Ten Foot Pole

Ten Foot Pole is at it again, this time with Insider, the best record of their career! Insider features the strongest slew of songs they've concocted yet, plus it was produced by Ryan Greene (NOFX, Lagwagon), so you know this sucker smokes!

The twelve all-new tracks of high-speed punk rock on Insider are so addictive that the government might ban them as controlled substances and make them legal for medical purposes only! Musically speaking, Insider is aggressive and powerful, offset by sweet melodies, thoughtful turns-of-phrase and a few mellow interludes (yes, dynamics!). Dennis' lyrics touch such diverse issues as living with the consequences of spontaneous decisions (The Getaway) to a guy who is coping with his girlfriend's self-destructive psychological disorder called "cutting" (Late At Night) to washing all your cares away for the sake of enjoying "the now" (I Won't Complain Today). Anyone who has a pulse will be able to relate to something that Ten Foot Pole has to say.

Let's all give a warm round of applause for Ten Foot Pole's new bass player, Glen Vegas! Vegas joined in August of '97 after Pete made his departure to pursue an academic career that later found him playing in Nerf Herder. Vegas joined just in time to hit the road with Ten Foot Pole when they toured in Japan, New Zealand, Australia and with Guttermouth in the US. Not a bad way to get to know the band, eh? Vegas is a Canadian (from Vancouver), and has played in 60 Cycle and Canada's answer to Tool: Dead Surf Kiss a.k.a. DSK. He's added a new dimension to the TFP sound with his energetic semi-poppy backing vocals. And since Insider will put Ten Foot Pole on the road for a big chunk of 1999 with plans to tour the US extensively, along with Canada & Europe, you'll have plenty of opportunity to see Vegas and the rest of Ten Foot Pole blow you away with these killer new tunes!

There have been only a couple of line-up changes over the past few years, which has been a nice change from the very early days. Other than Vegas taking the place of Pete, the only line-up change since signing to Epitaph came when Scott Radinsky, formerly the vocalist, was let go from the band in 1995 because his commitment to baseball was understandably a priority for him (Scott pitches for the LA Dodgers).

Back in the day, before Ten Foot Pole changed their name from Scared Straight, they put out several releases on the now infamous Mystic Records. They changed their name to Ten Foot Pole in order to avoid being mis-classified as a straight-edge band. "We have nothing against straight edge, even respect for those who live it without developing the 'holier than thou' syndrome," Dennis explains. "But the band was formed to have fun playing, no dogmatic personal ethical systems required'"

And so it goes, with the release of Insider, Ten Foot Pole have solidified their place in punk rock history as Epitaph veterans, purveyors of great punk rock music. If you have any doubts, just do what I do... LISTEN TO THE MUSIC! And make sure to get your copy while it's available without a prescription.