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The Circulators are one of the best bands tearing it up in San Francisco and luckily, they snagged a deal with Total Punk, who will be releasing the band's full-length debut Insufficient Fun later this month. Today the band has us spinning their latest single "Yesterday's Kids," a high-power pastiche of street-level rock 'n' roll with a bittersweet power pop beat that recalls classics from Stiv Bators, The Boys, or something you'd hear on the Teen Line compilations. In a new interview, we learn all about The Circulators, the primitive edge of their coming debut, and its deep roots to the Bay Area.
First tell me what you've been up to lately? What have you been listening to, reading, watching, or spending a lot of time doing?
Jimmy: We've been keeping busy playing local shows and such. Our next show is the day before Halloween at Vesuvio Cafe in SF, we're doing a Buzzcocks cover set with Gary from Chime School as Steve Diggle. We also just made a music video for our first single, "Trouble Maker."
Vinnie: These days, I feel like I've mostly been listening to a lot of '60s music. I don't have the attention span for much else right now. Other than that, guess you could say I've been having plenty of "insufficient fun."
Jerj: I've been reading Jonathon Franzen's Freedom and rereading Blood Meridian and the third Harry Potter in Polish.
For our readers unfamiliar, tell us about the origins of The Circulators. How did you all meet and decide to start making music together?
Vinnie: I started the band with my friend Blake who I'd played with in a previous band after a period of musical inactivity and wanting to play in a punk band again. I met Jimmy through a mutual friend and we found out we liked a lot of the same music, so when I told him about starting a band, naturally he wanted in. Our first drummer, Nicky, came through Jimmy. After Blake left, we became a three-piece, then Jerj came in after Nicky left. Since he lived with Jimmy and we had seen him play in one of our favorite bands, The Losers, it made sense to bring him on. Then Giuliano, who was an early supporter of ours, came on board to play second guitar. We're back to being a three-piece since Giuliano went back to LA.
You've played some great shows over the last couple of years. What's been your favorite one so far?
Vinnie: Stork Club opening for Les Lullies was pretty fun. Playing with Sick Thoughts was memorable as well as anytime we've played in Kerouac Alley.
Jerj: Vesuvio record release show was everything you would want: all the homies showed up, randos starting a mosh pit, played super fast and tight. The cops even came and performed an exorcism on a local homeless. Perfection.
Jimmy: The next show is always my favorite show we've played, or anytime we get to play with Sick Thoughts, Uni Boys, The Losers, or Les Lullies.
What insight can you share about your forthcoming debut album, Insufficient Fun, and how exactly did it all come together?
Vinnie: I couldn't put much significance behind it other than just wanting to document those songs and make something that we could be proud of and say, "Hey, we made an actual record!" I think it's a pretty good snapshot. I'm really glad we did it ourselves. We did it in our practice space with pretty much no outside influence so it still has that sorta homemade, self-contained quality. We got lucky since Giuliano is very good at recording and knew what he was doing.
Jerj: We spent a whole day doing photos at multiple locations and the actual cover photo was the final shot in the reel. I had the idea to do like a "goofy" one looking in the mirror as a kind of throwaway. Who knew it would become the iconic masterpiece that we all know and love?
What are your thoughts looking back on last year's self-titled tape and what was it like re-recording some of its tracks for the debut album?
Jimmy: The tape was really more of a demo. That was recorded on our third practice with Nick [Slick] on drums (original drummer). We had to record it because our original rhythm guitar player, Blake, was moving to New York just days later, so we had to make something happen. We recorded it live on an early digital screen four-track recorder in our shitty practice studio. The vocals were done on a practice guitar amp going into an on board mic on a laptop. Extremely primitive way of recording, but it did the job.
Today we're premiering your latest single from the album, "Yesterday's Kids." How did this one come about and what were the inspirations behind it?
Jerj: I think this track and "On The Loose" juxtaposed really and highlight the range this band has. Pure pop and raw energy.
Vinnie: I like throwing artistic curveballs at people and felt like doing something a little different that I'd never done before. I was a little self-conscious about it honestly, but people like it so that's cool I guess. I was going for almost a Ramones-esque ballad kind of thing. Lyrically, I guess it's really just about how relationships change the older you get and lamenting the end of some sort of golden period of youth, the people you knew, the places you went, the things you did. Basically, it's about how much growing up sucks.
What can you share further about the opening cut "On The Loose"?
Vinnie: I co-wrote this one with Blake—he wrote the music and I wrote the lyrics. He was really into Teengenerate and wanted something like that, a fast punk rock 'n' roll ripper. So I scribbled out some dumb lyrics and we had one of our first songs.
"Catalytic Converter" is one of my favorite tunes on the new album. How did this one come about?
Vinnie: That was done while we were goofing around at practice and talking about the bipping crisis. SFPD just had a bunch of their catalytic converters stolen, and we decided that would be a funny idea for a song. So we all contributed to the idea of it being a fucked up love song I guess. Purely done for a laugh. This song was written by myself, Jimmy, and Nicky.
What was it like putting together "Living Dead"?
Vinnie: Dumb, three chord street rock. Nothing to it, really. Lyrics about a known pest in the neighborhood I lived in who would harass people on the street including me and my friends. Bless her, I wonder where she is now?
How did "Troublemaker" come about and its accompanying footage?
Vinnie: The song is about an amalgam of a few different people I know, not just one. The video was more or less Jimmy's idea.
Jimmy: Rich from Total Punk came into town a few weeks before our first single dropped. He asked me if we were going to do a video. When he asked me, we were walking about 16th street Bart and it hit me like a frying pan to do a video there. Two weeks later, we played 16th street Bart in front of a crowd of fentanyl smokers, vagrants, Folsom street fair goers, and more. It was a crazy show. A crazy homeless lady sprayed us with a hose while we were playing. It was nuts to say the least.
What were the inspirations behind the earworm "Wired Over You"?
Vinnie: It was really just an excuse to use handclaps in a song. Pretty good melody, decent, if somewhat trite lyrics. I suppose it's kind of a pastiche of sorts of '60s pop with punk energy, but I feel like most great pop songs have an element of pastiche to them. Don’t be afraid of a little formula now and then, ya know?
What are some other fun facts readers should know about The Circulators and the new album?
Jerj: The songs are actually all Simpsons references, but you have to look very closely.
Vinnie: We're actually a completely manufactured group put together by a Svengali and we don't write our play our own music. We're just a flash in the pan, folks! Guitar groups are on their way out! Hey hey, we're the punkees!
Jimmy: Fun fact: Courtney did it.
Aside from the new album, what else is on the horizon for The Circulators?
Jerj: Trying to plan some tours: East Coast, Europe. And gotta start writing the next one.
Thank you for taking your time. Any advice or last words you'd like to share with our readers?
Jerj: Buy renter's insurance. It covers almost all your belongings even when they aren't in your home. Very cheap and can save you in case of bippings and accidents.
Jimmy: Liquor is quicker.
Vinnie: Don't believe anything you just read!
Insufficient Fun is out November 15th on Total Punk Records.