Argh Fuck Kill: The Story of the DayGlo Abortions Read Free

guitarist, forever unwilling to age gracefully.
    Perhaps Acton’s dislike of adults springs from a perceived sense of abandonment, and again Murray has memories of being alone at a young age. “I remember walking around at Piccadilly Circus in England by myself. I found a bobby and hung out with him for a while,” he recalls, describing a trip to the UK with his parents. While it seems likely that the child simply became lost, it is clear that his sense of loneliness and isolation is real. That was also the last time Murray had anything to do with a cop.
    Bored at school, Murray turned to malicious pranks for entertainment. He discovered that if he inserted a sewing pin in the gap above the switch, the next person who turned on the light would create a short circuit and blow out the power. Soon, both students and teachers alike were too terrified to flick any switches. Teachers searched the pupils daily in a frantic bid to learn the identity of the culprit, but failed to find the pins that Murray had hidden along the seams of his jacket. “They never did catch me, and we spent most of the year in darkness. It was hilarious,” says Murray, displaying the twisted sense of humour he retains to this day. While it is unlikely that his teachers found the prank even remotely amusing, this fundamental understanding of electricity and electronics would serve him well later.
    AVG Morfee Elementary School in Greenwood, Nova Scotia eventually showed Murray the door, though he can’t remember exactly why. The timing was good at least, because the Actons had become footloose again and moved to British Columbia when Murray was eleven. Upon arrival in Victoria, the former Nova Scotians stood on the shore looking out at the Pacific Ocean and decided that this was a good place to be. At last they were home.
    Mr. Acton liked Victoria so much that he eventually took an early retirement rather than transfer to some fly-infested base in the middle of nowhere. Murray’s parents still live together, which the guitarist finds slightly bizarre. “I’ve never even seen them hold hands,” he says, perplexed. We know that they must have been intimate at several points, since the couple is not childless. Murray claims that he doesn’t resemble his father at all, and looks more like a neighbour’s kid. Still, the long-lasting marriage is a considerable achievement, depending on one’s point of view. Mrs. Acton found strength to endure in God, but Murray says she is a person of faith rather than a follower of religion. “My mother has often said that the church is just a convenient place for like-minded people to meet, and that her faith is in her heart, not in the halls of man,” says the songwriter. Mr. Acton must also have put some effort into the relationship, because couples do not stay together that long without compromise.
    Murray sees his father as a very conservative man who has never been willing to take chances. Despite this, the singer acknowledges that his father sacrificed a great deal for his family, and that he took his duty as a provider seriously. “I’m sure my kids wish I was a bit more like him in that way,” ruminates the DayGlo frontman. Still, one cannot help but feel that Murray wishes his dad had offered a little support. According to Murray, his father has never accepted his career choice. “You work in the service of the devil! Why don’t you get a real job? I’ll get you signed up for the Parks Board!” Murray raves, imitating his father. The singer goes on, somewhat wistfully, to recount how Stephen McBean of Black Mountain’s parents helped their son when he was in his first band, Jerk Ward. “McBean was about eleven-years old [ed note: fourteen], and his band kicked ass! His parents whisked him away the second he stepped offstage because it was past his bedtime. They were his roadies, fer chrissakes!”
    Richard Acton would later have real problems regarding Murray’s music when his cohorts at the