‘Endless Bummer’ drops at Emerson Saturday

We all have that friend we don’t talk to for years, until one day, one of us picks up the phone and we immediately start yakking as easily as if we’d just seen each other yesterday.

It’s like that with Sloppy Seconds.

The Indianapolis punk-rock band — “junk rock,” the group likes to say — just released its first disc of new material in 10 years, Endless Bummer (Kid Tested Records). And it sounds just as good and immediate as everything the band has released since its 1989 debut, Destroyed.

Sloppy still grinds out fun, funny, energetic and highly melodic punk tunes about cars, girls, monsters, comic books and drinking. Last time I wrote about them, and probably every time I’ve written about them, I described their music as Ramones meets Beach Boys. Endless Bummer is another worthy addition to their catalog.

We got together last week to talk about the new record, their career, Saturday’s Emerson Theater show (where they’ll tape a video for the song “You Can’t Kill Joey Ramone”) and whatever else was on their mind. Guitarist Ace Hardwhere wasn’t there, but singer B.A., bassist Bo’ba Jam and drummer Steve Sloppy were.

Here are the highlights of the conversation.

NUVO: It’s been 10 years since the last Sloppy Seconds record. Why?

B.A.: This CD was mostly recorded in 2005. We had a lot of false alarms with labels. Whenever it came time to produce a contract, it kind of fell off the map. Finally, we got tired of announcing that Endless Bummer was coming out in six months. We just stopped playing a year and a half ago and said we’re not playing until the record comes out.

Steve: We had interest from the smallest labels to a handful of mini-majors, but everyone kept just bouncing it around. Eventually, we wound up with Kid Tested. They’re really well set up. They have massive international distribution. They have European and Asian affiliates. So Endless Bummer is definitely going to be available worldwide.

NUVO: The new record sounds great. It’s like no time passed.

B.A.: It sounds like a Sloppy Seconds record.

Steve: We’ve always written songs that we wanted to hear. If people get it and support what we do, great. Come join the party. Ultimately, we write music and songs for ourselves.

NUVO: “You Can’t Kill Joey Ramone” is one of the best things you’ve ever done. It’s instantly energetic and catchy.

Steve: That song is pretty special to us. It was written a few years ago, right after Joey passed but right before Dee Dee died. So we thought the lyric “So save your prayers for Dee Dee ’cause you can’t kill Joey Ramone” is, in hindsight, very poignant now.

NUVO: “Everybody Hates the United States” is a classic Sloppy Seconds song in that when you see the title, you think it’s about one thing and it turns out to be about something else.

B.A.: We wrote that the summer before the Sept. 11 attacks. That was our reaction to having toured in Europe. Everything that everybody hates about the “Ugly Americans” are the things we really love.

Bo’ba: There was this time we were in Germany and this individual was really pissed off at me because I couldn’t speak German. I was like, “Well, you’re speaking English.” Overall, the people in Germany and in Europe are a great audience. We loved them. But there were a couple of moments when we thought we should write a song about everyone hating the United States.

Steve: In the last two or three years, the song has become very reflective of the times.

NUVO: “Achy Breaky Skull” is my favorite song title on the new record. Did that start as a title and then become a song?

Steve: I came up with the title and B.A. came up with the hook. We have all worked on lyrics and arrangements. Most of our stuff is very tongue in cheek. You have to look beyond the surface to see the subtext.

B.A.: We don’t literally want you to put your girlfriend in a coma so that sex is easier to come by.

Steve: “Achy Breaky Skull” is written from the first-person perspective of a guest from The Jerry Springer Show.

B.A.: It’s like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre set to music. It’s strictly entertainment.

NUVO: Let’s talk about the Emerson show.

Steve: We’re going to do a string of live shows throughout the East Coast and the Midwest, and we’re going to top it off by doing a big release show here. Since Indianapolis is our home base, we thought it was appropriate to do our official CD release show here. There’ll be CDs available, a bunch of new T-shirts and some really good regional bands performing. We’re going to be shooting video footage for the “You Can’t Kill Joey Ramone” video, and Kid Tested is going to use it on different home video/DVD compilations. Anyone who shows up on the 5th, there’s a good chance they’ll be part of the video.

NUVO: The band’s 20 years old – maybe a little more. Did you think you’d be playing this long?

Bo’ba: We’ve known each other since we were kids, so I always looked at it as Sloppy Seconds was formed when the three of us met. That was more than 20 years ago. So we picked up that element of what we thought was junk rock, picked up instruments, banged on them and became Sloppy Seconds. I’m surprised we haven’t killed each other yet.

Steve: Every band should be fortunate enough to form the way we did. Essentially, we’re brothers. We’re going to be together. If we’re making music, fine. If we’re not making music, we’ll still be together.

B.A.: If we weren’t still playing in the band, we’d be going to the drive-in — if there were any drive-ins left. Being a career musician was not a life goal. This is just something I’m doing with my friends. 

Who: Sloppy Seconds with The Hollywood Blondes, The Villain, Up! Scumbag

Where: The Emerson Theatre, 4634 E. 10th Street

When: Saturday, July 5th, 7:30 p.m., all-ages