The Queers

Long before mall punk bands like Fall Out Boy and New Found Glory were all the panic at the disco, there was a time in the ’80s when punk fans were often called “fags” and targeted for ass-kickings by jocks and good ol’ boys. So it made sense in 1982 when Joe King, a.k.a. Joe Queer, started one of the most in-your-face punk bands to date and dubbed it The Queers. Throughout the past two decades, The Queers have kept a distance from the fashion show the punk scene has become. The band’s turned down some huge shows, including a prime slot on the Vans Warped Tour, and never pined for high-profile contracts, highfalutin publicity, and making the beaucoup bucks. Instead, The Queers built a grassroots following playing sardonic, take-no-prisoners aggro punk on their own terms, releasing albums with titles like Love Songs for the Retarded and Beat Off. The band’s got a rep that borders on legendary within the punk underground, a new live CD (Weekend at Bernie’s) out now, and a studio LP expected this winter, so Joe Queer couldn’t be busier — or happier, as he recently said in an interview with Westword. “We’ve got our own little corner of the world, and if this is as good as it gets, then this is better than I ever dreamt it would be.”