When it comes to punk rock music "scenes" in the United States, fans usually think of the West Coast or the East Coast. About the only "scene" less likely than one in Utah would be one in the Midwest's corn belt.
Yet members Squirtgun, an act from Lafayette, Ind., are aiming to change that misconception one show at a time.Squirtgun plays Thursday, March 27, at the Pitcher's Mound, 309 W. 1500 South, Salt Lake City.
Originally known as Rattail Grenadier, the group was building a healthy following in its home state when its original vocalist left for "other interests."
Stepping in was Matt Hart, a boyhood friend of guitarist Flav Giorgini and bass guitarist Mass Giorgini (a record producer equally well known for his work with Screeching Weasel, cub, Born Against and the Smoking Popes). The quartet subsequently changed its name to Squirtgun and began touring out of the Midwest.
Its first full-length release, a self-titled CD for punk-rock label Lookout Records, of Berkeley, Calif., was well received, including the pop-punk single "Social," which was included on the soundtrack for the motion picture "Mallrats."
With the addition of rhythm guitarist Matt Leonard, Squirtgun also released its long-awaited second full-length, "Another Sunny Afternoon," this spring, again on Lookout.
That album was delayed for a year while the Giorgini brothers took care of their ailing father, Aldo Giorgini, a Purdue University professor who succumbed to a malignant brain tumor last year.
Squirtgun recently shot a video for the album's first single, the pop-punk ode "Mary Ann," which features Dawn Wells, the original Mary Ann from television's "Gilligan's Island."
Joining Squirtgun will be local punk-rock act Hospital Food and Salt Lake hard-core punk-rock quartet Blankshot.
Admission for the all-ages show, which starts at 7 p.m., is $5. For more information, call the club at 487-7888.