But people who were around at the time recall the hustlers standing two or three deep on the corner of SW 3rd and Taylor on summer nights. It's also damned near impossible to find anyone who'll confess to having been involved in the trade 'scene' nowadays-which is why this aspect of the city's oral (cough, cough) history is perhaps in danger of vanishing faster than almost any other. The visual aspect was always something that was part of it, so early on we did some ridiculous and outlandish things.' While their vinyl-friendly back catalog isn't readily available to those leaning on the crutch of modern digital music, 1988's Toothless is a must-have addition to any Portland music library.
Says drummer Mike King, 'The band was formed by visual artists and a guy who kind of knew how to play saxophone.
Makes sense that they released a split 7-inch with longtime noise icons Smegma, and their heavily-costumed personae became synonymous with the onstage oddities people came to expect from the Hell Cows' live experience. Vocals were neither sung nor spoken instead they were delivered via guttural bark-similar to an ornery Captain Beefheart-while the rest of the band's free-form nature was light years ahead of their '80s rock peers. It's been 20 years since the Hell Cows were at their peak, but classifying this skewed art-rock band is still a challenge to this day. BEST BAND FROM 1988 (THAT YOU PROBABLY HAVE NEVER HEARD OF)