Biography

This US grindcore band was formed in 1986 by Alan Dubin (vocals), James Plotkin (guitar) and Ralph Pimentel (drums). Originally known as Regurgitation and then Old Lady Drivers, the trio made their debut in 1988 with a self-titled collection for Earache Records. Old Lady Drivers was a traditionally styled grind recording, with Plotkin’s guitar work standing out against Dubin’s crazed vocals. Now known as Old or O.L.D., Dubin and Plotkin dispensed of the services of a drummer and began playing gigs as a duo backed by a drum machine. Former Nirvanaguitarist Jason Everman (b. 16 October 1967, Kodiak, Alaska, USA) played bass on 1991’s Lo Flux Tube, a far more experimental recording that largely dispensed with the grindcore element and even featured a guest appearance from jazz saxophonist John Zorn. The follow-up, The Musical Dimensions Of Sleastak, was completed with new bass player Herschel Gaer and ventured further into alternative metal territory. The remix album Hold On To Your Face followed, a project unheard of in rock circles at the time, and which saw a number of hardcore techno producers working on the band’s back catalogue. Dubin and Plotkin completed Old’s final release, 1995’s Formula as a duo. The album was greeted at the time with general indifference by the rock scene, but in retrospect is regarded as a leading example of the techno industrial genre. The duo went on to work with Stephen O’Malley of Burning Witchin doom metal band Khanate.