Scan and Review of I.D. Under Newsletter #3
I am continuing my obsession with finding Chicago punk ephemera on eBay. While scrolling aimlessly, I came across a newsletter from a familiar face and band in I.D. Under. In looking through the Wayback Machine, singer Doug Ward describes the band as the second wave of Chicago punk and hardcore. They were young enough that Naked Raygun, Big Black, and Articles of Faith were things they might not experienced in their infancy. Their contemporaries were bands like Life Sentence and others.
I had gotten to know Doug Ward through local friends and interviewed him on my college radio show in 2018. His band, Drilling For Blasting, had a record coming out around then. I was aware of him as a dude who had been around for a while, but not to the extent I know now. After getting to know him through more conversations, he didn’t have an air of being too good for anything or jaded to the point of annoyance. He still seemed to carry those teenage punk feelings, which is admirable. He was quick not to be prone to nostalgia when we asked about 90s punk and Fireside Bowl, pointing out that what is happening now is all that matters. It is a stance that I still struggle to maintain at times.
I had also known he was involved in Underdog Records, a label and a zine notable for Chicago punk. This background made the discovery of a newsletter for his very first band exciting. It was some hidden knowledge that I had no idea existed. The return address he had written was two blocks from where my parents live. I have walked those same blocks Ward did many years ago, although I imagined Hinsdale has changed much since then. Moments like these are where I feel most connected to the music I spend most of the time thinking about. Having something tangible to connect me to its roots is cool to me. It is more than just music. (Cue Have Heart’s “Something More Than Ink” playing in the background)
The newsletter itself is relatively short. It serves as an update for people who are interested in the band. The scan is a little blurry; I am sorry for that. I am still learning some of this stuff as I move along. There is also a fun scene report on Carbondale in there as well. I am not sure if Lost Cross existed yet. The most space given is to a growing contact list for touring people. It existed in a pre-MRR “book your own fucking life,” which was essential for touring bands. There is also some fun lore for me when Ward mentions that the band lives across the street from Club Dreamerz, a venue in Wicker Park where all the punk bands played. The idea that Wicker Park was once a punk hangout where Nirvana famously played before Nevermind came out is hard to imagine. I wish I had more disposable income so I could buy as many of these newsletters as possible. But I do not. I did buy issue 5 of the newsletter; I will scan that soon. Hopefully, you get something out of it, especially if you are from Chicago.
