Loadstar

Loadstar were a melodic punk band originally from Grass Valley and later, Santa Cruz, California. I guess I first heard them in 2000 / '01? Close Enough. I really enjoyed their self-titled record back then, but it just became lost in the shuffle of other bands I was more into at the time. I unearthed that self-titled record recently, and I'm declaring it the best 1998 record of 2014, if that's even a thing. It is now. That album only lists nine songs, but there are five more hidden (and untitled) tracks that were recorded during their early days, and plays as one continuous thirteen-minute song. Why? I couldn't tell you. Vocalist / guitarist Donovan Cole said he remembered a song titled "Femagainstme", and another called "Down Tonight", that's all I know.

The following year produced an EP titled "Nothing To Lose", while not quite as good as the album, there are some toe-tappers on there for sure. Both cd's were released by Portland, Oregon label Little Kid Records, and everything in their catalog has become increasingly hard to find, no exception here sadly.

Musically, LS followed a pretty typical 90's punk schematic of fast / slow / fast / fast / slow etc.., "Too Far", "Disengage", and "Jack" could be a Samiam or maybe even a Horace Pinker b-side, while "Mystery Girl", "Carpe Diem", and "Wasted Daze" were far more in line with the Epitaph / Fat Wreck heydays. The link below contains both the album and the EP, I'm fairly certain those were the only two proper Loadstar releases. Enjoy. --Trav.

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