Effective period / Period of releases: 1984

Members: Paul Zahl, Jack Johnson (3), Steve Aliment, Owen Masterson

The Yanks were from San Francisco. Jack Johnson and Owen Masterson who had teamed up in local band Das Blok. There was a tectonic shift in local music. In their recordings with Das Blok you can hear the early work they produced before becoming YANKS. Backed by the clock-rock-steady drumming of the incredible (and handsome) Sandy-Jack and the roaring low end of Lars Mitchell on bass, DÄS BLOK tore a hole in San Francisco's music scene, crossing pop/punk/rock lines and cranking out such hits as "I Don't See Her Anymore" and "In A Rain. After SVT had split, Paul Zahl and Jack Casady left to form the Yanks with Jack Johnson and Owen Masterson, but soon Jack Casady quit the Yanks and was replaced by bassist Steve Aliment. This line-up released a mini album "Made In The States" on the DTI label, it was expanded with their first EP "Only Lovers Left Alive" for the french LP "Tell Me No Lies". The same year "I Don't See Her Anymore" was released as a single in France. Before joining the Yanks and later the Flamin' Groovies, Jack Johnson played with Roky Erikson and co-wrote with a couple of songs for the "Gremlins Have Pictures" album.