My Two Dads

Some people just play because it’s fucking fun as shit. This is obviously the case with My Two Dads.

Drummer Justin Gaither and bassist Chris Justice have been playing in bands together for years, starting with their first band in high school, The KIAs of Great Falls. Since, these two have been in a menagerie of bands together, most notably The Thug Nasties of Missoula, MT.

The Thug Nasties had themselves a bit of a following, due in no small part to their loyal, devoted friends (often transplants from Great Falls, too). Justin wanted to make a hardcore band out of the Nasties, but the smooth blues-rock stylings of their guitarist, Ian “Mickey Sluggs” Dalzell inadvertently gave that band their signature style: a fast paced garage punk that made you want to simultaneously pogo and slamabeerandkicktheshitoutofsomeone. Momentum for the Nasties built, thanks not only to their sound but also to them falling into favor with several local promoters and Justice’s close ties to Missoula’s college radio station, KBGA. Eventually, this momentum (and the band members saving their pennies in the top secret Thug Nasties piggy bank) built up enough to send them on two (sorta) national tours that almost seemed to be more “for funsies” than they were to promote the band.

Justin never got to play in his hardcore band, goddammit, and this is supposed to be about My Two Dads, not the Thug Nasties. They’re not a band anymore.

With the death of The Thug Nasties in 2011, Gaither tried to start a band with a variety of people plenty of times. Plenty of times, no one stuck around long enough. Plus, he could never find anyone willing to sing and play as fast as he wanted. I believe he told me drunkenly once that he decided “To say fuck it, I’ll just play drums, write the songs and sing myself.” Ian was, of course, more than willing to oblige his shredding skills-this time, the challenge was to play as fast as humanly possible (although his role in writing the melodies has exponentially increased). Chris had always wanted to play an instrument in a band, and a fast, sloppy punk band is the very best way to start playing bass. I know from experience.

I love My Two Dads (HA!) because they are the quintessential local punk band. Every town has one, every town needs one, and every one sounds different, has a different character, tone and feeling to it. Of course, this is not to say they're not good in their own right, but there's a feeling of tradition being carried on here. There’s no pretense whatsoever, it’s just play fast and loud because doing it feels good. And it shows. Being the good friends that they are, they write songs about their mutual interests. Hits like “TPK” (ie, “Total Party Kill,” a Dungeons and Dragons reference), “Fox Lighter” and numerous dutiful lightning fast ditties about too much to drink make up their set list, which clocks in at around 18 minutes (onstage banter and guitar retuning included).

 This lack of pretense, fun content and fast-for-its-own-sake makes for a very appealing viewing experience. Seeing them brings us all back to days when we drank beers in the parking lot that our friend with the fake ID bought for us at the corner gas station while we waited for our friends’ band to play (and then threw the aforementioned beer cans at them).

Nostalgia is a powerful drug, and there isn’t a musician or show goer who hasn’t been in or been a part of a following for a band like this. In fact, bands like this have been started simply for nostalgic reasons before-and I can’t help but think My Two Dads has a little bit of nostalgia for its own sake in them as well.

Here’s most of a My Two Dads set before their first show. They’ve played several since, gotten tighter, and written new material. Note the Circle Jerks cover at the beginning.