Johnny Puke (John Handley Hurt) formed Cletus with guitarist Kevin Lewey in 1994, playing mostly in West Virginia and Tennessee before officially relocating to Charleston, South Carolina in 1996. Their high-octane mix of West Coast and Midwest punk leaned more toward the fast-paced, melodic side of the realm, rather than the hardcore, negative vibe side. The buzzsaw guitar sound and anthemic songs were peppered with Puke’s nasally singin’ style.
Their debut full-length, Grease, Grits, and Gravy, released in 1996 on Chicago punk label Johann’s Face Records, was considered to be a “power-punk” masterpiece. Protein Packed and Horseplay Leads To Tragedy followed to much acclaim. “Between the three of those records, we sold 40,000,” laughs Johnny Puke. “Cletus’s hallmark was that we were gone nine months out of the year, for seven years. We toured the entire U.S. — West Coast and back — eight times, one full tour of Canada, and two short trips to Europe.”
Cletus split in ?.
GG Allin died in Johnny Puke’s New York apartment in 1993 of a heroin overdose. |
