Song Of The Week: 3/11/18

Song: "My Wall"

Artist: Ten Foot Pole

Album: "Rev"

Year: 1994

Place Of Origin: Simi Valley, California

Years Active: 1993 - present



WHAT I THINK THE SONG IS ABOUT:

"My Wall" appears to be a song about trying to suppress the youth's creativity and individuality, especially in the form of street art or graffiti. Those who build the department stores and plaster their windows with advertisements look at the kids with the spray paint as a nuissance and degraders of property. But really, who is the one that is ultimately degrading the property? Where once was green grass is now a paved parking lot. Where once there were trees is now a mall. The young punk spray painting underneath bridges had nothing to do with that but, they have the money so they make the rules.

TEN FOOT POLE DISCOGRAPHY (Full length albums only):

1993 - Swill (Ten Foot Records)
1994 - Rev (Epitaph Records)
1996 - Unleashed (Epitaph Records)
1998 - Insider (Epitaph Records)
2002 - Bad Mother Trucker (Victory Records)
2004 - Subliminable Messages (Go-Kart Records)
2017 - Setlist (Cyber Tracks Records)

CURRENT STATUS OF TEN FOOT POLE:

Ten Foot Pole formed as a band back in 1993 in southern California, but their roots date back to a band called Scared Straight. That band featured Scott Radinsky on vocals and Dennis Jagard on guitar. After going through line-up changes and not wanting to get lumped in to the straight-edge scene with a name like Scared Straight, the band changed their name to Ten Foot Pole. After self-releasing "Swill" in 1993, the band hooked up with legendary punk label Epitaph Records and dropped "Rev" in 1994. At this point, the band felt like they were gaining steam, especially with the punk rock resurgence happening in music at the time. The problem was that Radinsky's first priority was being a Major League Baseball pitcher and the band would have to work around that. Ultimately, the band and Radinsky decided to part ways and Jagard would take over vocal duties along with playing guitar. The first album featuring Jagard on vocals would be 1996's "Unleashed". This was a solid album but it definitely took some time for the band's hardcore fans to get used to Jagard singing the songs. Scotty Radz had a much more powerful voice. 1998's "Insider" would be Ten Foot Pole's last album with Epitaph Records. The video for the song "The Getaway" did get some pub on alternative video shows. The band signed on with Victory Records for their fifth release, "Bad Mother Trucker" in 2002. I saw this as kind of a down album for the band. But, the 2004 album, "Subliminable Messages", was awesome! I felt that Jagard finally felt comfortable on vocals on this album and he sounded strong. Ten Foot Pole was probably at it's low by the time "Subliminable Messages" was released but in my mind, this is the band's best album to date. After this album, however, Ten Foot Pole went on a long hiatus. Though they never disbanded. They popped up to play a few shows here and there between 2009 and 2015 but new releases were non-existent. In 2017 however, Ten Foot Pole released the album "Setlist". This was basically a compilation of new renditions of old songs and also featured a few new tracks as well. Ten Foot Pole is one of many southern California punk bands that mix skate punk with a little hardcore. For similar artists, I would say Strung Out, No Use For A Name, Lagwagon, 88 Fingers Louie and of course, Pulley. Pulley, for those that don't know, is the band that Scott Radinsky formed soon after he was let go from Ten Foot Pole. Awesome band!! For me? Ten Foot Pole never rose to the status of a No Use or a Lagwagon or a Pulley. They always seemed like a secondary band to those. But that doesn't mean they aren't pretty damn good. Maybe this "Setlist" album they just dropped is giving the band the creative juices to get back in the studio and drop a proper new album in the near future. I know Jagard is pretty set working in the industry as a sound engineer, but perhaps he has enough free time to work on new TFP material. Fingers crossed!!

TEN TEN FOOT POLE SONGS YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT:

1. Wake Up (And Smell The Fascism)
2. The Getaway
3. My Wall
4. Seven
5. A.D.D.
6. Kicked Out Of Kindergarten
7. Broken Bubble
8. Scars
9. Armchair Quarterback
10. Plastic