Dave Karcich, the drummer for the Boston punk supergroup Avoid One Thing, suffered a brain aneurysm on April 2 and died on the morning of April 5. He was 28. Avoid One Thing were profiled in last week’s Phoenix arts section (see "Cellars by Starlight," April 5). Karcich was a former member of the well-known ska-punk groups Spring Heeled Jack and the Pilfers. Avoid One Thing’s surviving members — singer/bassist Joe Gittleman, also of the Mighty Mighty Bosstones; guitarist Amy Griffin, also of the Raging Teens; and guitarist Paul Delano, formerly of Darkbuster and Mung — were unavailable for comment at press time. A funeral for Karcich was to be held in Trumbull, Connecticut, near his hometown of New Haven, on April 9 — ironically, the same day his group’s homonymously titled debut album, on the label SideOneDummy, was scheduled to be released.

A message on the label’s Web site read, in part, "There are no words to describe the state of sorrow and complete shock we have been in since receiving the news. Today is an extremely sad day.... Our thoughts and prayers go out to Dave’s family and friends who he loved and who loved him very much. For the short time we had together he always remained a source of positive energy and [he] will forever be missed."

Karcich, a graduate of Southern Connecticut State University, was living in Brooklyn at the time of his death; he commuted by bus in order to practice with Avoid One Thing in Boston. "We must have tried 20 or 30 drummers," Gittleman said in an interview with the Phoenix two weeks ago. "[Dave] is a really top-notch drummer. He showed up, we tried him out, and he knew the whole record — we played the record from beginning to end. It was really cool."

The band completed an East Coast tour last month and had been scheduled to begin its first national tour opening for labelmates Flogging Molly today (Thursday, April 11) in Philadelphia. A fan site for Spring Heeled Jack is accepting condolences, which will be forwarded to Karcich’s family and friends, at the e-mail address wishes4dave@aol.com. A scholarship fund has been established, and donations can be sent to the David Karcich Scholarship Fund, c/o Central High School, 1 Lincoln Boulevard, Bridgeport, CT 06604.