Pleasant Screams
The Queers got together at a time when punk rock was irreverent,  sometimes shocking but always fun and they've ever abandoned that approach.  But the Queers have never stagnated either. From early proto-Angry Samoans- style songs like "We'd Have A Riot Doing Heroin" to the 60's pop harmonies of  "Little Sidewalk Surfer Girl" the Queers have continued to develop and refine  their own unique kind of punk. Formed in 1982, this New Hampshire group  ambled their way through the 1980s, recording a few singles and compilation  tracks along the way, many of which were collected on Lookout!'s "A Day Late  and a Dollar Short." Before recording their first full-length studio album, "Grow  Up," the group finally settled on a permanent lineup consisting of singer/guitarist  Joe King/Queer, drummer Hugh O'Neill and B-Face on bass.Grow Up was released on a small English label called Shakin' Street, which  promptly went belly up after only 1, 000 copies were pressed. Screeching  Weasel frontman Ben Weasel got Lookout! label owner Larry Livermore to sign  the Queers, and in 1993 Lookout! released the Ben Weasel-produced "Love  Songs for the Retarded." "Love Songs..." was followed by a yearly salvo of  bubblegum-punk, from 1994's "Beat Off" to 1996's magnum opus, "Don't Back  Down," the best late-'70s-era Ramones album the Ramones never recorded.  After a long bout with brain cancer, O'Neill died on January 21,1999; "Later Days  and Better Lays," issued that spring, collecting unreleased Queers material  recorded during his tenure with the band.In 2001 The Queers returned to Lookout! with a brand new EP, "Today"  produced by Ben Weasel marking a renewed energy for the band. Now, the band  have followed up last year's EP with "Pleasant Screams," a full-tilt full length of  classic Queers' styling with revved-up and revamped attitude. "Pleasant  Screams" features leader Joe King's own version of the Wrecking Crew, a crack  team of punk stars that help realize his own brand of punk rock. Ben Weasel and  Joey Ramone are both contributing writers to the latest album. Philip of The Teen  Idols and Mass Giorgini of Squirtgun, Common Rider and Screeching Weasel  handled the production. And last but not least, Dan Vapid and Matt Dreschl join  the band on the recording too. Still touring incessantly and still loved by kids all  over the world, The Queers truly won't back down!