Wow, it’s be quite awhile since I’ve dug into my crates of old records and posted anything in this series, but it just felt like the right time for a little Chicago punk rock. I thought I’d share a little something from a little known band called Thirty Seconds Deep. I won’t go into detail on their history (you can read that here) but I will tell you what I know. The band started in 1990 in Chicago’s Western suburbs as a ska fusion band. I also know that their singer Geoff went to my high school but was a few grades ahead so I never met any of the guys in the band. After thinking a bit about it, I’ll have to admit that Thirty Seconds Deep is the band responsible for getting me into the local punk scene as they were the first real “local” band that I ever went to see live. I saw them in places like church basements and the Elmhurst VFW and from there it just exploded for me.
I liked ‘em but never loved Thirty Seconds Deep the way I loved bands after that but I’ve still got all their releases (the demo tape, the Stereo Sound 7″, the Banana 7″ and (most importantly and most significantly) their awesome Hot Carl 7″). That record was released by the great Harmless Records in 1996. Strangely enough, I was exchanging emails with Scott Harmless last week and he commented, “I feel like every label has that one ‘hidden gem’ in their catalog, and the 3SD 7″ is definitely mine.” I couldn’t agree more. The four songs on that 7″ stand the test of time and sound as good today as they did some 13 years ago. The band broke up shortly after this record came out. It’s a bit of a shame, but that’s what happens. Members of Thirty Seconds Deep went on to play in bands like Lando’s 45, The Story So Far, Racecar, and AM Radio. I also recall seeing AM Radio open for Braid in DeKalb, IL on their Frame & Canvas tour and thought they were pretty good too. Oh well…
Here are a few songs from Thirty Seconds Deep including the whole Hot Carl 7″. If you want more, the band’s entire recorded output is available here.
MP3:
Thirty Seconds Deep - Girl Song from the Thirty Seconds Deep demo tape
Thirty Seconds Deep - Toy Queen from the Stereo Sound 7″
Thirty Seconds Deep - No Harm from the Banana 7″
Thirty Seconds Deep - Ladder from the Hot Carl 7″
Thirty Seconds Deep - Champion from the Hot Carl 7″
Thirty Seconds Deep - Gamble from the Hot Carl 7″
Thirty Seconds Deep - Abdicate My Allegiance from the Hot Carl 7″
Thanks for posting this. This is Miguel from thirtysecondsdeep/landos 45/story so far and i’ve been looking for some copies of this stuff for awhile.
did anyone happen to grab the stuff from the thirty seconds deep blog? it’s gone now and their myspace page is eerily cryptic.
Neal – I grabbed all the stuff from it.
hey, eric! is there a way you could send me those thirty seconds deep mp3s? it seems a little odd that their blog is gone and their myspace page just says “all dead.”
my e-mail address is monkeyfight at yahoo dot com.
thanks a lot. cool blog too!
I had actually put up that TSD myspace page four or five years ago. About a year ago, Jesse asked to take it over. He added a bunch of content and posted their entire discography on blogspot. Then, out of the blue, he deleted all of it. I honestly have no idea why. I always loved the band though, even though I only got to see them once (in North Carolina no less, on what I believe was their only “official” tour).
I went to high school with Geoff, and used to go see Thirty Seconds Deep with my friends all the time. It’s all a bit of a haze, but I remember all the fun I had. I didn’t follow them after high school, because I heard Geoff was no longer in the band. To be honest, if it weren’t for Geoff telling us about their gigs we would have never gone. So, once Geoff was gone, I lost track of the band. I’m glad you posted some of their music on this site. Girl Song really takes me back. Unfortunately, I like the old school ska music with the horns better than the newer stuff. That was one of the best parts of the original music. To be able to rock out to music with a horn was awesome. Not that I don’t like the songs off of Hot Carl, but this is the first time I’m hearing them. I have to be honest, I still think Girl Song is the best one on this list. I remember I had their demo tape, but in one of my many moves all my cassette tapes were lost. If you have more mp3s from their demo type, I would love to get them!!!
I went to high school with Geoff back in the 90s, and I used to go see Thirty Seconds Deep all the time. I didn’t really follow them after high school, but it’s too bad the sound changed and they lost the horn. I always thought that was the best part of the band. Not that I don’t like the newer stuff, it’s just that Girl Song really takes me back. To be honest, I think Girl Song is the best on this list. If there are any more songs from the Demo tape, I’d love to download some.