The Fucking Champs
A heavy metal trio that rarely performs in front of real metal audiences, the Fucking Champs are a peculiar outfit from San Francisco who hang with the indie rock crowd, while spitting out vile, perturbed, hesher music. Former Nation of Ulysses guitarist Tim Green moved to San Francisco in 1995 and quickly hooked up with drummer Tim Soete and guitarist Josh Smith. With no bass and barely any vocals, the three of them formed the Champs, (later adding "Fucking" to their name, perhaps to piss off their parents). The sound was pure, brutal riff-age, galloping power chords ? la Judas Priest with occasional wanky bits. They released several homemade tapes with names like Triumph of the Air Elementals and Music for Films About Rock and a couple 7"s, all of which were difficult to find, but available at their shows.
In 1997, they came out with their magnum opus, III (released under the name C4AM95 for God knows what reason), a double album that raged most furiously. In addition to the relentless riffs spewing forth from III, the Fucking Champs came up with some fine, short, electronic pieces with titles like "Now Is the Winter of Our Discoteque" and "Silent Night, Friendly Night." In 2000, the Fucking Champs returned with IV, a deft, equally abrasive follow-up. Sticking with the Roman numeral gimmick, they came back two years later with the equally ugly V.
