A St. Louis punk band that played only four shows and released three 7-inch EPs before splitting up in 1987 is back on a hometown stage tonight. Drunks With Guns plays The Sinkhole in St. Louis, joined by Shitstorm, Jenerator Jenkins and Janet Xmas.
A Brief, Brutal Original Run
Drunks With Guns began in 1984 in St. Louis, Missouri, according to Goner Records, with frontman Mike Doskocil fronting a band described by ShowMeShows as existing from the mid to late 1980s. Between 1984 and 1987 the band self-released three 7-inch EPs and, per Goner Records, played exactly four live shows during that stretch, including opening slots for 45 Grave, Samhain and Battalion of Saints.
The band’s sound has been described as slow, crushing, hostile, rhythmic noise soaked in distortion, and the same account calls the group an early progenitor of sludge punk. That brief run ended for real in 1987, per the same ShowMeShows account.
A Bootleg and a Breakup
Goner Records describes a 1987 unauthorized “black album” bootleg, created behind the band’s back, that appeared from out of nowhere and detonated the original lineup.
An Unlikely Hollywood Detour
Long after the band’s breakup, one of its songs appeared in a Ben Stiller movie.
The Reunion Takes Shape
The current lineup includes Mike Doskocil, Rick Eye, Weasel Walter and John Zeps, per the lineup listed by Goner Records.
The band’s original run comprised three 7-inch EPs and four shows. Drunks With Guns plays The Sinkhole tonight.
New Recordings Bookend the Comeback
The reformed band has also put out new material. Drunks With Guns released Fucked Up on Beer & Drugs, which St. Louis Magazine says contains remastered material from the original three EPs along with unreleased songs. Goner Records dates the self-released title to 2023.
A separate release, Drunks With Guns Live, captures a 2024 performance in Austin, Texas, per St. Louis Magazine, drawn from what Goner Records calls a raw, chaotic live recording from a forgotten gig there in September 2024. Both Fucked Up on Beer & Drugs and Live were released through St. Louis’s Trouble In River City Records, according to the outlet, with Goner Records noting the label collaboration on the live album specifically.
A Quiet Influence on Grunge
Despite its brief original existence, Drunks With Guns left a mark beyond St. Louis. St. Louis Magazine reports the band influenced Nirvana, Soundgarden and Mudhoney.
For fans who missed the band the first time around, tonight’s show at The Sinkhole offers another chance to catch a band whose entire original catalog amounted to three 7-inch EPs and four gigs.
