Description:
Influenced by the Stooges, Captain Beefheart, early Roxy Music and other pre-punk mainstays of the time, Debris was an experimental proto-art-punk band whose meteoric rise and fall in the 1970’s would set the stage for the punk movement in the Oklahoma City area. Hailing from the town of Chickasha, the band’s style was characterized by chaotic performances and a dark, experimental sound considered by many to be ahead of its time. Although this penchant for flair would ultimately stifle the band’s longevity, it would also contribute to an enduring legacy that would swirl around the group for a long time to come. From its inception in September of 1975, the band’s brief but spectacular existence consisted of only four live, frenetic gigs and the production of an album that, while initially panned by critics, would garner the band a good deal of acclaim in later years.
In December of that same year, Debris set about cutting what would eventually become one of the most talked about debuts, and albums entitled Static Disposal. Recorded in only two sessions and in just under seven hours, the LP was pressed several months later into a record that exhibited the band’s raw and untamed talent. In hopes of landing a contract and to more fully realize their project, the band began distributing its work to various record labels and rock magazines as a demo.
But, with early negative reviews and little local support, Debris would soon disband. It was a classic case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. However, in the years following the release of Static Disposal, the album would slowly become something of a legend. More favorable press began to appear with CBGB even offering the band a gig and a chance to cash in on the burgeoning New York punk scene. Sadly, it was already too late. Chances of reformation had been all but eradicated. Even so, over the coming decades the band’s lone album would grow to be a highly sought-after piece of Oklahoma music history and would be noted as an inspiration for bands like Scream, Nurse With Wound and the Melvins.
