Day After Day #124: Here Come the Rome Plows

Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4).

Here Come the Rome Plows (1994)

There are some songs that, when you first hear them, you're instantly blown away. That was the case with "Here Come the Rome Plows" by Drive Like Jehu. It came out in April 1994 on Interscope and I remember being amazed that it was on a major label, because it was one of the most uncompromising and ferocious things I'd ever heard.

The post-hardcore act was formed in 1990 by San Diego singer-guitarist Rick Froberg and lead guitarist John "Speedo" Reis, who had both played in the band Pitchfork previously. They were joined by bassist Mike Kennedy and drummer Mark Trombino, who played in the band Night Soil Man. Around the same time, Reis formed Rocket from the Crypt, which was playing horn-driven punk party rock. 

Drive Like Jehu was a decidedly different animal. Froberg's yelping vocals were loud and insistent as Reis and Froberg played pummeling riffs and snaky guitar leads. They were tagged as part of the early emo scene of the '90s, but I'd say they were originators of the "screamo" sound that At the Drive-In picked up a few years later and then many bands followed afterwards. They're also referred to as an early "math rock" act thanks to the precision of their guitar parts and unusual time signatures.

DLJ released their self-titled debut in 1991 on Cargo Music and Headhunter Music at the same time as Rocket from the Crypt's debut Paint as a Fragrance.

At the same time, the major labels were sniffing around San Diego in their search for the next Nirvana and Interscope ended up signing both Drive Like Jehu and RFTC. Jehu released their major label debut first, with 1994's Yank Crime. I found out about the album a month or two later from my brother, who had picked up their debut. This wasn't a band that was getting played on alternative rock radio or MTV; it was too goddamn intense. Upon hearing the lead track "Here Come the Rome Plows," I was hooked. There was nothing else like it at the time. That summer was a fun one for me, and I was driving around blasting mixtapes that included Drive Like Frickin' Jehu (I was probably alone when I was blasting them, but nonetheless).

I didn't know what the hell a Rome plow was at the time. I just assumed it was a Biblical reference like the band's name, but in fact, a Rome plow was a specially armored bulldozer made in Rome, Georgia, and used by the U.S. military to clear forests providing cover for the Viet Cong in the Vietnam War (literally just found that out). But the song sounds like a bulldozer as it slams into your head, piledriving your skull with monster riffage from Reis and Froberg.

"Sad to say/It's over now/Here come the huns/Pick a side/Pick a spot/Here come, here come/Rome plows! Rome plows!/Rome plows! Rome plows!/Rome plows! Rome plows!/Rome plows! Rome plows!/Cal state/No fun/Stay put/Here come/To clean the state/To pass the time/To erase/Yank crime."

Even as I moved further away from my metal roots, I was getting into heavier, more atonal music like Jehu, Helmet, Rollins Band and Sonic Youth. Songs like "Rome Plows" would just ratchet up the tension, not just with the amazing guitar work but also Froberg's shouty vocals, which sounded like he was getting run over by one of said same plows.

"Why waste/Your time/Here come the huns/Be my/Date tonight/Here come, here come/Rome plows! Rome plows!"

The song careens along unrelentingly, teetering this way and that as it charges through the jungle. Just an incredible experience as it thunders along for nearly 6 minutes. 

What makes the band so interesting is the rest of Yank Crime isn't just eight more "Rome Plows" but long, slow crawlers like "Do You Compute," "Luau" and "Sinews"; out-and-out rippers like "Super Unison," "New Math" and "Golden Brown": and quiet interludes like "New Intro."

Sadly, I never got to see Jehu live. The band split up in 1995 so Reis could focus on Rocket from the Crypt, who I have seen several times. Trombino became a producer and audio engineer who worked with bands like Blink-182 and Jimmy Eats World, Kennedy left music to become a chemist and Froberg moved to New York City to work as an illustrator. He eventually reunited with Reis to form yet another killer band, Hot Snakes, who played from 1999 to 2005; later he formed Obits while Reis formed the Night Marchers. 

In 2014, Drive Like Jehu reunited for a performance in San Diego and then played several dates in 2015 and 2016. Hot Snakes reunited for a tour in 2017 and I saw them play an amazing show at the Middle East in Cambridge that November. Froberg was working on a new Hot Snakes album last year when he passed away of natural causes at the age of 55. I was at a cookout at my cousin's house last July when I heard the news and it knocked me for a loop, much like "Here Come the Rome Plows" did when I first heard it.