Forgotten Songs of the '90s: For Squirrels-"8:02 PM"

When most people think about For Squirrels, they mostly think of “Mighty K.C.,” their tribute to Kurt Cobain. If anything else, they think about the unspeakable tragedy that befell the band before the release of their major-label debut Example.

On September 8, 1995, the band was traveling back to their hometown of Gainesville, Florida from playing a triumphant set at the CMJ Music Festival. Frontman Jack Vigilitura was driving the van carrying him, guitarist Travis Tooke, bassist Bill White, drummer Jack Griego and tour manager Tim Bender through Georgia when a tire popped. Vigilitura lost control and the van flipped. Vigilitura and Bender were dead at the scene and White died at the hospital. The accident happened a month before the record was released but Griego and Tooke opted on to carry out the release as is, with no changes to the liner notes or anything.

“8:02 PM” was the first single released from the record and immediately catches the ears with an interesting guitar lick and starts out slowly before the whole band kicks in and the listener clearly knows that something interesting is being heard. Vigilitura’s voice was very much in line with many other voices heard on modern rock radio at the time but the music was clearly something else.

Tooke’s guitar takes the music to an interesting kick while White and Griego groove and thrash along behind him. The more melodic breakdowns help the song immensely as does the kind of dirty production courtesy of Midnight Oil and future silverchair producer Nick Launay.

As the record comes to its conclusion the sound becomes heavier and denser resulting in something that might be described as a little heavier than R.E.M. circa Monster. Overall, the record is one hell of an introduction to everything else present on the record. The band was all over the place rhythmically but musically stayed on the same path as old school R.E.M. and other college rock they grew up on.

 

The single failed to chart but when “Mighty K.C.” was released, the record took off and ended up selling over 100,000 copies. After Griego and Tooke recovered, they recruited bassist Andy Jim Lord and went out on the road to support Example.

When it came time to work on a second record, they all decided they didn’t want to carry on as For Squirrels, so they changed their name to Subrosa, which means “under the rose.” Reuniting with Launay, they returned in 1997 with the hard as shit Never Bet the Devil Your Head. Unfortunately, Epic didn’t promote the album at all, and after touring for a year, two of those tours with a fledgling Florida band called Creed, Griego left the band. The band then ended up calling it quits sometime in 1999. Tooke then took an extended hiatus from music before reemerging in 2007 on an indie label with the return to form Artichoke. The band ended up performing as Subrosa once more around 2018 for the anniversary of the Gainesville venue The Covered Dish. For Squirrels may end up being known more for tragedy than tune but the people who have heard the music respect the band and those lost for what they were able to bring to the world.