Much like what goes on inside that elf-looking hangout off of Sandy Boulevard, Club 21, Fuck Yeah! isn’t pretty… but it’s cool.

For years, Club 21 (2035 NE Glisan) has been held near and dear to the failing livers of a significant number of hard rocking/hard living Portland musicians. Many were initially turned on to the bar’s distinct charms back in the mid-to-late-90’s when, across the street, E.J.’s lit a butane torch under the feet of the local rock ‘n’ roll scene; Club 21 handled the ensuing event spill-off and soon became a scene unto itself.

This past summer, a group of these grizzled C21 punk hangabouts saw fit to record a compilation CD dedicated to their favorite watering hole — see the current issue of Willamette Week for the story behind Club 21, Fuck Yeah! We now learn that the Fuck Yeah! CD has been given a much larger lease on life with Whiskey Dick Records making available all 21 tracks from the CD available for free download.

Presently, only one hundred CD’s were created in the initial run of Fuck Yeah!, available retail at Everday Music and by emailing project producer Brian Applegate (brian@thepunkgroup.com). In time this may change; Applegate has given each band a copy of all the files they would need to reproduce both the disc and accompanying artwork in the future.

(As an interesting note, those 100 original CD’s are not without their own special value. Applegate claims the initial run of Fuck Yeah! all bear a secret watermark only he can distinguish.)

Sadly, this story did take one disappointing turn over the past couple of weeks when the Fuck Yeah release party was not held in Club 21. Instead, on Saturday, November 11th, contributing musicians gathered for a last minute gathering at The B-Side for what amounted to nothing more than a mellow “wrap party.”

Now, as an alternative location, the B-Side makes a modicum of sense, given that one of the B-Side’s owners, Joel Denton, is a former Club 21 bartender. Still, why the distressing disconnect between product and site of inspiration?

According to Applegate, who also “administers” the Club 21 “fan page” on myspace, Club 21 owner Candy Bain has never approved of the Fuck Yeah! project.

“When this whole thing was starting,” explained Applegate outside the B-Side the night of the CD release party, “I sent out invitations to people. [Candy Bain] somehow saw one and was asking one of the bartenders there — What is this, what the hell is going on? And the bartender was like — Well, they’re making an album about this place. And she’s like — I’m going to have to call this guy, I don’t like this. This was information that was given to me. So, we were all under the impression that she didn’t want anything to do with it.”

“As months went by,” continues Applegate, ” [it was] kind of the same story. Another person said that they were there [at Club 21] one night and she came in, this was pretty much after everything was wrapped up, that she came in, picked this guy out, and says — I know you’re a part of that, what is this? And he explained everything, really politely, and then she kind of spun on her heels and left. I myself have not had any contact with her at all.”

For her part, Bain claims ignorance. “How could I be against something I know nothing about,” was her response in a phone interview late last week.

A classic case of communication break-down. Clearly, both musicians and Club 21 lost out by not giving Fuck Yeah! the proper send-off it deserved. In the case of Club 21, Fuck Yeah!, setting is everything.