Depending on which source you believe, we are either approaching or have just passed the official 30th anniversary of the release of Nervous Sooner Changes, the all-killer-no-filler seventh studio album from Portland punk legends Dead Moon.
Crammed front to back with the band’s signature mix of wild-eyed garage-rock and desperatly doomed-folk ballads, the 10-track release is generally considered a high point in the Dead Moon catalog. “Pflichtstoff,” declared the long-running German music magazine Ox-Fanzine in 1996. Translation: “A must-have.”
Not that bassist Toody Cole remembers making it…
“Oh god, it was probably another rush job, because we always used to have to get everything done before the next tour,” she said from her home in Clackamas, Oregon. “I mean, they all kind of blend into one another, but it was always exciting to be able to go out on tour and play new songs.”
Indeed, while Dead Moon left behind a string of cult albums during its two-decade run, they were revered far and wide—especially in Europe—for their ferocious live shows, a ternary attack comprising Toody’s earth-altering bass lines, the steady pummel of drummer Andrew Loomis (who died in 2016), and the searing guitar work of Toody’s husband, Fred Cole, who died in 2017, nearly five months after the couple’s 50th anniversary.
It’s appropriate that Toody has occasionally paid tribute to Fred and Dead Moon since his passing by doing what the trio always did best: Playing live. She did so a year ago at Crystal Ballroom for the inaugural Fred Cole Birthday Celebration, and she’s doing it again this Thursday for the second annual hoopla, which happens to fall squarely on the 77th anniversary of Fred’s entrance into the earthly realm: August 28.
Toody curated the lineup for the birthday celebration, which includes Los Hackals—a tribute to the ’80s Portland punkabilly band The Jackals—and garage-rock combo The Reverberations. Headlining will be her own band, with Kelly Halliburton on drums and Christopher March on guitar (Halliburton played with Fred and Toody in their post-Dead Moon band Pierced Arrows, and he and March play in local country band Jenny Don’t and The Spurs).
“I talked Kelly into playing drums again,” Toody says with a laugh. “That’s not his main instrument—bass is his main instrument—but I said, ‘Sorry, I’ve got that one covered.’”
The idea for a celebration of Fred’s birthday came from Jennifer Carrizo, Talent Buyer at the Crystal Ballroom—an ideal venue for the event, Toody says. “Fred and I just have so much history at the Crystal, and [the venue has] so much history on its own. It’s just one of those rooms where you can feel everybody who’s ever played there. At least, I always have.”
In fact, there will be a number of Cole’s friends and family in the crowd at the show, not to mention fans of Fred’s various bands—King Bee, The Lollipop Shoppe, The Rats, The Range Rats, The Weeds, Western Front, Zipper, and on and on.
And, of course, Dead Moon. The band’s fierce commitment to a DIY ethos has always aligned closely with the independent spirit of Portland, where in 2017 the City of Portland declared October 5 officially “Dead Moon Night” in honor of the trio. Eight years later, their legacy continues to grow and, perhaps more importantly, connect with new generations who weren’t lucky enough to be alive to see the band perform.
“There’s still a lot of interest out there. I’m continually amazed by it,” Toody says. “I don’t know if it’s growing, but what I see is that there’s a lot of younger kids who have discovered the band in different ways. They’ve done their research and are still interested in what we did,” she continues. “I haven’t quite figured out why [Dead Moon] worked as well as it did, but there was just magic there between the three of us. I always called it the perfect storm, and everything fell into place. We were just an incredible combo together.”
The same can be said, of course, for Fred and Toody: Marrying in 1967, settling in Clackamas, building their own home, pressing their own records, raising a family, touring the world and, along the way, becoming an iconic band—both in Portland and in further flung DIY and punk communities.
Thursday’s show is a celebration of Fred’s birthday, yes, but it will also act as a celebration of Toody and the expansive DIY punk world the two built together.
“I miss him like crazy, and I wish he was still here. He went way, way too soon,” Toody laments, taking a rare moment to reflect instead of looking forward to the next thing.
“But you know, that’s the way it happened, and I can’t complain. We had 50 years together and we did the most amazing things. When I tell the stories that I know are real, I’m thinking, ‘God, who would ever believe this?’” she says. “It’s incredible. We crammed 10 lifetimes into that 50 years.”
Fred Cole’s Birthday Celebration featuring Toody Cole and her band, Los Hackals, and The Reverberations. (Crystal Ballroom, Thurs Aug 28, 8 pm, more info here, all ages)
Related: Did you know Fred Cole fronted the ’70s Portland band Zipper? Former Mercury Music Editor Ned Lannamann digs into the band’s only album that still rocks 50 years down the line.
Ben Salmon
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