If a musical revolution starts in the middle of the woods, but no one is there to hear it, does the revolution still make a sound?

If that revolution is Scissorfight in the woods of New Hampshire, then the answer is hell yes. Scissorfight sounds the way a slab of beef hanging from the hook in a refrigerated locker looks: big and meaty. They take punk, metal, hick-core, Guinness Stout and a Jager shot and mix it all up for a biker to chug. When the veteran New Hampshire band releases its new album “Jaggernaught” to the public this Saturday at the Stone Church in Newmarket, foundations from Portsmouth to the peak of Mt. Washington may just shake to rubble.

If a musical revolution starts in the middle of the woods, but no one is there to hear it, does the revolution still make a sound?

If that revolution is Scissorfight in the woods of New Hampshire, then the answer is hell yes. Scissorfight sounds the way a slab of beef hanging from the hook in a refrigerated locker looks: big and meaty. They take punk, metal, hick-core, Guinness Stout and a Jager shot and mix it all up for a biker to chug. When the veteran New Hampshire band releases its new album “Jaggernaught” to the public this Saturday at the Stone Church in Newmarket, foundations from Portsmouth to the peak of Mt. Washington may just shake to rubble.

The band disguises cunningly political lyrics with humorously raucous riffage. They name their songs after various New Hampshire icons and folklore, and on stage, they pretty much resemble a bunch of truckers who have spent the day changing the oil in their big rigs. Armed with an outlaw aesthetic, hard-partying ways, and a legion of ecstatic sweatshirt wearers, Scissorfight, the mightiest band in New Hampshire, are not really that far from world domination. 

The Wire interviewed guitarist Geezum H. Crow by e-mail about American rawk music, album-stealing aliens, international relations and Dutch Fonzie fetishists.

In the intro to this interview, I referred to Scissorfight as “the mightiest band in NH.” Do you feel that this is an accurate statement?
This statement is an accurate statement. We welcome all challengers!
 
You guys are known as the Granite State Destroyers. What was the last thing you and/or the band destroyed? 
I destroyed a rack of PBR silos last night! As a band, we went to London last December and destroyed that place! Mostly their toilets and sound systems! We also destroyed their misconceptions about what good rock is from America!
 
Tell us about the recording of the album. Who was involved, where was it recorded, what was the songwriting process like, etc.?
The recording of this album took almost two years really! Because it took us a year and a half just to write certain choruses and solos! Just kidding! Actually we recorded the album the first time and got about three-quarters done and aliens stole it! Now it’s a huge hit in space! So we had to re-record the whole thing and we just took our sweet ass time doing it. The songwriting process is like this: Ironlung (the band’s imposing frontman) writes the lyrics and the rest of us write the tunes and then we get together and hash it out.
 
Are you pleased with the outcome?  
Yep, I think we all are very stoked on this CD. It sounds great, has rockin’ songs and still no keyboards!
 
Has the sound evolved in any significant ways? 
We’ve taken some liberties with the classic Scissorfight sound now and then, but it always comes down to the basics with us: big heavy beat, riffs, riffs and more riffs, crazy lyrics. Why change it?
 
You guys are about to tour England for the second time—How were you received the first time around? How are the crowds different from American audiences? Any funny  tour stories? 
They freakin’ loved us there! It was awesome the first time and we went there last December for two shows and it was even better. The crowd was crazy and they let people stage dive and mosh and stuff and nobody (was) out to kill anyone, crowds still love the American style of the rock! As far as funny stories go, too many to say here, but believe me, we have fun over there!
 
How did the release of “American Clovenhoof Blues” come about? 
ACHB is some new songs and some old songs that we put together for those wacky Europeans to call their own. That’s all that was. 

Do you think that your European audience has any trouble relating to your decidedly New Hampshirian aesthetic? Are people ever surprised when you tell them where you’re from?  
 I think they relate to the rock first and then they may wonder about all this New Hampshire crap we’re talkin’ about. In Holland, I was having a friendly argument with some Dutch rock fans about how Heineken sucked and (how) Pabst was their true king when all of a sudden one of them asks me, “You Americans, uh, uh, why do you roll up your jeans at the bottom? Is it because of Fonzie?” I’m not kidding! That actually happened! Anyway, I think a lot of Brits and Europeans think New Hampshire is a strange place.
 
Is Ironlung really the Wolfman?
No, he’s actually half tick and half hyena.