Last year I rediscovered my love for this 1990s Boston punk band when someone uploaded their first 7 inch onto a blog. I first heard those songs on a demo tape with a purple J card made at a copy shop. Back then I just thought it was cool that they had songs about Galactus and Gates McFadden. It was until much later that I realized how cerebral their song lyrics were compared to a lot of their contemporaries with similar styles. For a couple of years I saw them play shows around the Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts punk scene. Sometimes I even had the chance to open for them with my band Kid Company.

The Showcase Showdown put out several other records, including the infamous “Merry Christmas I Fucked Your Snowman” single, with “Ho Ho Ho Chi Minh” on the other side. But, these first few songs have always been my favorite. They’re raw and fun, with the sound quality of a damp basement and a four track.  The song I included here is called “Twenty One,” about the quiz show scandal popularized by the movie Quiz Show.

The entire 7 inch, as well as several others are available for download on the Shpadoinkle blog.

The Showcase Showdown’s “Twenty One” is the ninth track on my 2009 retrospective mix at 8tracks.com.

Members of the Showcase Showdown also played in a band called Spitzz.