Interview: Cincinnati's Chrome Cranks members form The Stabbing Jabs, release authentic punk rock record
Turning away from today’s modern, contemporary sound of typical rock-and-roll, The Stabbing Jabs have reintroduced and captured the gritty punk rock vibes and vintage sound of previous eras (The Stooges, MC5, Black Flag) with their stand-out 11-song must hear self-titled debut on Reptilian Records, just released and now available.
The Stabbing Jabs are: vocalist Peter Aaron (Chrome Cranks, since 1988), guitarists William G. Weber (Chrome Cranks, GG Allin & The Murder Junkies) and Chris Donnelly (Gang Green), drummer Andrew Jody (Barrence Whitfield & The Savages), and bassist Jamie Morrison (Motorbike).
Hailing from The Queen City, The Stabbing Jabs’ singer Peter Aaron discusses how the band came to be, their genre style choice and more in this interview with OOTB.
Watch the video for “Radiation Love”
Stabbing Jabs’ sound has an early archaic in-your-face punk rock grit, with industrial distortion and hollowness. When you formed as a band, what influences made this happen and why did you decide to pursue this sound?
We'll take that description as a compliment, so thank you. The band started as a one-off thing, just to get together and play some covers by vanguard Cincinnati bands for a specific event (two of those are on the album [Verbs, Dennis The Menace]). But we had so much fun and sounded so great together that we decided to make it a real band and start playing original stuff. This style of music is woven deeply into our shared DNA, it's a shared language. With so much contemporary music being so over-conceptualized, it actually seems like a vital artistic statement to be playing bullheaded, unapologetic rock 'n' roll right now. Plus it feels great.
With your history as Chrome Cranks, would you say you incorporated the Cranks’ style into Stabbing Jabs or did you try to refrain from that, with a fresh start?
With me and William in the band, there are bound to be echoes of the Chrome Cranks here and there in the Stabbing Jabs' music. We are who we are, so that's just natural. But yeah, there was definitely a conscious decision, on my part at least, to not attempt to simply recreate the sound of the Cranks. No point in doing that. The swampy/arty elements of the Cranks figure less into what the Jabs do, I think. We just play what feels like natural rock 'n' roll to us, hopefully without overthinking anything. Imagine that!
The lyrics have a bit of an attitude. What influences or inspiration—beit personal or vaguely in general—are brought to the lyrical writing of the short, straight to the point songs?
I don't really write lyrics "about" anything. Ideally, the words are grabby in some way unto themselves and fit/reinforce the feel of the music, which usually comes first. I'm trying to maintain my minimalism with the lyrics as we move forward. We'll see.
What are a couple of your favorite songs on the self-titled debut and why are they your picks?
I really love "Broken Brain." I guess because I just can't get enough of the riff and the whole thing is just so nonstop. Also "Drowning Girls." That one has a bit of an epic sweep to it.
What’s next for the band? Any shows, touring or more writing planned?
Shows and more recording in the Midwest this October. We want to put together a tour around a European festival spot we've been offered for July 2025. Would love to do something on the east coast in between.
Follow The Stabbing Jabs/Purchase album:
https://www.facebook.com/p/The-Stabbing-Jabs-100063474667368/
https://reptilianrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-stabbing-jabs
https://www.reptilianrecords.com/products/810322-the-stabbing-jabs-lp
https://www.beast-records.com/en/bands/the-stabbing-jabs-en/
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