Squalls were a band who came from the same rich Athens, GA scene as The B-52’s, Pylon, R.E.M., and Love Tractor, but played their own brand of quirky pop with their own unique sound. Equal parts Lovin’ Spoonful, Grateful Dead and Talking Heads, they got many a person up on the dance floor. From 1981 to 1989, Squalls rocked Athens and made several tours of the South, the Midwest, and East coast cities including several shows at New York City clubs CBGB, Danceteria, and Peppermint Lounge. They released 4 recordings and were included in the 1986 movie Athens, GA: Inside/Out. The band also played at the legendary Athens 40 Watt Club 64 times during their heyday.
Squalls Live From The 40 Watt Club is a collection of 24 tracks recorded by 40 Watt Club soundman, T. Patton Biddle, and selected from five early 1980s shows. The album was released as part of a special collection in August via Strolling Bones Records.
Today Glide is excited to premiere the animated lyric video for the standout track “Strolling Bones,” which was created by Pylon co-founder Vanessa Briscoe Hay. The band wastes no time in laying down a bouncy beat and dangerously hooky guitar line that suits the funky and laid back vocals. We get hit with the unexpected burst of a harmonica only to be taken into a lively percussion groove. The band seems to draw inspiration from African desert rock while also whipping up the kind of catchy sound that makes you want to jump up and down. Coming in at just over two minutes, this is the kind of fleeting yet memorable tune that was the hallmark of underrated, left of the dial bands from the 80s. Judging from the screams of the audience, this tune was a fan favorite and the fact that it remains so infectious all of these years later is proof that the Squalls deserve their place in the rich and eclectic history of Athens music.
Squalls frontman/songwriter Bob Hay describes the inspiration behind the song:
“David Byrne of the Talking Heads put out an album My Life in the Bush of Ghosts based on a novel of the same name by African writer Amos Tutuola. I happened to come across a novel, The Palm-wine Drinkard, by the same author at the Book Back, which was a cool used book store next door to the Eldorado. It was about a skeleton that went through the jungle and picked up various body parts to complete himself. Somehow that inspired the phrase “strolling bones” which inspired a whole lot of rhyming.”
WATCH:
