Disc 1 track listing and info

Disc 2 track listing and info

Disc 3 track listing and info

Disc 4 track listing and info

Info:
2002
Self-released (250 Pressed)
Out of Print

Introduction :

It's March 27, 2002. I have been teaching sixth graders in Naperville, IL for a little over 3 weeks. My cooperating teacher, who ironically has a son in a current "Fat" band, tells me he just talked to Mrs. Dinse over the weekend. She just wanted to see how I was doing. Little over two months ago, my oldest brother suffered a heart attack at my parents house. One of the paramedics on the scene: Rich Cassady.

Apocalypse Hoboken is not merely a marriage of convenience; this band has always been an inevitability. Scott, Rich, Ted, and myself all grew up in Glendale Heights, IL. We came together because of our shared love of music, and friendship. The line-up has changed many times throughout the years. At one time, Kurdt replaced Rich, we broke up, and reformed with Rich on bass again. Weird. When Bill Thompson joined, he insisted we get Kurdt back. Only Todd was outside of our immediate circle. Being younger than us, he attended just about every A.H. gig at Durty Nellies and McGregors as a fan. When Lyle returned to marital bliss in 1992, Todd answered an ad we put in record stores. He was the only one we bothered to audition.

Apocalypse Hoboken does not deserve a box set. Hell, Sly Stone doesn't even have a box set! I originally conceived a collection of CDs for myself, the band (past and present), and friends. I contacted Tony Piscia (who does our website), and he became my sounding board for this project. He liked the first CD of outtakes I sent him, so I figured we could make a limited number (250) and please everyone without having to deal with stores or making a big to do about how A.H. became so important, they needed a box set. We don't. But a D.I.Y. box set is a nice idea for those who really want it, and hopefully they won't all end up on e-bay. This box set represents just small slices of the A.H. output between 1990 and 2000. I have over 20 Cds full of live stuff, outtakes, rehearsals, etc. I tried to represent each line-up, from the current Todd/Sean/Scott/Kurdt/Andy band, to our humble beginnings as Glendale Heights' only punk rock band. If I made this just for us, it would be an entirely different affair. This collection is for the true obsessive/absurdist. We were in many a ways a terribly irreverent band. People often missed the humor in what we were doing, and that's unfortunate. Hopefully, you'll get a few good chuckles as you listen to this collection.

If anyone asks why Apocalypse Hoboken broke up, I can safely say we outgrew the band. We changed a lot over the years, and our priorities changed as well. This box set was produced mainly because we take great pride in the music we created. As the years wore on, and we toured more and more, the music became secondary in a lot of ways. It's hard to look at what's popular and say, "If we had done THAT, we'd be huge by now..." We did what we felt was right, and creative, and fun. Quite a few people viewed us as a product. We made Apocalypse Hoboken Brand Music. Unfortunately, when we started to violate that formula, many were unwilling to move forward with us. That pressure, and internal fights killed off a pretty good band. Rather than stubbornly fight on, we called it a day.

Apocalypse Hoboken was our lives for many years. We almost literally died a few times, there were many hospital visits (Kurdt and Todd), and we once went flying off an icy I-55 at 65 miles an hour and somehow walked away. Man, it was worth it. Even now, people who purport to be friends will tell me (now that it's over), "Oh, well I thought you guys kinda sucked, anyway". Well, regardless if it's today or twenty years down the road, I'll always stick up for my band. Fuck you. I'll always have the stories and the music. And the members of this band are still my best friends. This box set is our way of sharing those memories with all who supported us.

Thank you very much.