Time for Turkeygeddon: Get Ready for Thanksgiving With ShitDrugs

ShitDrugs is hard to find, at least online.

The Denver punk band doesn’t have a significant digital footprint; the only tracks available via streaming are six home-recorded demos posted to SoundCloud last year, despite the five-piece having been active since 2021.

“We’re meandering about how we’re going to release stuff,” says Mike, the band’s guitarist, adding ShitDrugs just laid down seven songs proper with Bart McCrorey at the Crash Pad Studio. “We want to get stuff on Bandcamp and shit.”

There’s also an idea to release it physically as a seven-inch, but nothing has been decided just yet.

Instead, ShitDrugs — its name stylized like SpongeBob SquarePants, while the members prefer keeping a first-name basis — focus more on plugging in and playing out more than anything.

“If you haven’t seen us live before, keep your eyes peeled for Stephen’s attire,” Mike says of the irreverent bassist.

“I dress appropriately for every show,” Stephen quickly responds, before explaining his on-stage uniform is all about performance.

“I’m a firm believer that a bassist should not be constrained by their pants, and their pants should be as minimal as possible to give them the most movement and the ability to move the strings properly,” Stephen continues. “I see bassists all the time fuck up because they’re wearing pants. I’m not going to let myself do that. I’m better than that, and that’s why I don’t wear long pants on stage.”

He won’t go full commando, though, like Red Hot Chili Peppers free-flowing funk master Flea, who famously performs stark naked at times, most notably at Woodstock 1999 (you can look up the NSFW video yourself).

“I think I’m probably musically better than Flea,” Stephen quips.

You can see the one-man fashion show on Wednesday, November 26, when ShitDrugs performs during HQ’s Turkeygeddon show the night before Thanksgiving, along with local support from Lost Cause, Social Murder Jr., Sadie Solstice and Theta.

If you haven’t picked up on it already, the ShitDrugs dudes don’t take themselves too seriously, and the group’s moniker is evidence of their self-deprecating sense of humor.

“Drugs aren’t good anymore,” Mike says. “They used to be good. Now you can’t sniff anything that doesn’t have fentanyl in it or eat Pepto-Bismol without getting constipated afterwards.”

“Every night before I go on, I take a solid dose of Pepto-Bismol now that I’m old,” Stepehn adds. “It’s the only drugs I do.

“We were discussing how just ‘shit drugs’ itself is a great answer to every interview question when we made up that name,” he continues. “You can ask us any question, and the answer can be ‘shit drugs.’ Inspiration? ‘Shit drugs.’”

“If you come find us at the show, maybe I can give you a different answer,” Mike deadpans.

The hardcore punk that ShitDrugs, which also includes guitarist James and drummer Brian, creates is definitely serious, however. Vocalist Tom is responsible for coming up with all the lyrics, including one that’s proven to be a fan favorite.

“Really, it’s just about what comes to mind,” he shares. “We have some political songs. We got some songs about harsh life. Pretty much just angry, pissed-off punk rock and try to have a good time doing it, too.”

“Where’d that ‘diarrhea’ line come from?” Mike asks, referring to ShitDrugs original “Radiated.”

“That was a symptom of radiation poisoning,” Tom explains.

“People are like, ‘What were you singing about diarrhea?’” Mike adds. “It’s, like, the only thing people catch.”

“When I was in middle school, my teacher showed me an animated cartoon called Barefoot Gen,” Tom continues. “It was a movie inspired by a survivor of Hiroshima.”  

So while it might not be as obvious on the surface, ShitDrugs can be as politically-charged as any other hardcore-punk band that’s not too keen on the government.

“I feel like there’s always that underlying teen angst that we don’t have just because we’re old and have jobs and have to work now,” Mike says. “But under that drag of the 9-to-5 we’re still just as pissed off when we were when we were teenagers and Bush was president. Regardless of which faction is in there, we’re still going to be pissed off about it.”

As much as things change, they stay the same, in more ways than one.

“We’re still in our basement, and we’re still angry about our government,” Stephen shares. “It’s literally the only good thing about the Trump administration, people are getting pissed off again.”

“We liken it to going to a funeral,” Mike concludes. “It’s a shitty reason to get the gang together, but sometimes it takes something that drastic to get the gang together.”

So if that sounds like your definition of a good time, sober or otherwise, go find ShitDrugs sometime.

ShitDrugs, with Lost Cause, Social Murder Jr., Sadie Solstice and Theta, 8 p.m. Wednesday, November 26, HQ, 60 South Broadway. Tickets are $15.