Toxic Ranch Records at 20
Too punk to die
By Kevin W. Smith
KSMITH@AZSTARNET.COM
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 07.31.2008
Punk rock is all about doing things on your own, on your terms.
That DIY spirit has sustained Tucson's Toxic Ranch Records, a little shop at 424 E. Sixth St., that's still standing at a time when even big record stores have gone belly up.
Coming across an independent record store now is like seeing Godzilla stroll down Congress Street. Unexpected.
Toxic Ranch Records, which has a punk-rock focus, is celebrating its 20th year in business with a couple of concerts early next week.
Co-owner Bill Sassenberger said he never imagined his store would last two decades.
"I didn't really think that far into the future," he said.
Toxic Ranch makes about 70 percent of its income from walk-in business and the rest from online sales. But the store hasn't really turned a profit in a couple of years, Sassenberger said. He co-owns the store with his wife, Julianna Towns.
The 53-year-old owner pays the bills by working nights as a reservations agent for one of the major airlines.
Making a ton of money isn't really what Toxic Ranch is all about anyway. "I wouldn't know what to do with all this stuff if I closed," he said.
For those who remember record stores, walking into the tiny Toxic Ranch Records is like entering a parallel universe.
Among the many obscure punk albums and posters that cover every inch of the walls, there's material that reflects the music and its culture: back patches for jackets, T-shirts, books, pins, stickers, posters and zines.
"You can't download a T-shirt," Sassenberger said.
Sassenberger's not some tatted-up, mohawked, aged rocker either. On our recent visit he wore a button-down lounge shirt and glasses.
He said he doesn't want anyone to feel intimidated going in there. And he's never been about the look of some of th e music he sells, it's simply about the tunes.
Toxic Ranch doesn't sell just strictly punk music and apparel either. There are lots of indie bands represented, from Los Angeles' current noise rockers, No Age, to Spoon and Modest Mouse.
Sassenberger said he usually draws the line at carrying major-label acts, although there's always an exception, like Against Me!'s "New Wave."
Instead, Sassenberger likes stocking independent labels that don't have million-dollar hype machines helping them out.
"I more consider it just underground rock 'n' roll," Sassenberger said. "It's just stuff that is below the radar of commercial radio."
Sassenberger moved here from California in 1988, after singing in a punk/goth-parody band called Peace Corpse and running a label and record store, both called Toxic Shock, in the early '80s. He said he had visited Arizona before and liked what Tucson had to offer. He renamed the store Toxic Ranch, to reflect the Southwest, and his label carried on until the late-'90s under the name Westworld.
The performers lined up to commemorate the store's 20 years in business were hand-picked by Sassenberger and some of his friends.
Sassenberger calls veteran Italian punks Raw Power one of the best bands he's ever seen. And that's saying something for a guy who saw X 16 times before they even released an album.
Raw Power is playing two nights, one at Vaudeville Cabaret and one at Dry River Collective. The decision to have one night at an all-ages venue was to support a venue Sassenberger said upholds some of the same ethos as punk.
"All-ages shows are where it's at," he said. "Music is more important than just a way to sell beer."
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