Son of a Son of a Killer's first and only full-length release, A Hangover in the Life was released in 1993 on the tiny southern label Bait & Tackle. The album recently sold its one-hundredth copy worldwide. Doug Schism, founder and director of the gooseknit band from Suzy, Arkansas, greeted the news with equanimity and more than a little indifference as I sat with him on the front porch of his deep hills bungalow and watched as he slow-rocked himself to sleep. "Pretty good band," he said softly, his eyelids fluttering, "but folks can only listen to so much howling of dog. So much white noise." Any possibility of a reunion in the near future? "Well now sure. Me and Ranch (drums) and James Lean (bass) reunited just last week for the taco buffet over to WingDing's there in town." You guys played a show? "No, no. We ate tacos. They were good though." Moments later Schism was sound asleep. What does that mean exactly, sound asleep? I sat on the porch another 15 minutes or so and I listened to the beat of the whippoorwhil, cricket symphony and accompanying rhythm of frog. Dusk reeled by in slow motion, the treeline gathered darkness. I rose, moved across the yard, got into my car, drove the seemingly endless dirt road back into town, back into Suzy, and searched out the aforementioned WingDing's. I located the restaurant easily enough, but the place was closed. In fact, every business and every residence I saw that evening in Suzy was markedly closed, every door closed tight, every light in every window off. I stood on the sidewalk in front of the darkened WingDing's and I looked up and down the street. I saw not a soul in Suzy. Sudden and swift, a shade passed through my mind, a revenance. My breath stuck. I thought for a long moment I had gone mad. It felt mad. Nothing existed and I knew it. But just then the whippoorwhil called me back, broke my revery. A frame had seemed to catch, time skipped, an almost imperceptible stopping and starting, but then... something. I was alone. I took the deepest breath and I got into my car and I drove and I drove and I drove.


A Hangover in the Life
(Bait & Tackle, 1993)
track listing:
1. The Courtship of Eddie Vedder's Father
2. You're the Shit, the Shinola
3. Metalandwood It Destroy the Missouri Sky
4. Denim Wedding Dress
5. Old Tom Paine
6. Calamitous Jane
7. Governor, Make Yourself Home
8. Sigh Factory Outlet
9. Pall Bearer
10. Buck Rodgers in Bed
11. Grinemascope
12. Clutter & Charlie Horse

The Ancient Salt Trade 7"
(Bait & Tackle, 1990)
track listing:
1. Dudded Out and Benign
2. Randy's Asleep
3. Yay Big
4. The Missouri Compromise