After the hardcore movement had seemingly run out of new bands, along came Washington, D.C.'s 9353 in 1984 with To Whom It May Consume. Led by vocalist Bruce Merkle and guitarist Jason Carmer, the band wasn't terribly proficient on their instruments, but made up for it with energy and a sense of humor. However, 9353 was also quite short-lived; 1985's We Are Absolutely Sure There Is No God was released after their breakup.

~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide

With hardcore just as stagnant in Washington DC as it was everywhere else in 1984, the appearance of 9353 came as quite a jolt. Although the band wasn't first-rate - Jason Carmer's delay-driven guitar serves as only a decorative ornament, and the rhythm section is rarely more than competent - To Whom It May Consume is surprisingly good, psychotic punk psychedelia (with a twist of good-humored evil) highlighted by Bruce Merkle's astounding vocal range, which can shift from a deep drawl to a convincing Ethel Merman warble in a flash.

We Are Absolutely Sure There Is No God was released at the end of 1985, after the short-lived band's breakup. Merkle continues to display his bag of tricks, never once treating any of his many voices with seriousness or respect. The album does not contain as many memorable songs as the first, but try "American Schizo," "Evil Teen Facility Yard" and "Who Does What and Why."

~ Phillip Ewing, 80s Retro Music
Also attributed to Ian McCaleb - Trouserpress

Walter Reed Medical Museum
Almost everyone knows of this repository of shark bitten underwear, skeletons and the odd pickled punk--but who has been there? You get anatomical displays and medical curiosities galore. The last time I was there they were showing free educational films--screened one where C. Everett Koop was lecturing about drugs. Extremely hilarious. Gruesome civil war injuries, hydrocephalic babies in formaldehyde, and a set of skeletons through the developmental process round out your trip. Too bad all the deviant punks and artists stole all the good stuff back in the early 80s. (The band 9353 took their name from a pickled punk nabbed from the museum--specimen number 9353 --back before they put everything in plexiglas cases.) It's still worth the trip. Afterwards, head to one of the area's fine sushi joints (we recommend Appetizer's Plus in Roslyn, VA for all you can eat action) and make your own Alzo Boszormenyi Gross Out Tour.

This band used to make my life perfect when I was a homeless teenage punk rocker sleeping in abandoned factories in Washington DC in the early 80s. 9353 were a very odd band to come out of the hardcore straight edge scene. They were the doomiest death rock, totally original and very NOT straight edge. Their singer, Bruce Merkle was a big influence on my singing in Bomb. 9353 broke up from most of them having horrible heroin habits, but left this record on the Adult Swim label (run by Jeff Nelson, drummer of Minor Threat and Dischord Records). http://www.adultswimrecords.com/ They only have a few copies left. Jeff told me it’s about to go out of print. 9353 guitarist Jason Carmer is now clean and working as a recording engineer in San Francisco, making hit records for people like Sugar Ray and Third Eye Blind. He also engineered the Bomb record, Lovesucker. 9353 were named after the specimen number on a jar the singer stole from a medical museum. The jar contains a dead foetus in formaldehyde. The baby has one eye and a penis growing out of its forehead.

It's really nice to see your page for 9353, it brings back many good memories.

I would like to clarify the origins of the name 9353:

While the story of the stolen "pickled punks" is in fact true, neither of those curiosities bore the tag or designation "9353" - I know this for a fact as I spent many hours examining them with great interest. One evening I asked Bruce point blank where the name 9353 came from - He explained it actually had no meaning whatsoever, he simply came up with a number that satisfied him as being appropriate. ...and that particular font was the exact font used on Washington D.C. police cars at that time.