Indie-List V2 N3
INDIE-LIST DIGEST * VOLUME 2, NUMBER 3
"Damn you and your irresistable erotic wiles!"
Once again compiled lovingly by Mark Cornick, Joshua Houk, Liz Clayton
and Sean Murphy. Mailed weekly around the globe, get down.
This week in Indie-List:
Pomp And Circumstance, Part 1
New Address For Josh
Reviews & stuff from the Master Of Poppies
Seam/Mt Shasta/P. Undermind/US Saucer
indie submission [ from Liz ]
New Nothing Painted Blue
Reviews
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From: Mark <cornick@access.digex.net>
Subject: Pomp And Circumstance, Part 1
On Thursday, our own Liz Clayton graduated from the University of
Chicago Lab School (read: high school.) Many congratulations are in
order. In honor of this occasion, we have sent Liz three dozen red
roses, the complete Xpressway catalogue, and a jar of Frank Sinatra
spaghetti sauce, and will be sending Nate Kato over later today to
serenade her with "Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon." Enjoy.
(Actually, that's what I wish we could've sent her. I did find the
Sinatra sugo -- it's one of the many things on my aisle at Kroger --
but the roses were too expensive, she already owns the complete
Xpressway catalogue <smirk> and Nate was busy. So she has to settle
for a very impressive bit of KolectorSkum bait from Scat Records.
She'll tell you more about it if she wants to. :-)
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From: Mark <cornick@access.digex.net>
Subject: New Address For Josh
It was bound to happen eventually... Joshua, no longer being a student
at UGA, is losing his account there. For the time being, you can
reach him at <houk@cybernet.cse.fau.edu>. (Maybe now he won't chide
me about having had four different accounts in the last year... :-)
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From: Mark <cornick@access.digex.net>
Subject: Reviews & stuff from the Master Of Poppies
Hey wow, notice anything different about this issue? That's right, the
cursed automatic digest compiler has been sent to The Great /Dev/Null
In The Sky. That damned thing has been responsible for more problems
(including the double digests many of you got) in just two weeks than
have occurred in nearly ten months of Indie-Listage. So, it's outta
here. Its one good feature, the Table of Contents, will remain,
though.
The address <indie-l-request@access.digex.net> went out with the
digester, so we're back to the old method of a different address for
different functions. For anyone who's new or doesn't remember, the
addresses are below, at the end of the digest. Apologies to all of
you for the two weeks of hellish indie-listage brought on by the
automation. We are now back to the slow but reliable system, which is
fine with all of us.
Now then: the record reviews...
- KEPONE, "Henry" 45 (Tenderizer, PO Box 5242, Richmond VA 23220):
Kepone (named after the chemical waste that pollutes the James River
south of Richmond) is a side project for people otherwise involved in
Gwar, Burma Jam, and some other bands I can't remember just now. More
than anything, this reminds of the Alice Donut, most obviously in the
vocals, but there's a sort of Amphetamine Reptillian tinge to it all
as well. Unfortunately, "Henry" (the song) keeps making me think of
that goddam Pearl Jam song "Jeremy". If I hear that song or see the
video once more, I may have to drive on up to MTV headquarters,
assassinate Kennedy and Adam Curry, castrate John Norris, and take
Duff hostage until they bring me Eddie Vedder's vocal cords on a
plate. But enough about my grudge against Singles, I'm supposed to
be writing about Kepone, right? The B-side, "Prisoners", is faster,
less PJ-ish, and better overall. A very good piece of vinyl, which
may be hard to find outside Va. but is worth seeking out for
Donut/Amrep lovers. (I noticed that labelmates Sliang Laos had their
wonderful Tenderizer 45 picked up for distribution by Ajax, but
somehow I can't see Tim Adams liking this one, so don't count on it.)
**
- DEATH PIGGY dbl 45 and booklet (Slave Pit/Tenderizer): Death Piggy
is "the band that would be Gwar." That's about all you need to know
about the two 1985-vintage 45s. If you like Gwar, you'll love Death
Piggy. Otherwise, don't bother. The comic/art booklet is lovingly
done by Piggy's Dave Brockie, and not a bad job, especially for a
Xerox. (Once again, Gwar fans will enjoy, and other people will
pretty much scratch their heads and go "Huh?") An, er, interesting
artifact for Richmusicologists such as myself, and good for a few
laughs/moans for the rest of you. * for the records, * for the
art, for a mean of ** overall.
- KING SOUR, "Electric Gafilta Fish" 45 (Gawa, no address listed, try
writing the band at 120 West Marshall St, Richmond VA 23220):
Richmond has spawned some great chiefly-instrumental bands, such as
the Alter-Natives and Breadwinner. King Sour also sing little, but
the thing that most sets them apart from the rest is their sense of
humor (check out "Garden Weasel", one of their few vocal tracks, on
the _New Dominion_ sampler for an idea.) Both of the songs on this 45
(released on Burma Jam's label), even without words, provoke chuckles
(maybe it's the titles: "Electric Gafilta Fish" and "Jonie Loves
Choochie.") The thing that most annoys me about this 45 is that
there's no speed listed, and it sounds okay at both speeds
(Alter-Natives-ish at 33, and Primus-ish at 45), so what speed is it?
(Breadwinner pulled the same thing.) At any speed (38? 42.6? pi?)
King Sour are fun to listen to, but see 'em live to fully appreciate
them. **
- WIND-UP TOY #1 zine: Right away, I should tell you that Liz wrote
this (the zine, not the review), so disclaimers apply. Half-legal
(interesting term, no?) size, 40 pages, mostly interviews and live
reviews (no record reviews, but there is a list of new releases she
likes inside the back cover.) Nice interviews with the Bats, Helium
(people from Dumptruck and Autoclave -- two bands you never thought
you'd see mentioned in the same sentence, ever), the Dambuilders and
Fluss, Steve Albini's cat. (Yup... I love cats too, but generally
they're tough interviews.) Interesting graphics -- "Bing Drinking
Among Collegians" could've been in the Eerie Materials catalogue any
day -- and amusing toss-ins here and there ("For so small an amount
as $3.41, are you willing to let Hosiery Corp. Of America record your
name on a delinquent credit file, computerized on a national basis?")
This has the usual zine problems with photo reproduction quality, but
aside from that, it's well written and probably will not "embarass
[Liz] within two years" as the cover claims. (ordering information
from Liz herself below) **1/2
- MICHAEL HURLEY, "Wildegeeses" 45 (SOL): How he ended up on SOL we'll
probably never know -- hopefully Gutterball didn't have anything to
do with it, or Dave Lowery -- but here he is, Michael Hurley, Oregon
Hillbilly, just a guy with a guitar. (For those who might not know,
Oregon Hill is a neighborhood in downtown Richmond, more or less
between the river and VCU, where a lot of Richmond's 20-nothing
musicians -- including, before too much longer, myself -- live. There
was a song "Oregon Hill" on the most recent Cowboy Junkies CD about
the area.) On the A-side he is joined by fellow folkie Rebby Sharp
(she sings backup & plays some piano) but the B-side is just him and
the guitar. Quiet, folky stuff, with a somewhat Dylanesque vocal
style. Indeed, this often brings to mind Bob's earlier recordings,
only without the harp. Destined to remain obscure, but better than yr
typical singer-songwriter/folkage -- approaches George Willardness at
times, even. Will probably make you want to listen to _Will The
Circle Be Unbroken_ a few times, though. *
And, here it is, finally, the CD that has been delayed as long as
Indie-List has been in publication, it's finally here:
- TSUNAMI, _Deep End_ CD (Simple Machines, PO Box 10290, Arlington VA
22210-1290): For once in my life, a band puts out a string of great
45s and follows it up with an equally great debut LP. Really! Except
for a redone "Genius Of Crack" (only one genius this time,
apparently), this is all new material (well, "In A Name" was on the
Matchbook 45, but that doesn't count. :-) Also, "Water's Edge" is a
My Dad Is Dead cover, right Sean? :-) The LP drags at times -- too
many slow tunes in a row -- but this is a minor complaint. (The songs
are just a tad repetitive, too, but again, small problem.) My picks
are "Slugger", the new "Genius(es)", "460", "Skinny" and "Writing
Letters", along with Seaweed's Aaron Stauffer singing a bit of
"Flameproof Suit" into an answering machine on "The Spook", but for
once, the whole LP is great. Now if only Superchunk could pull this
off... :-) It's been ten months we've been waiting for this, and this
is not just a non-disappointment, it's actually *better than
expected.* Thank you! Thank you! (btw, the _Deep End_ CD is available
either in a jewel box or in a cardboard folder, same price, same
tracks, pay yr money and take yr choice. Also, there's more humorous
answering machine stuff long after the last song ends, most of it
from a couple guys up in Philadelphia trying to get Tsunami to play
there, so let your CD run.) ***
Next week: hopefully I'll have a copy of the Richmond Music Collective
CD (the Technical Jed, the Knievels, and more) to review, plus maybe a
Friendly update (try our thick, creamy shakes) and the Indie-List
Mission Directive for the Indie-500 (Official Indie-List Event, be
there or be quadrangular.) Maybe the new Gastro del Sol EP too, but
probably not.
And finally, I was given a Mudhoney "Blinding Sun"/"King Sandbox"
promo 45 to do something-or-other with. It is on Reprise, black
vinyl, no picture sleeve. If there's anyone out there who wants this
freebie for their collection, let me know. It's yours for a few
stamps.
--mark
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From: Socks <houk@athena.cs.uga.edu>
Subject: Seam/Mt Shasta/P. Undermind/US Saucer
Not much going around 'round here, as usual. Did happen to see Seam
with Mount Shasta on Thursday, and it was a night well spent. Mount
Shasta is the new John Forbes (ex-Dirt, ex-Phantom 309) project, and
they left a little to be desired. Like originality, dynamics, and
vocals, for chrissakes. Forbes still sounds like he drinks fifths of
whiskey every morning - which might be cool - but obviously he's been
drinking on Sundays and religious holidays, too. Musically,
basically exactly what he did with Dirt (which was cool in a limited
sort of way) minus some, plus some Live Skull tendencies, which I
appreciated. However, it's too damn repetitive. Hopefully as the
rest of the band (who kinda seem like they just graduated from Jr.
High - they all played the "am I doing this right?" roles to Forbes's
paternalistic frontmanship) grows, they'll hit onto something good.
It's not now, though (**3/4). Seam, however, lulled everyone in with
shearing songs of pure emotion, and I was floating for the entire
set. First time I've ever seen any project of Soo Young Magnet's (or
John Bastro's or Chris Kava's or Lexi Lil-something's), and I was
appropriately impressed. A wall of sound, pop, dynamics (yes!) and
energy that was pure joy. Don't miss 'em for the world (**3/4)
And - the reviews:
PRIMORDIAL UNDERMIND - "Aenesthetic Revelations" b/w "Day Drained"
(7") [Dionysus/PO Box 1975/Burbank CA 91507] Two more songs from
these purveyors of indie-psych. A-side is a mellowish, but wonderful
song to behold and the flip rocks out in their grand ol' way. These
guys skip over the all-too-easy genre mistake of streching songs out
needlessly - it's concise and to the point, and still manages to
throw in cool bridges. For reference points - think of a non self-
indulgent Bevis Frond, and you've got an idea of this. Recommended
with a smile. Also look for their soon to be released full-length
tape on Shrimper Records. [By the way, - Eric Arn informs me that
Shrimper has indeed made ventures into the area of vinyl. Which
explains those 7" comps that I forgot about :)] (**)
U.S. SAUCER - _My Company Is Misery_ (LP) [Amarillo/PO Box 24433/San
Francisco CA 94124] I swear, if I could do it, I'd marry this record.
No joke. Beautiful twangy songs, all unequivocally great. This trio
(which includes Bruce Hagman from Thinking Fellers Union Local 282)
belts out western-style songs with care, meaning, charm, and
occasionally feedback. No patronizing "let's see if we can play
around in this genre" here - this is the kinda stuff that comes from
true love, and this record's hooked me for good. Doubt that this is
available in digital format, which is good 'cause this takes full
advantage for vinyl's warmth. Highly, highly recommended. (***)
More reviews to come next week, including (cross yr fingers!) K.K.
Null & Jim O'Rourke, J Church, Art Bears, and no Truman's Water.
Honest.
Joshua Houk
<houk@athena.cs.uga.edu>
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From: Liz Clayton <lclayton@uhuru.uchicago.edu>
Subject: indie subsmission
Hi guys.. long time! Anyway, here's the deal: All of you who've been
waiting endlessly (or about a couple of weeks) for your subscriptions
should be all cleared up by now (which I guess you already know since
you're reading this). To give you a brief rundown/excuse I'll let
y'all know that I graduated High School this past Thursday and have
been a leeeeeeeeetle bit busy up til then with all that silliness as
well as this fanzine that I just put out. (more on that later)
Anyway, mucho apologies to those of you who wondered where your sub
request had gotten to, sorry it's been so crazy here. To those of you
who emailed me multiple times: if ever you need to have a change made
to your sub, please be patient! I hardly ever just "lose" sub
requests, and generally dump everything to a big file for maintenance
later. Noticing these sub requests in triplicate over a matter of ten
days really did make it kinda hard to go through that file to add the
names, because I'd add the name and come back to the list and there
it would be again! Patience, as they say, IS a virtue...
Now, my fanzine. I can't advertise it here per se, but I can tell
you that it's 40 pages, features Helium, the Bats, the Dambuilders,
Fluss, and other silly stuff, it looks nice, it costs a small price,
and it got me out of school for a month as a senior project. Send
email to me <lclayton@uhuru.uchicago.edu> and I'll send you my
address and what you need to do to get one, etc. Please, take two,
they're small..
[ As reviewed above. - Mark ]
on the hit list:
Nothing Painted Blue/_Power Trips Down Lover's Lane_
Gastr Del Sol/"The Serpentine Similar" EP
Don Caballero/"Our Caballero" 7"
Magnetic Fields/"The House of Tomorrow" EP
Buzzcocks/_Trade Test Transmissions_
This Kind of Punishment/_A Beard of Bees_
Tsunami/_Deep End_
that's it for this week, anyway.
Take care, y'all, and sorry bout the listage again. ALSO: It's June
now, if you still haven't mailed me to tell me you won't have an
account over the summer (or ever again? graduates??), do so now to
avoid more annoyance for me and Mark. Thanks.
liz
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From: al@IRIS.CLAREMONT.EDU (Lurlene Bayliss)
Subject: New Nothing Painted Blue
After what seems like years of anguished anticipation, it pleases me
to report the release of:
Nothing Painted Blue _Power Trips Down Lovers' Lane_ CD/LP (Kokopop1)
1. white bicycles 2. peace dividend 3. block colors 4. officer
angel 5. campaign song 6. register 7. storefronts 8. unscheduled
train 9. epistemophilia 10. smothered 11. scapegoat 12. few 13.
rock and roll friend 14. undeserving
As you maybe know, many of these songs have been released in other
formats, and they've been playing live many of those that haven't.
Nevertheless, this release is easily one of the biggest smile
inducers of all time. This is a completely personal reaction, but
every NPB song I have ever heard has made me smile. The music is
bright, sometimes deliciously raw, othertimes wonderfully jangly.
The lyrics... never mind, I can't really do them justice; words
like "funny" might tell part of the story, but they are much more
than that. Sure, they're local heroes (within a stone's throw
local), but it's time Bruno and company made more people smile. I
made a point of watching Jill Angel, Traffic on Channel 2 this
morning just to celebrate this release. The feel good hit of the
summer. ***
--
Michael L. Medlin al@iris.claremont.edu
"She's cherubic!
She's seraphic!
She's omniscient when it comes to traffic" --Nothing Painted Blue
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From: Lindsay Watt <lindsay@maths.ed.ac.uk>
Subject: Reviews
SEBADOH/18 WHEELER, Edinburgh Venue, 3rd June.
Before Sebadoh, we had to suffer through the Glasgow band 18 Wheeler.
I was sort of expecting Royal Trux, so felt a bit disappointed at
being fobbed off with a Big Star tribute band. There seem to be
dozens of these crap groups in Glasgow, and it's obvious what their
prime source of inspiration is - if they're not covering Big Star
songs (e.g. Teenage Fanclub) then they at least have a song with the
word "Star" in the title (e.g. the execrable Boyfriend, who have a
song entitled "Hey Big Star"). Guaranteed to put a damper on any
gig.
So anyway, Sebadoh. Well it seems to be customary for their shows to
start with 25 minutes or so of Eric's songs, and that's what happened
here. I'm no Sebadoh completist, so I only recognised about half of
his songs, but I enjoyed what he was doing. His last song was
particularly good, something like "Fast Times at Riot Grrrl High",
which starts out as a quiet acoustic thing, before switching into
high speed punk mode. He was pretty well received - he wasn't just
being endured - but I got the impression that most people were pretty
happy to see Lou strap on his guitar and step out of the shadows.
Again, I only recognised about half of his songs, but I found most of
his material breathtaking, except maybe for a somewhat overly
aggressive "Soul and Fire" - I can't see that this is a song that
people are meant to mosh to, but that's the way they played it. Then
it was time for Jason's songs, and he raced through 4 thrashy punk
things, before handing back to Lou to finish off. The crowd gave them
as enthusiastic a response as I've seem them give anyone here
recently, and they came back for a couple more songs, concluding with
crowd favourite "Gimme Indie Rock". At the end of the song Lou went
into a long monologue about how he'd heard that the Velvet
Underground had played Edinburgh the night before, and they could do
that because none of them was dead, but the Stooges couldn't reform
because the drummer was dead, and Big Star couldn't really reform
because the bassist was dead, and Dinosaur couldn't reform (he was
yelling by now) because the guitarist was dead, he died in a car
accident...etc etc. Excellent stuff - one of the best gigs I've ever
been to.
[ So Eric wrote a Riot Grrrl High song, huh? I wrote a song called
"Punk Rock Prom Queen" back when I was in Ice Cream Socialists, but
we never did anything with it. - Mark ]
SEBADOH, Glasgow King Tut's Wah Wah Hut, 4th June.
Support was again from the awful 18 Wheeler, but I managed to stay out
of earshot of them this time. Once again Eric opened proceedings for
Sebadoh, and he was being even more curmudgeonly than the previous
night - he needed more vocals in his monitor, more guitar, more bass,
he needed more light on his notes etc etc. He gave up after 4 songs,
because he kept breaking strings. In contrast to Eric, Lou seemed
particularly cheerful. He chatted and joked with the audience, and
explained the origins and inspirations for many of his songs.
However, apart from a staggering "Homemade", the music seemed to be
lacking something - still good, but not as good as the night before.
The louder songs especially seemed to suffer, and Jason's "Sister"
was almost unlistenably out of tune. On the whole though, they still
put on a great show, and after 85 minutes were showing no signs of
letting up when I left to catch my bus.
COP SHOOT COP/DEITY GUNS, Edinburgh Venue, 7th June.
I'd never heard of the Deity Guns before this, but I was impressed
with them. They made a pleasingly thunderous racket, in a dirgy Big
Black sort of way, with odd bits of flute playing and guitar doodling
thrown in as well. And they did a really good ve