Bathtub Gin came from the Tennessee/Georgia border. Some fast songs, some slow ones. It was garbage rock and roll. We called it a day in December 2008. I edited my profile with Thomas' Myspace Editor V4.4
Review from GGG-GO (Germany):
Bathtub Gin - The Lost Week End
BATHTUB GIN: -The Lost Week End (LP)
Red Lounge Records 2007
What's that now? Named after some old film "the lost weekend" another Guitar and Drums garage-two-piece from Chattanooga comes up with a great record.
What struck me first is that the vocals really sound a bit like Greg Cartwright and the Reigning Sound. And of course Casey (guitar/vox) and Eric (drums) name the Oblivians as one of their influences, together with Roy Orbison and the Cheater Slicks.
Yeah, I know what you're thinking…it's always hard to compare some new stuff to the Godfather of Garagebluespunk, it was the same with me, but hey, listen to the songs first (eg"Turn Your Back"or "Drank the Rent"(need I say more?)) and then you can go talking again…
Turn your back is a cool tune. It is about a couple that should have broken up a long time ago. Now they are married; A tragedy unto itself. The guitar-riff is just great and points direction for a real killer song that stayed on my mind for days.
This is a real revelation from the depths of life. Lonely nights, spent on booze and what remains: "This record was an exercise in self destruction. It was recorded on 100% alcohol. The album chronicles the breakdown of a normal life by drinking too much. The whole record is about blacking out, and losing everything that matters" as Casey mentioned in his own words.
After the third song this record has won me completely over. This sounds like it should. The recording and mastering is brilliant! The guitar is raw, blasting, fuzzed on the one hand swinging in temoloes and reverb on the other. The voice is howling in emotion, without being cheesy or whining. The great vocals create that atmosphere of credibility and feeling(down) that touched my heart.
And the solid and bashing drums provide a great rhythm section. (The drummer is doin his job very well . I think it's "Burma Shave" Dave on the LP)
Although you won't miss a bass on this first album, because there is missing nothing, Bathtub Gin go as a three piece from now on with Casey - vox, guitar, Eric- Drum City discount beat-down. Wes- The Electric Bass Guitar. (R. Grier did the Organ on the LP)
As I sit here on a Sunday afternoon, thinking about my own life, there comes a warm coverage of songs that keeps my head from spinning on with useless questions about the misfortunes of life in general.
This record is more than good. It's not only that the songs are great, every single one of them but altogether they form an LP that leaves me with the wish for higher temperatures outside, so I can sit with an open window in the evening and listen to this one. Like you also should!
This Album became a friend to me. Always with me when I'm down.
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Review from The Chattanooga Pulse:
Bathtub Gin: The Lost Weak End (Red Lounge) by Ernie Paik
In a memorable essay entitled “Trash, Art, and the Movies,” the late film critic Pauline Kael said that few movies are truly “great art,” so having an interest in movies involves being able to appreciate “great trash.” In the music realm, guitarist and vocalist Casey Collis, the only consistent member of the Chattanooga band Bathtub Gin, is all about making great trash, even referring to his group’s style as “garbage rock and roll.” It’s an approach that penetrates every aspect of the band’s full-length The Lost Weak End, which, appropriately, is only available on vinyl—surface noise, crackles and all. It sounds like no attempts were made to clean up the recording, and what the group gets absolutely right is capturing a raw, dirty, lo-fi sound. Amplifier hum is left in as part of the charm, and the VU meters on the mixing board must have been pegged, with the bass drum hits sounding like saturated splats.
The Lost Weak End is full of primitive, snarling stuff with roots in ’60s garage and blues-rock and ’70s proto-punk groups and a kinship with contemporaries like Billy Childish and Jon Spencer. Although Bathtub Gin is currently a trio, the album was recorded with a duo lineup including “Burma Shave” Dave, who pounds out uncomplicated, earthshaking beats. Slower songs, such as “Understand?” featuring organist R. Grier, break up the album’s onslaught and leave me anticipating the louder numbers. Collis has some impressive guitar chops, but he doles out those brisk runs sparingly—perhaps a bit too modestly; less restraint would actually be favored in that regard. The band reveals its best when pumping out its grit-and-grease-covered V-8 engine rock, on tracks like “Head Full of Trouble” and “Turn Your Back,” being both trash and treasure simultaneously.
