



A new outfit by the way of Lafayette, Indiana’s Squirtgun made their Lookout debut for LK 118. Already having appeared on the “Punk USA” compilation in the band Rattail Grenadier, siblings Massimiliano and Flaviano Giorgini had peaked the interest of Lookout in their new project. . With Mass already having a history with Livermore since 1987, it would seem an obvious fit for the label, especially given the bands joyous pop punk stylings. Larry Livermore had also traveled and spent some time with the brothers and their father, Italian artist Aldo Giorgini, the always popular elder figure in the scene surrounding the siblings, who very sadly had passed away in October 1994 after a long battle with brain cancer.

Mass Giorgini (Squirtgun, The Mopes, Screeching Weasel, Common Rider) : “It's amazing how we don't fully realize how great something is until we lose it. In a sense, as strange and horrible as it sounds, I am grateful for how things went with his illness. I say that because it gave me the opportunity to show him just how much I really loved him - to be there for him when he really needed me. I wasn't alone, Flav was also always there by his side, but so many people never get such a chance. His cancer was in the brain, and it paralyzed him slowly and so it also killed off a great deal of the pain, in addition to his own intellectual abilities. That was the hardest part - to see such a brilliant man regressing to a child-like state emotionally and mentally. I am glad I had the chance to show him what he meant.”

The Giorgini brothers recruited fellow friend and punk scene connection Matt Hart on vocal duties for the next step in their musical partnership.

Matt Hart (Squirtgun) : “The Giorgini Brothers and Lumley grew up in Lafayette, Indiana, and I lived in Evansville. I was in a band called The Indoor Plants. We ended up playing a show together in Evansville in 1987 and really hit off. That one show made us great friends. After that, my band - which always seemed to be changing - would go to Lafayette and play. Rattail Grenadier would make it’s appearances in Evansville, and then later in Muncie at BallState where I went to college.My band during those days was F.O.N.—Freaks of Nature. After college, I went to grad school for Philosophy at OhioUniversity. One day I got a call from Mass asking me to drive over to Lafayette and do some vocal tracks for a new project that he and Flav were working on. One thing led to another, and that new project turned out to be Squirtgun”

Mass Giorgini (Squirtgun, The Mopes, Screeching Weasel, Common Rider) : “Squirtgun was definitely born directly out of Rattail Grenadier. Rattail Grenadier was a very scattered band, stylistically speaking. We ranged from Ramones-style 3-chord pop-punk to very metallic hardcore. With Squirtgun, we focused our energy one of the many styles of the band. When I mentioned the name to Larry, he said he didn’t like it, and added “It sounds like a coy reference to a cock.” I told him it was definitely not intended that way. The intention had been to have a rebellious attitude, but with the implicit idea that we did not condone violence – to rebel playfully, if you will. I remember replying, though, that it would be pretty punk rock even if it were a phallic allusion. I added “What about the Sex Pistols?”. I discussed it with Billie Joe afterwards, and I mentioned Larry’s reaction, and he commented “Yeah, well, that just shows you what’s on Larry’s mind.” We both laughed, and he said that the penis connection had not even occurred to him before Larry’s remark. In the end, we both agreed that the possible double meaning wasn’t necessarily a problem, and even made the name more interesting. That conversation was the decisive moment for the choice of names.”

What followed was the “Shenanigans” four track 7” EP (LK 118). All four tracks took hold upon first listen due to the great mix of catchy bouncing pop punk. The influences were worn proudly on there fun filled sleeves, and the music showed how much of a good time they must have been having. Listening to this record surely was a good time too, so much so, that the first track “Social” found it’s way into the opening titles of the 1995 Kevin smith movie “Mallrats”, as well as the films soundtrack.

Matt Hart (Squirtgun) : “I think one of the first songs we recorded of mine was “Social” - and according to Mass, I don’t remember this - the vocals were done in one take. I remember I played the guitar solo on this skronky, beat-to-shit Telecaster I had - it was crazy with a stupid skull painted on it and a volume knob that was so loose you can hear it rattling through the amp on the track. Right before the solo starts you can hear the volume as I turn it up, this moment of metal knocking against wood. It sounds noisy and sort of dissonant, and wrong—which is why I love it. The fact that so many people have seen Mallrats, and know the band because of it, is great. Even when people don’t know the band, a lot of them have seen that movie, and they remember that opening sequence. Most bands don’t even get one song that hangs around in the ether the way “Social” has, so I’m grateful for that. It’s so funny to think that I wrote that song in a dorm room at BallState when I was 18. I probably still have the journal I wrote it in somewhere”





The band were soon on the scene again with their self titled debut full length marking the LK 128 release spot. The band jumped straight in where the previous ‘Shenanigans’ EP left off, with punchy upbeat pop punk kicking straight into the next song at full throttle. Two of the four tracks from ‘Shenanigans’ – ‘Social’ and ‘Fredericks Frost’ – made it onto th self titled album, in new versions, but the record pretty much could have all been written at the same time as the EP, stylistically speaking. The debut definitely packed a powerful punch with Mass Giorgini obviously taking the reigns of his own bands recording, although the release seemed to be lost in the shuffle slightly at the time. Also lost in the shuffle was vocalist Matt Hart, still discovering the life of a working band wasn’t the rock star lifestyle he may have expected.

Matt Hart (Squirtgun) : “In the early days it was rough. I didn’t know what I was doing, and I think on some level - as silly as it sounds – we all wanted to be rock stars, which added pressure to the whole thing. To put it another way, we all felt like - or at least I felt like - this was our big chance to get to a point where we could play music for a living, the thing we loved to do. I was also pretty young then and not really totally invested. I was being pulled in every direction back then. I was in two other bands - and at one point three – all more noisy, dissonant, indie rock kind of outfits, and I was already really into poetry too, which is what I do now, teaching creative writing and literature at the Art Academy of Cincinnati.. So for me, it all spun out of control pretty quickly. I couldn’t do everything, and I wasn’t willing to tour nine months a year, or more, which is what we probably needed to do.”

Squirtgun did however make it out on tour, playing alongside pre fame Blink 182 in Florida during a cold April proved to be a low point for the band as well as the then young and tempremental Hart.

Matt Hart (Squirtgun) : “We got interviewed for the Release video during that tour, and there’s some ridiculous footage of me reading John Berryman’s ‘Dream Songs’ during the entire interview - what a moody bastard I was. We were all sort of miserable. That was seriously a low point. I also remember at the end of the first tour playing a hardcore festival in Cleveland, thinking we were going to get our asses kicked. Of course, we didn’t. Everyone stood politely with their arms crossed while we played. So, I quit the band after the first tour…but then stayed in…and everybody was angry. It was ugly. I was disappointed a lot of the time, but I shouldn’t have been.”