96 Quite Bitter Beings is the essential CKY song. The debut single from the band’s 1999 debut album, Volume 1, it also provided the unofficial soundtrack for the alternative community that was building around a re-energised MTV, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater games and reality stunt series Jackass.
That riff is still undeniable, while the menacing lyrics of teenage angst set against bristling escapism continue to offer a moody sense of hope. However, CKY co-founder and now frontman of 96 Bitter Beings, Deron Miller, is bemused by its success.
“I really don’t consider 96 Quite Bitter Beings a very special song,” he admits with a grin. “It’s not well crafted, with no real chorus beyond the guitar riff, but it has this longevity. It just refuses to die.”
CKY – or to give them their full, original name, ‘Camp Kill Yourself’ – formed from the ashes of various groups Deron and Jess Margera had …