ypsi’s tongue + the act of sludgy punk as resistance

Ann Arbor, Michigan is a not so small college town, home to the real estate investment firm known as the University of Michigan. The streets are clean, the spaces green (in the warmer months, at least), and there are drunk twenty-somethings and millionaire NIMBYs as far as the eye can see. It’s even got a Bitcoin cafe. It’s a place designed for the customers of the university and their rich parents. 

But one town over is the smaller, scrappy sister town of Ypsilanti. Home to Eastern Michigan University, the portfolio of the slumlord Stewart Beale, and a world famous phallic water tower, we don’t have the billions of dollars Ann Arbor has, but we do have a strip club. Ypsi is a bit (and I mean just a bit) cheaper to live in, so it’s where most of the people who do the real work in Ann Arbor end up calling home. In this working class town, under the shadow of the Big Brick Dick, lurks a dedicated punk scene that rivals much bigger cities like Detroit. 

Ypsi is where you’ll find a rotating cast of the same folks forming and reforming new bands. One of the best ones going is the three-piece Tongue. Formed from the ashes of the band Sex Change, Darby (vocals) and TJ (guitar) recruited fellow local stalwart drummer Justin (of Lord Centipede, Bubak). Tongue exists at the odd intersection of sludge and punk. The band travels between slow heavy riffs and punishing three-chord fury, just to somehow meld them seamlessly. 

Darby leads the charge with raspy whelps that sound like dragging a cinder block across hot pavement (compliment), while TJ lifts the whole burden of song structure on her shoulders. With just one half stack and a small pedal board, she creates heavy riffs and blackened assaults as a wall of melodic noise. Meanwhile, Justin switches from slow punishing patterns to d-beat rage effortlessly as only a veteran drummer can. It’s a good fucking time, is what I’m saying.

At a spot called Parts & Labor just south of Dearborn and Detroit, I met up with them in my car after their set to talk about the band and their future. The chat was ultimately interrupted by a tap on the window. The doorman had been looking for the band as they were closing up and they still needed to grab their gear. They recorded and shared their demo not long after we sat down for this conversation.

You’re all veterans of the Ypsilanti scene. What led to this band forming and how is it different from your previous bands?

Justin: TJ got a hold of me, telling me that her and Darby were starting a new band and wondering if I wanted to play the drums and kind of explained it as like a sludgy, crusty kind of thing and I was like, "Yeah, that sounds sweet." 

Darby: Yeah, leading up to Tegan reaching out to Justin, when Sex Change was winding down, Tegan and I had been chatting about still really needing a creative outlet. And I remember saying, “I’m going to fucking kill myself if I don’t have this space to create anymore.” And we had been kind of talking back and forth on who would be interested in jamming with us. We fucking love Lord Centipede and Bubak (Justin’s other bands). 

TJ: Bubak is especially so sick. And Justin has blown my mind at a bunch of fucking Bubak shows before. I was like, "Oh, fuck, I don’t know. I guess I’ll just ask him cold ’cause we never really hung out or anything.” But then we got together and he was into it. He just was like, "Oh yeah, I’ve been thinking about taking on a new project ’cause Bubak ended."

Darby: For me, it was fucking perfect because me and Christy [Justin’s wife] had been friends since high school and so I’d hung out a little bit with Justin like cutting your hair, when I cut Christie’s hair, and like smoking weed. So I was like, “No, dude. Justin’s super chill. You should totally ask Justin. I think that would be really fun.” And it’s been fucking rad. I’ve been having so much fun playing with you guys.

Justin: Yeah, it’s awesome. And thanks for saying nice stuff. 

Darby: I mean it. 

Justin: It’s really been a lot of fun, though. And it’s totally different than any band I’ve ever played in before, so I'm happy about it.

Except for tonight, you almost exclusively played benefit shows for causes like a homeless mutual aid house and students being captured by ICE. I know you guys outside of the band through organizing work I’ve done. Is it important for you to mix politics and music?

Darby: One hundred percent. I feel like this music, as well as being about personal feelings and experiences, has to reflect our understanding of these structures that exist that we’re trying to fight in order to have a better life for everyone. I think we should be tying all the shit we talk about in the punk scene into actual action. And we forget in the organizing spaces also that joy is a part of resistance. So, if we can meld these sounds into doing some cool shit, then let’s break shit and dance and sing while we’re doing it.

Yeah, I’m currently starting an art collective for a bunch of lefties and one of our big things is like, how do we tie art to actual effect? Not just preach at people but to be like “this thing is going to directly influence something we believe in.”

Darby: Yeah, beyond evangelizing. So, like, where am I connecting it to something you already care about or have fun doing and can kind of plant little seeds here while I’m punching you in the heart with my agonizing vocals. We were fundraising for people detained by ICE, a bunch of minors who are of different ethnic backgrounds. There’s Latino kids who are under 16. There’s people from African continents who are minors. They’re high school students who have been detained by ICE and we want to make sure they have legal representation and the money to pay for that. So we’re really honored that the people putting that on asked us to be part of it.

TJ: Yeah. I want to make music to liberate those of us who make it and it should serve to liberate everyone hopefully. It should also be a weapon against, I don’t know, oppression and “the ugly.”

Plus, the organizer in me sees every show as an opportunity. Every conversation is an organizing conversation potentially. [laughs]

Justin: It’s important to remember too that, when you’re looking at the huge big picture, you know, it can seem so overwhelming and what the fuck can I even do to help, you know? But if you just hone in on your community and the area around you, that’s the best place to start. It’s where you can affect the most change. If everybody is helping their own community, you know, then that’s how we eventually can unite together. 

TJ: Yeah, using art to serve our community.

Justin: And still have a lot of fun!

People think that revolution stuff is like one big event, but really it’s a million little tiny things that swell up.

Darby: Some of them don’t get attention and aren’t sexy, so you don’t think about those parts.

You guys are kind of a doomy, sludgy punk band, like you said, but you have no bassist. Is there a reason for that?

TJ: [The entire band chuckles] Well, gosh, I guess I’m just fuckin’...I don’t know. Maybe I’m hard to work with. [The entire band laughs] Or I’m a control freak or something.

Darby: But we had a specific idea and we all know each other. We feel comfortable in this little crew.

TJ: Feels tight. Making music is intimate and it’s important to be comfortable and to, like, meld minds. It’s just easier you know with communication and stuff. Luckily, around the time we started I’d been experimenting with octave stuff, like a poly octave generator pedal and running a Marshall Mode 4 cab, which is supposed to be really good for low end stuff. I just feel like it fills out the low end pretty good so far. I’m the guitar version of liking to hear myself talk, I guess. 

Darby: We can do some really cool interesting shit without having to have a fourth person. If we wanted to do something more complicated down the line and have that lower end be doing something different than what you’re doing, we’ll figure that out later.

TJ: Yeah, for sure. Never say never. But right now it’s pretty cool.

Plus it’s easier to schedule. 

Justin: Yeah! Easier to schedule practices. Less people, less opinions to weigh in on.

TJ: Less opinions! And now we just found out that all of our gear fits in my car. So, if a bassist wants to join the band, they have to buy a bigger car. 

So I know you guys are recording soon. What can we expect from a Tongue record?

TJ: I think we’re just looking at a demo right now. Just, you know, hopefully get some cool tapes out. I don’t know. We got ideas. We’ve been talking about incorporating some effects and stuff too. Thinking about some sampling and kind of creative stuff if we did a big full length kind of record.

Darby: But those things haven’t really materialized yet. We have folders full of samples and ideas of where to put some of them. We would like to do a more flushed out full studio album at some point.

Justin: Right now we just kind of want to get something out. I’m sure it’ll be a great recording. My friend, Larry Johnson from Cattywampus and other bands, is doing it.

I know Larry. [Shortly after this interview, Larry asked me to join Cattywampus.]

Justin: He’s recording it at Arlo’s Recording House. Named after his dog. He just opened that. Yeah, it should be fun.

TJ: Yeah, Darby and I have both been in bands where we just didn’t put shit out for like a long time and played a bunch of shows and we’re trying to correct that this time for sure.

Darby: Absolutely. Holy shit. 

One last question here. We’re all from Ypsi. How do you feel about the Ypsi music scene? Has it been welcoming? Are there bands you have a kinship with that you really like playing with? 

Darby: It’s been so welcoming, dude!

Justin: Ypsi rules!

TJ: Shit man. Everybody come to a show in fuckin’ Ypsi. Come down to the Regal Beagle! We’ve been in bands with a bunch of people too [from the] Ypsi scene.

Justin: The Ypsi and Ann Arbor scene.

TJ: I would say that Jef [Porkins] from Scissor Now! has been really formative for me and helping me develop just playing music and, you know, learning the ropes of playing live over the years. And Scissor Now! is a fucking seminal Washtenaw County/Ann Arbor/Ypsi weird awesome band.

Jef runs my favorite local record label, Arbco. 

Justin: Now defunct, probably at this point. 

Darby: I want to second that, on Jef for sure.

Justin: And you know, all those years of running the 3rd Death Star there on Main Street. And during COVID times, he provided a spot for Bubak to practice because we were practicing in Larry’s basement and things didn’t work out at the time and then we ended up practicing in Jef’s basement. Jef was just always…there. Just a solid steward of the local music scene.

Darby: Always good advice. Like music-wise or not, like just a solid fuckin dude. And then for me, Andy from Minus9. He’s given me a lot of like input that I super cherish and, you know, is a big part of like the Ypsi [scene]. 

TJ: You can always count on Andy. I’m self-conscious, so I’m always like, “Oh god, I need to find somebody who won’t just tell me I played good.” Andy is my default for that. He’s not afraid to be an asshole; I’m going to ask him some stuff. And then also, I just want to say Girth.

Darby: And EKG, even though that’s more Detroit. 

TJ: They’re massive for sure. 

Darby: Jef, Andy, and Shawn from WyrdByrd, the local record shop. He is in the works of trying to put out more records by local artists. He’s trying to help put on the local scene, ’cause a lot of people recognize that Ypsi fucking rocks!

TJ: They have like the sickest bunch of local music all the time. They’re putting people on and he’s trying to start a record label out of that shop [WyrdByrd Records]. He’s putting out Lord Centipede.

Darby: But Shawn is not just the record store; he’s a sick, sick drummer, too. So he knows a lot about music and he was in Jacks and Nema.

TJ: It was just like a sick ass old crust band.

Darby: So he’s been in the music scene for like the Detroit/Ypsi area for like ever. Wes from Dull Knife and Rotokiller, too! Wes has given me so many fuckin vocal tips and how to take care of my vocal cords. It’s insane. He runs localCHAOS archives.

TJ: It’s a fuckin’ old school skate zine and hardcore zine from Ann Arbor going back to the fuckin’ ’80s.

Darby: Ann Arbor and Ypsi documented from the ’80s on to current day.

Justin: And he was pivotal in getting the Ann Arbor skate park. I’m pretty sure he started the original fundraiser for Ann Arbor skate park which is like one of the best skate parks in the Midwest.

Darby: I found out that he used to take my dad skateboarding.

TJ: I used to skate with Wes. We took a road trip down to Indiana to skate at Backyard Bowl. [The venue’s doorman appears with a knock on the window, abruptly ending the interview so the band could go load out their gear. Go get that demo.]

Jason Bombach lives in Ypsilanti, Michigan and a member of the bands History History and Cattywampus.

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