The Suicide Commandos

Before Prince, Hüsker Dü, Soul Asylum, and the Replacements dominated and defined the Minneapolis rock scene of the '80s, three guys, Chris Osgood, Steve Almaas, and Dave Ahl, had a swinging little punk rock combo called the Suicide Commandos. They made only two records, one of them a live one, but they were one of, if not the first and most influential, honest-to-god faster 'n' louder punk rock band to come out of the Twin Cities. Along with giving the Minneapolis punk scene a jump-start, the Commandos, along with Pere Ubu, were the first (and, as it turned out, only) bands signed to Mercury Records punk label Blank. While Ubu was art-punk, the Commandos were revved up and ready to rock, leaving hooks and riffs buried under a speedy wall of distortion. But the accent on simplicity shouldn't detract from your enjoyment of Chris Osgood's guitar playing, one of the best and most underrated axeslingers (and all-around nice guys) the Twin Cities has ever produced. After their debut Make a Record went largely unnoticed, the Commandos toured a bit (with Ubu) and called it quits when Almaas decided to follow his power-pop urges to New York and form the Crackers and later Beat Rodeo. Perhaps not the greatest of the early Minneapolis punk rockers, it would have been hard to imagine the excitement of the Minneapolis rock scene of the '80s happening without the Suicide Commandos providing the impetus.