston on bass and Chip Hanna on drums. This year the Bombs released a 10" picture disc on Outsider Records, the B side with The Way it Ends a song that was released on their first album, the A side with Jaks, a song that would become the bands biggest hit and most often played live song. Next they were picked up as the first band on Tim Armstrong's new Epitaph affiliate Hellcat Records for a 4 record deal. The first album on Hellcat was "War Birth" which would become the bands most famous and well heard album all over the world. It is even rumored that Joey Ramone had "War Birth" on his turntable when he died.Unfortunately due to serious illness that was killing him and eventually take his life, long time guitarist Chuck Briggs was unable to record the bands 4th full length "The World". Briggs was replaced by Jonny "Two Bags" Wickersham, formerly of Youth Brigade. "The World" was released in 1999, and when the Bombs returned from a European tour, tensions were high among the band mates due to basically living on the road together the last 5 years and Duane left to form Duane Peters and the Hunns.
During the constant touring and album recording the U.S. Bombs developed a relationship with Beer City Records/Skateboards based in Milwaukee and released three 7" records with them. In 1997 they released "Outtakes from a Beer City Basement" 7"(also known as "Kill Me Good") which had two exclusive songs that can only be found on this recording, Hot Seat (an Empire cover) and Rejected (a song originally recorded by Duane's early 80's band Political Crap), it also had a new recording of the song Bubble Gum originally released on their first album. Next was a split with The Bristles, the Bombs did a cover of the Radio Birdman song Breaks My Heart. The third Beer City release was called "The Great Lakes of Beer" in 2001 and had two exclusive songs, The Great Lakes of Beer and The Critic!, both written on the road and recorded live/drunk. To support "The World", the U.S. Bombs also released a 7" on TKO records based in San Francisco for Hobroken Dreams which had an exclusive song The Captain on the B side.
2000-2003
Duane left the band to start his new band Duane Peters and the Hunns. After a few releases and some touring, in 2001 he had to return to the studio with the U.S. Bombs as they were still under contract to make 2 more records with Hellcat. Duane, Kerry, Chip, and Wade went in and the result was "Back at the Laundromat". Their fifth full length named after the early years when the Bombs would set up their gear at the local laundromat and play until the cops broke it up, was very well received but would be the last album with veteran drummer Chip Hanna. In 2001 they played the Holidays in the Sun concert in San Francisco which would be recorded and released as a live CD as well as a DVD. Chip left the band and joined San Francisco trio One Man Army.With the help of Hellcat Records and relentless touring the U.S. Bombs had begun to make a place for themselves in punk rock history. They appeared on Premium Blend
Premium Blend
Premium Blend was a television show that aired on the American cable television channel Comedy Central from 1997 to 2005.The program features a well-known stand up comedian as an emcee who introduces four or five lesser known comedians looking for a big break on television...
as the stage band during Jim Breuer
Jim Breuer
Jim Breuer is an American stand-up comedian, actor and radio host. He is most noted for his time as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and starring in the 1998 cult "stoner comedy" Half Baked, alongside Dave Chappelle....
's hosting stint, and contributed a track from Back at the Laundromat, "Yer Country", to the soundtrack for Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4
-External links:* on the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine...
.
Duane Peters and the Hunns: Before Duane had to go back to the Bombs he was able to release a 7" "Not Gonna Pay", The Hunns debut album "Unite", and the follow-up album "Tickets to Heaven". Once Duane had finished contractual obligations for the Bombs with Hellcat he went right back to the studio with the Hunns and put out a split album with The Revolvers and a third full length "Wayward Bantums" in 2002.
Again it was time to return to the familiar and make another album for Hellcat Records. With Chip replaced by Jamie Reidling, and with new guitarist Curt Stich, Peters, Martinez, and Walston went back into the studio in 2003 to make the Bombs next full length "Covert Action." After the resulting tour the U.S. Bombs would take the longest break in the bands history, 10 years of constant touring and recording had left them needing a break to save the future of the band.
2003-2006
With the Bombs on a break Duane was able to concentrate on his new band. DP and the Hunns picked up new bassist/vocalist Corey Parks (formerly of Nashville Pussy) and changed their name to Die Hunns. They released 3 more albums, "Long Legs" in 2004, "Live Fast Die Hunns" recorded between 2004–2006, and "You Rot Me" in 2006. During this time Duane and Corey Parks were married and had a son named Clash Peters. After the release of "You Rot Me" in 2006, Die Hunns cancelled their US tour as both Duane and Corey were fighting longtime drug and alcohol addiction, and with a new son they felt leaving on tour would be not only bad for their own lives, but also their new son. Since then Die Hunns have not played together.With Die Hunns on hold, in 2006 the U.S. Bombs went into the studio again to record their 7th full length album. With Peters, Martinez, Jaime Reidling and studio bassists they released "We Are The Problem" on Sailor's Grave Records. The following tour picked up One Man Army bassist Heiko Schrepel to rock the 4 string.
2006-2010
In 2005, as if the U.S. Bombs and the Die Hunns wasn't enough, Duane started another side project called "The Duane Peters Gunfight". They released a self titled album and a couple 7"s. With the U.S. Bombs on a break after the "We are the Problem" tour and Die Hunns on hiatus DP had time to focus on the Gunfight, which resulted in touring where the band would play songs from all of Duane's previous bands. In 2009 the DP Gunfight released a second album "Checkmate", a tribute album to Duane's 21 year old son Chelsea who died in a car accident the previous year. They also released a tribute single called "Forever Chess" featuring songs from Checkmate, an acoustic version of U.S. Bombs song "Not Alright", and a song called "Skyway".Aside from playing in 3 different bands in the 00's, Duane still managed to make time for his true passion of skateboarding. With a shoe release by Draven shoes and the US skate tour with Mike Vallely in 2010, and over 20 albums released by his multiple bands since the 80s Duane Peters is still one the most hard working skate punks in the world even at 50 years of age.
2009 and 2010 saw 2 different European tours by the U.S. Bombs and a few shows in California. These shows have reunited the classic late 90's U.S. Bombs lineup of Duane, Kerry, Wade, Chip, and the ever changing rhythm guitar spot was filled by Jonny Two Bags again. Although, as second guitar for Social Distortion Jonny Two Bags was unable to participate in the 2010 European tour with the Bombs, leaving the very rare experience for US Bombs fans to see them perform as a 4 piece. 2010 also brought the inception of Duane's latest act The Great Unwashed. The best way to describe The Great Unwashed is an acoustic-ish folk rockish, lounge act.
2010–present
Late in 2010 on Duane Peters twitter, he mentioned as possible recording of a new album but there has been no other announcements since that time. Duane and Kerry as the only original members with their revived lineup have made it clear that they are not letting the US Bombs die any time soon.In the summer of '11 the Bombs hit the road to Europe for a month long tour. Johnny 2 Bags was still with Social Distortion and Wade Walston was getting shoulder surgery, so they went as a 4 piece again and had a fill in bassist from Kerry's other band The Bad Luck Charms. Later in the summer they did a west coast tour with Wade back on bass.
U.S. Bombs shows:
South America in 2012
Members
- Duane PetersDuane PetersDuane Peters , nicknamed "The Master of Disaster", is a punk rock singer/songwriter and professional skateboarder. Active since 1977, he is probably best known as the singer in the California punk rock band U.S...
- Kerry Martinez
- Wade Walston
- Chip HannaChip HannaChip Hanna was the drummer of U.S. Bombs and One Man Army. He now plays drums for the U.S. Bombs occasionally. Chip also sang lead vocals and played snare drum for Busted Hearts out of Phoenix, Arizona....
- Jonny WickershamJonny WickershamJonny "2 Bags" Wickersham is the current guitarist for the Californian punk rock band Social Distortion. He joined Social Distortion after the death of founding member and longtime friend, Dennis Danell, in February 2000. Previously, he had been a guitarist for U.S...
- Curt Gove
- Jamie Reidling
- Alex Gomez
- Steve Reynolds
- Chuck BriggsChuck BriggsChuck Briggs was an American punk rock guitarist, notably working with the U.S. Bombs. He was featured on the albums Garibaldi Guard, War Birth and Never Mind the Opened Minds....
- Heiko Schrepel
- Jack DalrympleJack Dalrymple (musician)Jack Dalrymple is an American musician, hailing out of San Francisco, California, who started his music career in 1995 with his first band One Man Army. They released their first EP entitled Shooting Blanks in 1996...
- Nate Shaw
- Andy Dahill
- Zander SchlossZander SchlossZander Schloss is a Los Angeles, California based musician, actor and composer. He is perhaps best known as bass player for The Circle Jerks and The Weirdos and for his contributions to a number of independent feature films. His first screen appearance was as "Kevin the Nerd" in Repo Man...
- Charley Marshall
- Ace Von Johnson (2008)
- Nate Sponsler
- Benny Rapp
Studio albums
- Put Strength in the Final BlowPut Strength in the Final BlowPut Strength in the Final Blow is the debut album of the American punk rock band, U.S. Bombs. It is a collection of songs written just after the band formed in 1993, but it was re-released in September 1999.-Line up for recording:* Duane Peters - vocals...
-vinyl-only (1994, Vinyl Dog records) - Garibaldi Guard! (1996, Alive Records)
- Never Mind the Opened Minds (Jan. 1997, Alive Records)
- War BirthWar Birth- Track listing :#"That's Life" – 2:44#"Orange Crush" – 2:38#"Jaks" – 2:39#"Warstoryville" – 3:18#"12/25" – 3:06#"Outta Touch" – 2:08#"U.S. of Hate" – 2:42#"War Birth" – 3:24#"Hand Me the Downs" – 1:51#"Rocks in Memphis" – 2:48#"Beetle Boot" – 3:37...
(Sept. 1997, Hell-Cat Records) - The WorldThe World (US Bombs album)- Track listing :# The World# Goin' Out# Yanks And Rebs# Bombs Not Food# Isolated Ones# Skater Dater# Hobroken Dreams# Don't Take It Back# New Approach# Billy Club# Checkpoint# '76ixties# Nothin' On Us# Joe's Tune# In Fuck With You# Salute The Dead...
(June 1999, Hell-Cat Records) - Put Strength in the Final Blow C.D. (September 1999)
- Back at the LaundromatBack at the LaundromatBack at the Laundromat is an album by U.S. Bombs.- Track listing :All tracks by Peters/Martinez except as noted# "Tora Tora Tora"# "Die Alone" # "The Rubber Room"# "Lunch In A Sack"# "Bloody Rag"# "New Killer"...
(March 2001, Hell-Cat Records) - Covert Action (March 2003, Hell-Cat Records)
- Put Strength in the Final Blow: The Disaster Edition (July 2003, Disaster Records)
- We Are the ProblemWe Are the ProblemWe Are The Problem is the 8th studio album by U.S. Bombs. It was released on April 4, 2006 on Sailor's Grave Records.-Track listing:# "We Are The Problem"# "Don't Get Me Wrong"# "Do It Again"# "Revolution Weekend"# "Heartbreak Motel"# "4th of July"...
(April 2006, Sailor's Grave Records ; August 2006, Enemy #1 Records (Brazil))
EPs
- Scouts of America (EP)|Scouts of America double 7" (1994, Vinyl Dog Records)
- U.S. Bombs (EP) (Jan. 1996, Alive Records)
- Jaks/The Way It Ends 10" picture disc (Outsider records 1997)
- Outtakes From a Beer City Basement 7" (1997, Beer City Records)
- U.S. Bombs/The Bristles split 7" (1998, Beer City Records)
- Great Lakes of Beer 7" (Beer City Records)
- Hobroken Dreams 7" (1999, TKOTKO-In game, music and film:* Three Kingdoms Online, a browser based strategy game* "TKO" , an episode of Babylon 5* "T.K.O. ", a song from Elvis Costello's Punch the Clock album* "TKO", a song from Le Tigre's This Island...
) - Tora Tora Tora!/Yer Country 7" (TKO records March, 2001)
- Art Kills/Framed 7" (TKO records April 2003)
- We Are the Problem/Heartbreak Motel 7" (Sailor's Grave Records)
Live albums
- Lost In America: Live 2001 (US Bombs Album)|Lost In America: Live 2001 (Live album) (Jan. 2002)
- Bomb Everything: Live 2001 (Australia Only)
- Explosion DVD
Related bands
- Political Crap - Duane Peters
- Exploding Fuck Dolls - Duane Peters
- Die' HunnsDie' HunnsDie Hunns is an American punk rock band formed in 2000 by front-man Duane Peters, of US Bombs fame. The band has featured a rotating cast of musicians with Peters as the only constant. In 2002 Peters met Corey Parks , formerly of Nashville Pussy, at a The Damned show...
- Duane Peters - Duane Peters Gunfight - Duane Peters
- The Great Unwashed - Duane Peters
- Shattered Faith - Kerry Martinez
- Lifestyle - Kerry Martinez
- The Bad Luck Charms - Kerry Martinez
- The Dischords - Chuck Briggs
- Chip HannaChip HannaChip Hanna was the drummer of U.S. Bombs and One Man Army. He now plays drums for the U.S. Bombs occasionally. Chip also sang lead vocals and played snare drum for Busted Hearts out of Phoenix, Arizona....
- Chip Hanna - Chip Hanna & The Berlin Three - Chip Hanna
- Cadillac Tramps - Jonny Wickersham
- Youth BrigadeYouth BrigadeYouth Brigade can refer to two different punk music groups:*Youth Brigade , from Los Angeles, California*Youth Brigade , from Washington, DCYouth Brigade can refer to members of the*National Youth Service ....
- Jonny Wickersham - Social DistortionSocial DistortionSocial Distortion is an American punk rock band formed in 1978 in Fullerton, California. The band currently consists of Mike Ness , Jonny Wickersham , Brent Harding and David Hidalgo, Jr...
- Jonny Wickersham - Lower East Side Stitches - Curt Gove & Andy Dahill
- 5 Balls Of Power - Curt Gove
- One Man Army - Jack Dalrymple, Chip Hanna & Heiko Schrepel
- Dead To MeDead to MeDead to Me is STEMM's first full length album released in 2001. This would be the last recordings to feature any of the old members before the band would merge with 5 Years Gone.-Track listing:# "Intro" - 0:21# "Slippin" - 5:15# "Perfect" - 3:15...
- Jack Dalrymple - Swingin Utters - Jack Dalrymple
- The Re-Volts - Jack Dalrymple
- The BillyBonesThe BillyBonesThe BillyBones is an American punk rock band. Based in Los Angeles, California, the band features Steven William "Billy Bones" Fortuna, formerly of The Skulls , guitarist Alex Mack, bassist Rob Blue, and drummer Alex Gomez, formerly of U.S. Bombs....
- Alex Gomez - Dodge Dart - Nate Shaw