Pitchfork: David Yow Talks Scratch Acid Reunion

As previously reported, the much-missed Austin noise rock outfit Scratch Acid will reunite this month for a few shows. It all started when Scratch's one-time home Touch and Go Records announced that the long-broken-up quartet-- featuring David Yow and David Sims, who would go on to help form the Jesus Lizard-- would play the label's 25th anniversary block party. Right now the reunion stands at three dates, with a show in Austin this weekend and a Seattle date post-T&G fest, but the question remains: could this thing develop into a more scathing, less heart-warming equivalent of that Pixies globe-trotting reunion tour?

Pitchfork could only hope so when we spoke with Scratch frontman Yow over the phone recently. Unfortunately, the hope didn't last long. From his home in Los Angeles, Yow confirmed that the three shows will most likely be the entirety of the reunion. When asked what prompted Scratch to reconvene at all, Yow explained, "It's all because of the Touch and Go celebration. And we just figured that it's not fair to play in Chicago and not play Austin." He went on to admit, "It was pretty tough getting me to agree."

Not that he's totally through with music, but Yow does have steady work as a photo retouching guru ("I play in Photoshop all day long"), and, as he put it, "I have no desire to be in a full-time band; I still do different things here and there. But yeah, I don't really want to be touring."

When asked how often he sees David Sims, Yow replied, "Not that much...actually, [in July] we all went down to Austin to practice and that was the first time I'd seen David in 5 years." So, bad news: careerism lacks in the bands we want to hear the most (big surprise). But, the good news is that albeit brief, the Scratch Acid reunion is go for the lucky bastards in Chicago, Austin, and Seattle, so enjoy it while you can, folks.

Plus, this is bliss:

09-02 Austin, TX - Emo's
09-09 Chicago, IL - The Hideout (Touch and Go 25th Anniversary)
09-16 Seattle, WA - Showbox