Thunder Hips and Saddle Bags

by Human Skab

supported by

	/

Streaming + Download

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

Purchasable with gift card

$7 USD or more

1.	Screamin' Demon 01:36	buy track
2.	Drunk and Staggerin' Around 02:16	buy track
3.	Throwin' Rocks at Windows 02:19	buy track
4.	Grandest Fight of the Year 01:15	buy track
5.	Mining the Radiation 08:25	buy track
6.	Go For It 01:49	buy track
7.	Dead Baby Blues 01:30	buy track
8.	Playin' Guitar Best I Can 01:22	buy track
9.	Under the Viaduct 01:07	buy track
10.	Bullheads Are Ugly 01:11	buy track
11.	Africa Song 01:06	buy track
12.	John Wayne Is Dead 02:53	buy track
13.	Eat My Skabs / Song of the Century 03:39	buy track
14.	Death of the Dinosaurs 01:04	buy track
15.	We Need To Destroy The Soviet Union 06:03	buy track
16.	Guitar of Africans 00:56	buy track
17.	First Kid To Hit The Radio 01:10	buy track
18.	Phone Goof Off 00:21	buy track
19.	Bein' Bad 01:17	buy track
20.	Piano Concert 06:39	buy track
21.	The Human Skab Peeled Back - WZBC 1987 Radio Special [Bonus] 11:25	buy track

about

Reissue of the 1986 underground classic cassette -- Thunder Hips and Saddle Bags by Human Skab.

Human Skab was a 10-year old boy from Elma, Washington who played African music with buckets and spoons. Thunder Hips and Saddle Bags is a 1986 cassette recorded by young Travis Roberts with neighborhood pals and siblings. It was injected into the underground network of tape traders, zine scribes, college DJs, and freak seekers who were universally bowled over by its bewildering and utterly poignant snapshot of the mid-1980s.

Skab's music -- an orchestration of pots n' pans, three string guitar, poorly-tuned upright piano, broken bottles, toy guns, a garden rake, and a "Snake Mountain" microphone -- is a response to fear of nuclear war with the Soviet Union, He-Man cartoons, Twisted Sister, the coolness of dinosaurs, the uncoolness of John Wayne, and Ronald Reagan. Roberts captures the fervor of do-it yourself ethos, punk energy and the rawness of early American folk by acting on his wild child imagination and enigmatic sense of song.

As Bruce Pavitt wrote in the 1986 Sub Pop zine: "the Skab zips around the living room shooting toy guns. He hits the family piano with his fists. He tries real hard to play guitar. He makes up songs about terrorism and radiation and throwing rocks at windows. Cool!"

credits

released February 23, 2010

Human Skab was Travis, with Austin, Cheyenne, Pat and Cousin Franky

Liner notes by — Frank Gunderson, Human Skab, John Straub
Analogue transfer, mastering by — Tim Barnes
Technical assistance by —John Dawson
Reissue Produced by — Eric Weddle

license

about

Human Skab Aberdeen, Washington

"If Captain Beefheart were ten years old, this is what he'd probably sound like" -- Spin, March 1986

contact / help

Contact Human Skab

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like Human Skab, you may also like:

Tolting
by Darto

This Seattle duo explore the more darkly psychedelic side of indie rock on this retrospective album, covering songs recorded from 2009-2019. Bandcamp New & Notable Jan 20, 2022
go to album
Songs for the Young, Old and In Between
by Mr. Elephant

Hooky songs that will appeal to kids and grown-ups alike, smash-cutting the irreverence of The Moldy Peaches with wild psychedelia. Bandcamp New & Notable May 30, 2020
go to album
Season One
by The Vegetable Plot

This children’s record isn’t just for kids. Smoky soul grooves and bizarro pop chestnuts make for an entertaining listen. Bandcamp New & Notable Jul 21, 2018
go to album
SHAGARA
by Hello World Choir

featured on Bandcamp Radio Jan 16, 2018
go to album
Está Bien
by Dois

featured on Bandcamp Radio Jun 13, 2017
go to album
Archive 2009-2015
by brrd

featured on Bandcamp Radio Nov 29, 2016
go to album
Towers / Anointing
by brrd

featured on Bandcamp Radio Oct 18, 2016
go to album