Punk Footnotes #7 I, Shithead

It is probably unfair to describe Vancouver's DOA as a punk footnote. They are seen as amongst the founding fathers of Hardcore Punk in North America, along with the likes of Black Flag and Minor Threat. I first heard them in 1984 when the Bloodied but Unbowed compilation came out in the UK. Musically they bore the hallmarks of their classic punk influences more visibly then their Hardcore contemporaries. With the band members carrying names like Dimwit, Stubby Pecker and Randy Rampage they also had a sense of humour that few of their competitors could have been accused of.

But the person I am interested in here is their leader, and the only member who has seen them from 1979 to today. The wonderfully named Joey ‘Shithead’ Kiethley. He is a man who in many ways has overcome some fairly obvious limitations to keep his band alive. As a physical presence he had none of Henry Rollins’ menace or Jello Biafra’s theatrical charisma. Instead we have a man going at it like an excited Jack Russell in a sleeveless tee shirt. And boy this man has a serious long term commitment to the sleeveless tee.

Hugely committed to various causes for the start, ideologically he fits in with Biafra and the likes of Billy Bragg. But as a lyricist he is some way short of those two. Even when making a serious point he will normally reach for the obvious and literal, lacing in with ‘Smash the State’ and ‘Fucked up Ronnie.’ He also a man that gets a buzz out of belching into the microphone. Songs with titles like ‘I don’t give a shit’ and ‘Fuck You’ don’t place him obviously amongst the deep thinkers of the genre. But what always comes across has been a massive drive and energy. DOA’s slogan Talk – Action = 0 does some him up.

Maybe surprisingly he is a pretty good talker, and writer.  He is articulate and charming as a speaker, and a vivid, humorous writer.  The contradictions in the man are nice brought together in a story about a gig in San Francisco. He tells of ‘the night I pissed on the crowd’ explaining how the audience parted like the red sea before Moses. The story is delivered with such good natured self-deprecation that is defuses the extreme unpleasantness of the act itself. His autobiography ‘I, Shithead’ tells this and many other tales of his 30 odd years doing what he does. If one is going to read a punk biography this isn't a bad one to choose.