The Great Plains, led by nasal vocalist Ron House and featuring organist Mark Wyatt, debuted with the EP The Mark, Don & Mel (1983). Their bouncy, witty and catchy cow-punk and folk-rock shone on Born in a Barn (Homestead, 1984). After the quieter Naked at the Buy Sell And Trade (Homestead, 1985) and Sum Things Up (Positive, 1987), the EP Before We Stop to Think (Shadowline, 1987) marked the end of the band. Lenght Of Growth (Old 3c, 2000) is a career anthology.

From their ashes there arose the no less original Gibson Brothers.

Vocalist Ron House and guitarist Bob Petric, who had been missing, took some years off before forming the Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments.

Their debut album, Bait And Switch (Onion, 1995), focuses on what the duo knows best, garage-rock: Negative Guestlist is a concentrate of Cramps, Stooges and Velvet Underground; Down To High Street is a martial and visceral rave-up; Quarrel With The World is basically a rewrite of Bo Diddley's Who Do You Love. But the demented punk-rock of Is She Shy and You Can't Kill Stupid, not to mention the grotesque rigmarole of Cheater's Heaven, hint at a satirical rock related to the Fugs. On the other hand, the catchy My Mysterious Death sounds like Elvis Costello churning out southern boogie riffs. Despite the enthusiasm, it was only a transitional work. Crucial to the success of the album was the rhythm section of Ted Hattener (drums) and Craig Dunson (bass).

House's beginnings in bands such as Twisted Shout and Moses Carryout have been documented on New Wave As The next Guy (Spare Me, 2000). House's first solo album was Obsessed (Moses Carryout).

Il secondo album dei TJSA, Straight To Video (Anyway, 1997), non perde nulla della verve blasfema del primo, semplicemente migliora la qualita` della produzione. I baccanali infernali di questo quartetto d'incontinenti spaziano dal garage-rock travolgente dei Sonics (Whisper In Your Mouth) alle filastrocche scipite a duemila all'ora dei Ramones (Rump Government) e culminano nell'incandescente blues-rock di Outside My Scene (i Blue Cheer che rifacciano il riff di You Really Got Me dei Kinks coadiuvati dalla Magic Band di Cpt Beefheart). House e Petric ci regalano persino il miraggio degli REM in versione ubriacante da rock and roll (Lighning Rod) e trionfano con il rave-up sgangherato di Petty Thief, che sovrappone il rock and roll travolgente dei New York Dolls alle crisi isteriche dei Pere Ubu della Modern Dance. Su tutto aleggia il genio comico di House, che non perde verso nel bastonare questo e quello, e gigioneggia istrione nella satira di El Cajon. E la stessa Secret Museum d'apertura potrebbe essere una parodia degli ZZ Top.
In realta` vedrei bene Ron House (che sfoggia un registro a meta` strada fra David Thomas dei Pere Ubu e Michael Stipe degli REM) nei panni di un Country Joe McDonald degli anni '90, polemico e provocatorio. Onore anche alla sezione ritmica di Ted Hattener (batteria) e Craig Dunson (basso), una delle piu` fracassone di sempre.

The band quit in 2000, after releasing last album No Old Guy Lo-Fi Cry (Rockathon, 2000).