KARP Documentary Screening, Tonight at Domy

Y’know, I’ll be up-front about it: back in the days of my post-college almost-youth, I wasn’t big into KARP. Didn’t hate ’em or anything, mind you, but I wasn’t a big fan; my tastes back then only sporadically ran that far to the “noisy” end of the punk spectrum (specifically, to Steel Pole Bathtub & Jesus Lizard).

Looking back now, though, they seem remarkably ahead-of-their-time, forecasting (along with fellow-travelers Melvins) the advent of a ton of today’s bass-heavy, loud-yet-melodic stoner-metal bands, folks like Priestess, High on Fire, Red Fang, or Early Man — seriously, listen to “D+D Fantasy” and tell me it doesn’t sound like it crawled off of Priestess’s Prior to the Fire. So yeah, listening again, I find myself scratching my head and thinking, “why the fuck didn’t I like these guys?”

As a result of not being all that into KARP way back when, naturally, I know jack shit about the band itself. Which is where, hey, fate intervenes, because it turns out there’s a brand-new documentary about the band, Kill All Redneck Pricks: A Documentary Film about a Band Called KARP, and the good people over at Domy Books are screening it tonight, Tues., November 22nd.

From the trailer, at least, it looks pretty intriguing, but what really grabbed my attention is/was the fact that the film’s produced and directed by fellow Washingtonian Bill Badgley, most prominently (in my mind, anyway) of utterly badass sludge-rockers Federation X.

I freaking love that band, seriously, and Badgley himself is an extremely cool guy. I got to do an interview with him a few years back, and when I asked him if Fed-X were raised on Black Sabbath, he demurred and pointed straight back to KARP, instead, and then went on to talk about how much he liked making documentary films. So as soon as I saw his name on the film credits, it all clicked loudly into place.

Anyway, here’s the trailer to check out:

Now, get on up to Montrose; the film starts at 8PM, and it’s free, which is always cool. (I’ve got no idea if Bill Badgley will be in attendance tonight, mind you, just in case anybody gets their hopes up…)