Survival of the Coolest is the first and only album to be released
by The Supreme Cool Beings. This post-punk influenced band with
experimental elements, described as playing “off kilter pop songs,”
formed in the summer of 1982 in Olympia, Washington. The group’s
beginnings started when Heather Lewis was hanging out with her friend
Gary May. He asked her to join a band that he was forming. Gary’s apartment turned into a rehearsal place and a place to see
live shows at the time as well. After hearing them play at an apartment
party that summer, radio DJ Calvin Johnson asked them to play a live set
of music on his radio program Boy Meets Girl on the campus radio
station KAOS FM. Unbeknownst to them, Johnson recorded their eight song
set. Inspired by a series of cassette compilations that were released
through Sub Pop, which Johnson helped with, Johnson decided to release
the eight songs that they recorded on cassette. With artwork by Lewis,
this cassette would be the first official release on the K Records
label.
The Supreme Cool Beings consisted of Heather Lewis on drums/vocals, Gary May on guitar/bass and vocals and Doug Monaghan on saxophone. Survival of the Coolest opens with the song “Who’s That?” a loose guitar, drums and sax song that features Lewis on vocals with lyrics revolving around paranoia and boredom. “Your Name Here” features May on lead vocals and guitar reminiscent of Wipers-like chord structures. Dual vocals featuring May and Lewis and lyrics such as “Plastic potato/The spud’s a dud,” contrast the plasticity of Mr. Potato Head with adolescence. “Don’t Panic” features watery sounding chord structures, with a steady drum groove and a catchy pop influenced chorus. With Saxophone filling in the gaps intermittently, May howls like Jeffrey Lee Pierce in the second verse.
“Um” is an experimental piece. As saxophone and guitar play dissonantly in the background, Lewis sings abstract lyrics before drums come in around the last minute of the track with surf sounding guitars. “Liberal Art” features jagged, yet reverb heavy guitar as the drums follow and saxophone paints an uneasy mood in the background. Heavy drums and garage-like guitars sounding almost like The Troggs dominate “Big Bombs.” With abstract lyrics “Sun goes up/Sun goes down/Water goes up/Water goes down,” and “I don’t want to hear it anymore,” this song sounds like it could be about an argument, but is left open to interpretation. “Our Advice To You” ends Survival of the Coolest. It is a more up-tempo guitar and drum track with saxophone parts that lock in the songs dynamics. It has an undeniable movement and dance-ability to it.
While only ever released on cassette and now long out of print, Survival of the Coolest is a loose sounding album with experimental elements that adheres to the DIY counterculture that was new and burgeoning at the time. It is a short, exuberant and spontaneous album. There is one more song that appears in the band’s discography. A longer danceable instrumental track titled “Survival of the Coolest” is a very lo-fi sounding track. Recorded at one of the band's live shows, it appeared on the Let’s Together compilation album. This compilation album was released on K Records in 1984. The Supreme Cool Beings time as a band was short lived. Shortly after this Gary May moved out of Olympia and the band broke up. Following this, Heather Lewis would go on to play with Calvin Johnson and Bret Lunsford as The Beat Happening in 1983.
Show 936 Playlist (Originally Aired On May 28th, 2022)(K Records and The Supreme Cool Beings):
1. PRIORS - Expelled Virtue
2. Trash - Priorities
3. The Art Attacks - I’m A Dalek
4. Property - Running Away
5. Trampoline Delay - In Your Head
6. Horsegirl - Anti-Glory
7. Lushings - Something
8. Vivienne Wilder - Ricky (Heart)
9. Gus Englehorn - Run Rabbit Run
10. Tuxedomoon - Jinx
11. Tuxedomoon - No Tears
12. DNA - Blonde Redhead
13. Soul Glo - We Wants Revenge
14. Girl Trouble - Tarantua
15. Apollo Ghosts - Acid Jenny
16. Christopher Sleightholm - Acid Cowboy
17. Tim Swaddling & Before the Flood - Pay In Blood
18. Bob Dylan & The Band - I Wanna Be Your Lover (Take 6)
19. Tess Parks - Happy Birthday Forever
20. The Sadies - Cut Up High and Dry
21. Wilco - Tired of Taking It Out On You
22. Seldoms - Trees of Mysterie
23. Young Pioneers - Round and Round
24. Beat Happening - Down At The Sea
25. Beat Happening - I Spy
26. Supreme Cool Beings - Your Name Here
27. Supreme Cool Beings - Big Bombs
28. Supreme Cool Beings - Who's That?
To hear this program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and click the May 28 file to
download/stream the episode.
Show 935 Playlist (Originally Aired On May 21st, 2022)(The Flashing Lights, Randy Newman, David Byrne, Elvis Costello & The Imposters):
1. Ty Segall - Hello, Hi
2. The Flashing Lights - Highschool
3. The Flashing Lights - Rotary Hotel
4. Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - Tidal River
5. Weird Nightmare - Lusitania
6. Cola - So Excited
7. Porridge Radio - Back to the Radio
8. Susan - $50 Dream
9. Otoboke Beaver - I Won't Dish Out Salads
10. Rick White - Another Season Again
11. B.A. Johnston - Why Can't Tonight Be Wing Night?
12. The Urinals - I’m A Bug
13. The Normals - Almost Ready
14. Osees - Funeral Solution
15. Black Midi - Welcome To Hell
16. Fontaines D.C. - Skinty Fia
17. Kamikaze Nurse - Come From Wood
18. blackoutbeach - Deserter's Song
19. Destroyer - My Mystery
20. Randy Newman - You Can Leave Your Hat On
21. Randy Newman - God's Song
22. Pink Mountaintops - Nervous Breakdown
23. TOPS - Janet Planet
24. Talking Heads - Moon Rocks
25. Talking Heads - I Feel It In My Heart
26. David Byrne & Brian Eno - Everything That Happens
27. Elvis Costello & The Imposters - Farewell, OK
28. Elvis Costello & The Imposters - The Man You Love To Hate
To hear this program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and click the May 21 file to download/stream the episode
Show 934 Playlist (Originally Aired On May 14th, 2022)(Yves Jarvis, The Clash Combat Rock 40th Anniversary):
1. Baby Giant - Yeah!
2. Mike Krol - Red Minivan
3. Martin Schiller - Future Prints
4. By Divine Right - St. Leon's
5. Black Country, New Road - Basketball Shoes
6. Tunic - Common Denominator
7. Cellos - The Downward Gaze
8. Tea Leaves - Cicada Song
9. Paul Jacobs - Show Me Something
10. Soft Plastics - Rope Off The Tigers
11. Yves Jarvis - Prism Through Which I Perceive
12. Yves Jarvis - At the Whims
13. Wet Leg - Supermarket
14. Heaven For Real - Sweet Rose
15. The Glass Picture - Horses On A Postcard
16. Parquet Courts - Marathon of Anger
17. Damaged Bug - Jet In Jungle
18. Sunglaciers - Out of My Skull
19. School Damage - In Love With A Chump
20. The Clash ft. Ranking Roger - Rock The Casbah
21. The Clash - Inoculated City
22. The Smile - You Will Never Work In Television Again
23. Kevin Morby - Rock Bottom
24. Broken Social Scene - Not At My Best
25. The Clash - Over Powered By Funk
26. The Clash - Ghetto Defendant (Extended Unedited Version)
To hear this program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and click the May 14 file to download/stream the episode
Show 933 Playlist (Originally Aired On May 7th, 2022) (Tom Waits, The Birthday Party, The Cure, Young Guv, White Fence, Cate Le Bon):
1. Apollo Ghosts - Soft American
2. David Bowie - Diamond Dogs
3. Tom Waits – Everything You Can Think
4. Tom Waits – Starving in the Belly of a Whale
5. The Birthday Party – The Dim Locator
6. The Cure – The Hanging Garden
7. Iceage - All The Junk on the Outskirts
8. Steven Lambke - Bats in Blue Twilight
9. The Sadies - Cut Up And Dry
10. Julie & Dany - Deglele
11. The Burning Hell - Birdwatching
12. Arcade Fire – Lightening II
13. Frog Eyes – I Was An Oligarch
14. Young Guv – Same Old Fool
15. Young Guv – Maybe I Should Luv Somebody Else
16. Pinch Points – King Rat
17. Yikes - Pink Cigars
18. Thee Oh Sees - Heavy Doctor
19. Drinks - Corner Shops
20. White Fence - Beat
21. Cate Le Bon - Remembering Me
22. Belle & Sebastian – Unnecessary Drama
23. Linda Lindas – Nino
24. Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever – My Echo
25. Pup – Puptheband Inc. Is Filing for Bankruptcy
26. Psychic Void - Denim Daddy
27. Psychic Void - Alley Dweller
To hear this program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and click the May 7 file to download/stream the episode
