{"id":766,"date":"2019-05-24T02:03:00","date_gmt":"2019-05-24T02:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/?p=766"},"modified":"2026-06-25T02:05:22","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T02:05:22","slug":"for-squirrels-nuclear-valdez","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/?p=766","title":{"rendered":"For Squirrels, Nuclear Valdez"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

July 1995, Rose\u2019s Bar & Music Lounge,  <\/strong>Miami Beach, Fla.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was love at first sight.<\/p>\n

Miami has never been a town that fosters a live music scene (sit down Miami Sound Machine fans), the few bands that come out of Miami don\u2019t find a large audience, even if they deserve one. So in summer of \u201995, while vacationing in my hometown, I was skeptical when my friend Karl told me we had to check out this new band called For Squirrels.<\/p>\n

For Squirrels? Not much of a band name. But I\u2019m always up for live music, and the promise of seeing a Nuclear Valdez acoustic set as an opener was enticing. Nuclear Valdez is a Miami band people don\u2019t know about, which is a shame because it made one great record (1989\u2019s I Am I<\/em>) and suffered through a major label that didn\u2019t nearly do enough for it.<\/p>\n

Miami Beach was in full-on transition at this time, the dance clubs that came to rise in the late \u201990s started to crop up, as did a certain attitude that, as a Miami native, I had no time for. But Rose\u2019s, not far from 5th Street on Washington Avenue, had a bohemian and comfortable feel that reminded me of the burgeoning Beach in the mid- to late-1980s.<\/p>\n

Nuclear Valdez was solid, as singer\/guitarist Frolian Sosa led the band through a quiet yet solid set. If you want to hear a lost classic, listen to \u201cHope,\u201d a song I was more than happy to hear.<\/p>\n

But I can\u2019t tell you more about their set, because what happened next overtook those memories.<\/p>\n

The four of them walked on the tiny stage, filling up every crevice, led by a man in dark-rimmed glasses and a bright green Izod sweater (it is July in Miami, mind you). Jack Vigliatura didn\u2019t strut or put on airs, he looked like a man lost in a public library. But then the music started, and Jack started screaming while losing his damn mind.<\/p>\n

I had never seen this band before, hell before that day I had never heard of this band before. But in that hour of music I saw and heard an event I would never forget. For Squirrels, in the matter of two songs, became my new favorite band.<\/p>\n

Karl told me before we went that he liked For Squirrels because they were a BAND \u2014 in the sense that every person in the group was tied musically to the other. The music would sway and play in unison, with the band members is tow. A perfect example of this came during \u201cSuperstar\u201d (a song name I would learn later following the release of Example<\/em>, the album that would come out later in 1995), where the band thrashed about the minute stage, crunching out a glorious sound while Vigliatura violently yelled \u201cHERE COMES THE SUPERSTAR.\u201d Mesmerizing.<\/p>\n

I remember the \u201cMighty KC,\u201d thinking it would become a hit because it was so damn catchy (and it would). The crowd implored the band to play songs from its first album Baypath Road<\/em>, with more than a number of calls for \u201cFlagboy\u201d. The band demurred, though, wanting to focus on songs from its upcoming album.<\/p>\n

The show was far too short, I wish it could have gone on for hours, but I kept thinking that I\u2019d easily be able to see these guys again.<\/p>\n

Two months later while the band was returning from playing the CMJ Music Marathon in New York City, a car wreck killed Vigliatura, bassist Bill White and tour manager Tim Bender, while injuring drummer Jack Greigo and guitarist Travis Tooke. Three weeks later Example<\/em> came out to critical success with the video for \u201cMighty KC\u201d finding rotation on that video music station that doesn\u2019t play video music videos anymore.<\/p>\n

The lyrics, meant to be about Kurt Cobain, had an eerie and prescient feel:<\/p>\n

And by the grace of God go I into the great unknown<\/em><\/p>\n

Thing are gonna change in our favor<\/em><\/p>\n

And if we gather, if we fall over the great unknown<\/em><\/p>\n

Things are gonna change in our favor<\/em><\/p>\n

Some bands you just know are going to be something big, and even those stopped before their time can have a lasting effect. During the early part of dating the woman who would become my wife, I perused through her music collection and found Example<\/em>. We grew up thousands of miles apart, have seven years in age difference, and yet both love the music by one shining band that wasn\u2019t around too long.<\/p>\n

Some bands do that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

July 1995, Rose\u2019s Bar & Music Lounge,  Miami Beach, Fla. It was love at first sight. Miami has never been a town that fosters a live music scene (sit down Miami Sound Machine fans), the few bands that come out of Miami don\u2019t find a large audience, even if they deserve one. So in summer […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":767,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[70,71],"class_list":["post-766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-concerts","tag-for-squirrels","tag-nuclear-valdez"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=766"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/766\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":768,"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/766\/revisions\/768"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}