Flint, Michigan Tribute Series 2011-12 Reissued

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PBK's twisted homage to his hometown of Flint, Michigan, comprising three cassettes originally released in 2011-12, is now available for reissue on the PBK Bandcamp site.



First in the series was "Fenton Road Beast". The Fentonville Plank Toll Road, established in 1851 with a toll of just one cent per mile later became Fenton Road and served as a vital route for shuttling goods between Detroit and Flint. Adjacent to the General Motors Flint Engine Factory, the road finds itself host to a cluster of bars and clubs, a common scenario in such industrial zones. However, amidst the escapist nightlife, this narrative delves into the shadowy underbelly that may lurk within the denizens of Flint's bar scene.


The second installment features two compositions: "Cornwall Spectre", a noise-ambient track that was originally created for Neil McIntee's art exhibit in the UK in 2010 and commemorates the haunted Cornwall Building in Flint. The second track, "Holloway Reservoir Creeps", is built on shortwave radio noise merged with media voice clips towards a sickening conclusion. The Holloway Dam, constructed in 1955, created a lake (reservoir) that covers 25 acres of land near the city of Flint. Many drownings and incidents of foul play have occurred there in the decades since.

NORTH-END FIRESTARTER | PBK (bandcamp.com)

Part Three of the series, "North-End Firestarter", dives deep into Flint culture, with the title track reference to the series of deliberately set house-fires in Flint during the summer of 2010. The long unemployment crisis in Flint led to a mass exodus of citizens who abandoned the community leaving behind numerous empty houses which were often inhabited by squatters. Serial arsonist(s) were blamed for the 400+ fires in the city that summer but were never captured by law enforcement. The track "Red Ribbon Days, Green Door Nights" refers to two bars that were frequented by shop workers from the nearby GM factory.