Twang Twang Shock-A-Boom

Back in high school (which was too long ago for me to even begin to consider how long ago it was), I was in Technical Theatre. It was what I was all about, really. Ok, I was a band geek, too, but that didn’t really define me. The Techies were where I wanted to belong. And most of them were into local music.

At that time, the Beatles of the local scene were Twang Twang Shock-A-Boom. Yeah, it’s a weird-ass name, but that didn’t matter. These guys were fun and they were awesome. They were really the only local band that I cared about back then. Their cassette only album, Me So Twangy, was part of the soundtrack of my life in 1990.

But I never got to see them live because, just as quickly as they had come onto the scene, they were gone. In 1991, David Garza (lead vocals, guitar), Jeff Haley (vocals, upright bass) and Chris Searles (vocals, percussion) decided to call it quits and David went off on his own. They reunited once in 1995, putting out an album that no one really knew existed.

A few weeks ago, a myspace friend alerted me to something magical: a Twang Twang reunion. Holy shit!! I have to go!! I don’t care if Butt Numb-A-Thon is the next day! I have to be there for this show!

Soon I was alerting a friend who is into current local music and telling her that she had to hear these guys and that I was taking her to this concert no matter what. She agreed and was well on her way to becoming a Twanger.

When we got to the Cactus Cafe at the Texas Union it was like a high school reunion for people who didn’t know each other in high school. We met a couple who were both in high school at the same time as me (the guy went to my high school). I ran into a current buddy of mine (and fellow Butt-Number) who grew up with David and the boys and the girl who originally got me into Twang Twang back in 1990. It was pretty amazing.

We all waited around for the late band. The show was supposed to start at midnight, but Twang didn’t take the stage until about 12:30. We didn’t care. There was too much awesome will in the air for us to be disgruntled about the band starting late.

They opened with “Always Give Your Love Away” and never stopped from there on. Playing almost all of the first album, they took a detour into the reunion album (“Science”) and a few covers (The Kinks “Come Dancing”). I always describe these guys as a happy version of the Violent Femmes and, at one point, they went into a couple of lines from “Add It Up” just to prove my point. (There’s also a lot of Buddy Holly in there. A lot of people say that David sounds like Robert Plant. I don’t see it, but what do I know? I only grew up listening to Zeppelin.)

It’s been a few days now since the concert and I’m still kind of on a high from it. I can’t remember all of the high points (although hearing “Big Stick” live was freakin’ awesome!), but I will always remember the feeling of seeing these guys onstage together for the first time. David said that the next time they play together there will be a new album. I hope he’s right, ’cause the world is in need of some new Twang Twang music.

Thank you, Anita, for telling me about this. I probably never would have heard about it if it weren’t for you. Thank you, Jenny, for telling me about this awesome band. I probably never would have gotten into local music if it hadn’t been for you all those years ago. And thank you, Angela, for sharing it with me. I’m glad I could help someone else discover the Twang in their soul.