"I have seen the future of rock & roll, and it is fIREHOSE!"
--first sentence of a review written by my editor at my college
newspaper, circa 1987. i guess the reviewer's life has been downhill
all the way since then. [-az]
[not to be confused with "I saw rock and roll future and its name is
#############################
Indie List Digest!
July 7, 1994
Volume 3 Number 42
#############################
In This Issue:
Bruce Springsteen - Jon Landau, 1974 -es]
Re-reviews of Geggy Tah & Rugburns
Why VHF is an Amazing Label (and more!)
Velocity Girl
The first Best of 1994
Tim Buckley, Slow Loris, Paul K, et al.
Movietone, Corndolly, Flying Saucer Attack, PO!, et al.
Milkshakes, Skullflower
Slow Week in Indie Hell (VG, Coral, et al.)
ANNOUNCE: Indie 6 Million cancelled
ANNOUNCE: looking for musicians to start band
Editorial Blatherings:
Ah! The mail we get. One <mgotova@eis.calstate.edu> saw the I-L FAQ
in alt.music.alternative, and requested information on Indie CDs from
Metallica and Nirvana. Since neither are my personal cup o' tea, I
open it up to anyone out there who feels up to helping... Drop this
person email, however, since they don't read the I-L.
Anne and I are - somewhat against logic - reopening the great
Indie-List T-Shirt idea. Here's the plan... If you're artistic, put
together what you'd think would make a great Indie-List T-Shirt, one
you'd be proud to wear on your back. Make a nice rendering of it
(photo-ready would be nice, but a clean idea with something perfect
later would be swell) and send it to us at:
Eric Sinclair & Anne Zender
319 E Smith Ave
Bloomington, IN 47401
The deadline for submissions is August 5. I'll circulate the T-Shirt
plans amongst the various members of the ILIJ (who you know from the
FAQ last week, hm?), and we'll try and agree on the best design. A
small run will be printed to fill orders I've received up until that
time, and they should be done by sometime close to the I-L's 3rd
Anniversary.
Details on ordering will be available (including pricing and all
that) as this project gets underway.
My current reading has been consumed by a couple books. One is a
study of Gertrude Stein's salon, which doesn't truly apply here.
The other does.
I've waltzed through the redundant and repetitive vituperations and
musings that make up John Lydon's "Rotten: No Blacks, No Dogs, No
Irish." It has the whole feel of Lydon sitting down and talking with
you for 18 hours, but it's delightfully combined with the musings of
several of his compatriots, including Chrissie Hynde, Steve Jones,
Richard Branson (!) and others. A central character, who goes
virtually unquoted, is Malcolm McClaren, about whom Lydon has
expectably little good to say. But the side quotes make for a
fascinatingly multi-faceted study, carrying a Studs Terkel Oral
History flavor. Recommended for those who would study these things.
It doesn't flow as engrossingly as the two Sammy Davis Jr Autobiogs
I've read in the last couple years, but it's more interesting in
different ways. Wonderful anecdotes (Anne's favorite part: Paul
McCartney chasing Lydon's taxi down the street trying to catch a bit
of his youth).
[Over my shoulder, Anne says: "John Lydon is, like, from Mars, but
it's still a pretty good book"]
And as a reminder: AZ and I will be away from home this week,
attending Yo-Yo in Olympia and visiting friends in Seattle. There
should still be an I-L next week, since we'll be vaguely - if
intermittently - connected. But response time may be a bit pokier
than usual.
-es
And on to the content:
From: Robert M Keefe <keefer@elwha.evergreen.edu>
Re-review Geggy Tah & Rugburns
I must disagree with Aaron Schatz reviews of two albums in the last
I-L. I won't dis him by mentioning his strange taste in Seattle bands
with Fugazi influences :-). I'll just provide my own review.
> Geggy Tah - Grand opening (Luaka Bop) Executive Producer - David
> Byrne. World beatish with lots of sampling. First song - "The One
> for Her" is great. Rest of the album blows goats. **
I haven't yet heard the goat blowing. It wouldn't surprise me on this
album though. Less world beat than the whole of American music (and I
mean the whole damn thing) tossed in a blender. Lots of soul, lots of
tape loops, lots of samples, mentions Jean Cocteau (bonus points), has
square dance fiddling. Imagine Yves Daoust without the classical
music (err . . . does anyone outside Olympia or Montreal know
Daoust?). Try Prince (though with Vinx on vocals) tapping the brains
of David Byrne, Phil Spector, George Clinton, Smithsonian Folkways,
and They Might be Giants. That might be close, better give him some
acid just to be on the safe side. My favorite Luaka Bop since Jorge
Ben. **
> The Rugburns - Morning Wood (Bizzare/Planet) I haven't listened to
> anything but a song called "Me and Eddie Vedder" which is about dying
> in a room with the man himself. It's hilarious. They're from San
> Diego.
"Me & Eddie Vedder" is one of the funniest sendup of buttrockers since
Corky & the Juice Pigs did "Americans." Or when David Lee Roth
released his solo album. (Though I don't think the parody was
intentional in David's case.) But spend some time with the rest of the
album. The funky macabre "Hitchhiker Joe" is the next best cut: "My
girlfriend Lois called from Tallahassee/ She picked up that dude at
the Spam factory/ That was the last time that I saw her smile/ My best
advice is don't eat Spam for awhile". Kitchy, silly folk akin to
Ashtray Boy or the best Pimentos with Gus. **
Rob
"Adults are always asking little kids what they want to be when they
grow up because they're looking for ideas."--Paula Poundstone
------------------------------
From: Steve Silverstein <ST201268@BROWNVM.brown.edu>
Why VHF is an amazing label and more
OK. I've bought too much stuff of late. I'll go broke if I keep up
this pace. That said, I'll start with stuff on VHF, whose releases
(as well as those of the affiliated LoudThud and SPJ labels) make the
VHF mail-order catalog an absolute must-read. It's fun, too. Mail
<wkellum@gmuvax.gmu.edu> to join the fun. Or US mail: Box
7365/Fairfax Station, VA 22039
Flying Saucer Attack--Soaring High 7" (VHF)--This is about all gone,
but it'll be on the Compilation CD on Domino/VHF and it's a must.
It's a mix of My Bloody Valentine and Ride, with Syd Barrett weirdness
and Husker Du-style wall of noise. Amazing. It brings tears to my
eyes (OK, maybe not, but I dig it).
Rake--Cow Song/My Fish Died, Subterranean Marijuana Garden/U. S. TV
(VHF) Neither of these sounds much like the band I recently
encountered live in DC. They don't sound much like much of anything
else either. Much more rock or hardcore than they are live, but
that's not hard. I heard everything from Faust to Nation of Ulysses
to Wingtip Sloat at times, but they sound little like any of them.
Wingtip Sloat--Return of the Night of the Ardent Straggler
(VHF)--Probably their best yet. Not quite as unique as Half Past, but
you still won't mistake their 4-track mayhem for anyone else. Really
catchy stuff and really interesting. One song sounds almost normal at
times, but don't hold that against them. As always, every cover
unique.
Wingtip Sloat--User-Friendly Bowl Wrapper cassette (Sweet Portable
Junket/ T2 1937 Kennedy/Mclean, VA 22102). A compilation of early
stuff, including Happy Go Licky and Clean covers. Nutsy and crazy.
Not always good, but never dull and often worth owning. See how they
got their start and cheap too. Unsurprisingly, covers hand-colored in
with marker and colored pencil.
Eggplant--Sweet Anarchy 7" (Bus Stop--no addr on it, so try Pop Narc
mailorder) It sounds a bit louder than Heavenly, sometimes like the
Fastbacks. It reminds me of Tiger Trap a good bit, too. It's very
catchy, and as good as the above bands (though they came first, so not
quite as original). If you like this, you'll like this.
Kudgel--Sea Monkey 10" (100% Breakfast/Box 381804/Cambridge, MA
02238)-- It sounds like Kudgel. You won't mistake it for anyone else.
Mark screams and wails on the guitar, and the rest of the band chugs
along for the ride. The two Bob Weston recorded songs are a bit too
clean sounding, but don't damage them much. The highlights are "Jump
Ball" and "Chimp is Dead (and Guess Who Killed It)," an epitaph for
Mark's overused invented expression, chimp rock. The packaging is
hand scribbled and will blow you away.
Velvet Crush--Hold Me Up CD single (Creation/10 Westgate St./London E8
3RN/ England)--It still sounds like Velvet Crush, despite the big,
clean sound. It's a really catchy song. I like it; it captures their
live sounds, and the harmony vocals are actually mixed right. The 2
B-sides are very country-ish, including a Gram Parsons cover. I liked
"Slip Away" (now with a longer title, but the same song) better on the
BBC CD single. LP will be in US too.
Wedding Present--Hit Parade 6 (RCA)--OK. I'm two years late, but I
still grabbed this one, and it didn't disappoint. The B-side (Let's
Make Some Plans) is probably the stronger of the 2. LP due
domestically on RCA again, and 7" due on El Recordo. Both done with
Steve Fisk this time.
The Sean Murphy Review of an Ancient Thing Bought Used:
Mungo Jerry--Do you remember this band? If not, you're lucky. The
lyrics are offensive (to me at least) at times, but not nearly as
often as the music. How can you forget "In the Summertime"? The cover
is really cool and sort of a partial gatefold. I doubt this is out on
CD, so good luck if you want it. Not quite consistent enough to
qualify for essential, but fun to wonder how their
parents/friends/label let them get away with sounding like this (or
looking that way).
Enough babbling. Too much in fact. I'll shut up.
-Steve
------------------------------
From: andrewj@echonyc.com (Andrew Johnston)
Velocity Girl review
Velocity Girl/Sunny Day Real Estate/Sleepyhead/Saturnine 60 @ CBGB, New
York City, June 24
I missed Saturnine 60 and showed up just in time to see local heroes
Sleepyhead do their thing. They played 45 minutes of their trademark
crunchy chewy bubblegum punk, and all was right with the world. They
all wore matching orange satin shirts that sorta resembled soccer
jerseys. Reportedly some of the high school kids whom Rachel the
drummer teaches were in attendance. They were the ones wearing
brand-new Pink Floyd tour shirts. Oh well...
I almost feel like I have to apologize for liking Sunny Day Real
Estate, because their slick sound reminds me of the much-hated (by me)
Afghan Whigs. But SDRE have a passionate intensity that makes them
better than the Whigs by an order of magnitude, and they were in fine
form tonight. "Diary" is one of my favorite albums of the year to
date, and as good as it is, they're way more intense live.
The main reason CBGB is my favorite New York club is because of their
stellar PA--no club in the city sounds better. Unfortunately, Archie
and Kelly's tendency to switch back and forth between bass and guitar
during Velocity Girl's set seemed to catch the sound guy off guard,
with the result that all bass coming over the PA was way too loud and
feedback-y. That's a shame, becuase VG were in really good shape.
They played mostly stuff from their new album, with only one or two
songs from their back catalog (plus covers of songs by Echo & The
Bunnymen and New Order). Their new stuff has a much more robust sound
to it, largely due to Archie's emergence as harmony vocalist, so songs
like "I Can't Stop Smiling," which featured him prominently, were
really great. Sarah's vocal range always blows me away, and she
didn't disappoint. All told, it was a fine and enjoyable show by
three superior bands.
------------------------------
From: dougo@pure.com (Doug Orleans)
Best of 1994, so far
Okay, it's June 30; the year is half over, but it seems like there's
been an incredible number of great indie albums released already. So
in order to take some of the load off my year-end top-ten list, I
decided to split the year in half and round up my ten favorite albums
from the first half. Please hold your applause until the end.
1. Unwound, _New Plastic Ideas_ (Kill Rock Stars)
Okay, people have raved about this one enough. Just get it, okay?
This one probably merits the return of the old grunge-l superlative:
PBH, or Pure Bipolar Hell. Another good TLA is TFG, Total Fucking
Godhead. You get the point.
2. Overwhelming Colorfast, _Two Words_ (Relativity)
(Not quite indie, since the label gets money from Sony, but who
cares?) Produced by Kurt Bloch, this one is miles better than their
first one, which had lots of good songs but was ruined by Butch Vig's
commercial-gloss production, so don't be afraid to listen to this if
you didn't like that. The songs range from buzzsaw speed-punk to
psychedelic dreariness to simple country-pop, but they're all plenty
loud and chock full o' hooks. Very addictive.
3. Rodan, Rusty (1/4stick)
Another one with lots of hype, but don't let that turn you off. I
hate to mention the S-word, but the influence is pretty obvious;
nonetheless, they do their own thing with the same basic ideas and
achieve a pretty different feel. Has anyone else noticed that Tara
the bassist looks a lot like Justin from Unwound?
4. Nine Inch Nails, _The Downward Spiral_ (Nothing/TVT/Interscope/Atlantic)
Okay, Trent Reznor has gotten pretty darn pretentious and silly, and
this is about as mersh as it gets, but I still think this is a
masterful album, with a lot more depth than others in its genre. It's
much more mature than _Pretty Hate Machine_, at least musically (yeah,
I know the lyrics can be pretty annoying). If nothing else, it's got
cool guitar effects by Adrian Belew...
5. Polvo, _Celebrate the New Dark Age_ (Merge)
These guys have all the "new riffs," according to Eamonn. It takes a
while to wrap your mind around the sounds, but it's very rewarding.
This is probably the most accessible of their three CDs.
6. Meices, _Tastes Like Chicken_ (London)
Rawk! Another major label band, but they're punk enough for me. They
tend to get compared to the early Replacements, but I wouldn't know.
Goofy punk pop, fun for all ages.
7. Pavement, _Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain_ (Matador)
At first it sounded like big-time sell-out, but it's grown on me a
lot. Just try to forget this is the same band that did _Slanted &
Enchanted_.
8. San Francisco Seals, _Now Here_ (Matador)
I just got this record a couple days ago (thanks Jeanne!) but I've
seen Barbara Manning play most of these songs live a half-dozen times,
so I'm quite familiar with it. The songs -- only slightly angry
electric-folk/pop songs of love, power, and retribution -- sound even
better with full band accompaniment, and there's lots of neat samples
and sound effects spliced into and in between them.
9. Slant 6, _Soda Pop * Rip Off_ (Dischord)
It's 1978 all over again! Wondefully hooky quirky clean-punk pop. At
times it reminds me of early Devo or something.
10. Superchunk, Foolish (Matador)
It's not their best album; in fact, it may be their weakest. But it's
still Superchunk, and that means excellence as far as I'm concerned.
They're as close to a sure thing as you can get.
Honorable mentions:
===================
_A Day in the Park... A Compilation of Now Sounds_ (Now Sounds)
_Why Do You Think They Call It Pop?_ (Pop Narcotic)
Years from now, indie historians will probably call these two
compilations landmark documents of the mid-90s music scene; but for
now, they're simply stellar collections of the best stuff around. I
plan to use them as checklists for other bands to check out...
Runners-up, i.e. other cool stuff that I like a lot:
====================================================
Crain, Heater -- A Louisville band that sounds nothing like Slint!
Drive Like Jehu, _Yank Crime_ -- Aloha, suit up!
Eggs, Exploder -- Can we say self-indulgent?
Helium, _Pirate Prude_ -- I just wish she wasn't always so breathy.
J Church, Prophylaxis -- Much better than Green Day.
King Missile, _King Missile_ -- Not just a novelty band.
Mudhoney, _Five Dollar Bob's Mock Cooter Stew_ -- "old school" grunge.
Popdefect, _Don't Be Hateful_ -- Accent on the last syllable.
Pot Valiant, Transaudio -- Local slow-core, very promising.
Ramones, _Acid Eaters_ -- They still rule, even if they have to play
other people's songs for it to show...
Sausage, _Riddles Are Abound Tonight_ -- The original Primus lineup.
Sonic Youth, _Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star_ -- Living legends.
Steel Pole Bathtub, _Some Cocktail Suggestions_ -- A short fix.
Th' Faith Healers, _Imaginary Friend_ -- Everything, all at once, forever.
3Ds, _The Venus Trail_ -- Groovy kiwi-pop.
Others I haven't listened to enough to be a fair judge, but I like
them pretty well and would recommend them:
==========================================
Aphex Twin, _Selected Ambient Works, Volume II_
Arcwelder, Xerxes
Jawbox, _For Your Own Special Sweetheart_
Lush, Split
St. Johnny, _Speed is Dreaming_
Tsunami, _The Heart's Tremolo_
Others I wish I had that I'm sure I'd like a lot because I like their
other stuff but I just haven't gotten around to getting these yet:
==================================================================
Bailter Space, Vortura
Fudge, _Southside Speedway_
The Grifters, _Crappin' You Negative_
Guided By Voices, _Bee Thousand_
Helmet, Betty
Thee Hypnotics, _The Very Crystal Speed Machine_
Jawbreaker, _24 Hour Revenge Therapy_
Ride, _Carnival of Light_
That's all, good night.
--dougo@pure.com
------------------------------
From: Sean Murphy <grumpy@access.digex.net>
Tim Buckley, Slow Loris, Paul K., etc.
Being unemployed has its advantages - it's given me the time to catch
up on a bunch of stuff that I've had in a pile but not listened to...
Tim Buckley - Live At The Troubadour, 1969 (Straight/Bizarre,
distributed by Rhino)
A live recording of material primarily from Lorca and Blue Afternoon,
Buckley's 4th and 5th LPs... really outstanding stuff. This CD shows
the band much more in jazz terrritory than folk style, and the longer
songs give them the room to play around and fiddle with the songs in
really creative ways. Buckley's voice, as always, is absolutely
amazing and worth the price of admission alone, but the songwriting
stands up as well. Mellower than "Goodbye and Hello" but there are
still sparks in there... Really worth checking out even if you don't
like folk music or jazz - it crosses a lot of lines. **
Paul K. and the Weathermen - Garden Of Forking Paths (Silenz)
Sigh. After listening to "Patriots" and "The Blue Sun" I was
convinced that Paul K. was a killer songwriter and musician and that
he should be canonized. (The Afghan Whigs have performed his
"Amphetamines and Coffee" for years.) The guitarwork on a song like
"Satellite" is just mind-shattering. But times change, people find
new working companions, and there are too many producers in the world
who fuck up records. This most recent effort from Paul K. and
company, their 5th?, suffers from over-zealous production - the songs
with cool guitar parts sound far too smooth. Unfortunately, this is
not the only problem - there are only 5 or 6 songs out of 16 that fit
this category. The rest are uninspired balladish boring songs with no
energy to them. I wanted to like this record, and I tried very hard,
but it just doesn't cut it. **
Babylon Dance Band - Four Of One (Matador)
YAY. It's about time that someone released this stuff for mass
comsumption... Tara Key, Tim Harris, and Sean Mulhall all wound up in
Antietam after BDB broke up, and that's the easiest sound comparison
to make. The songs are more straight-forward than the early Antietam
records, but still solid rockers with a southern jangle and twang.
I've been told that these are new recordings of old songs - are there
other editions floating around on something other than 40th generation
cassettes? In any event, this is a great record which should have been
released ages ago, but I'm glad to have it now at any rate. **
(And when is Homestead going to get a fucking clue and reissue the
first two Antietam lps on one CD? My copy of _Music From Elba_ was
bought used and is wearing mighty thin...)
Slow Loris - Monkey Girl 7" (self-released)
From the ashes of Hassan Chop! comes this version of Slow Loris, which
should not be confused with the Canuck band of the same name. This is
Mike and Jenny of HC, playing slow and moody songs which show off
Jenny's impressive vocal abilities without threatening to bury them in
a maze of guitarwork. An excellent single, and I hope they continue
to record things like this in the future. *3/4
(I can't find the address anymore, and I think Mike has lost his net
access, but Friendly bandmate and internet music maven Mark Cornick
might be able to help out if you're really interested...)
Corndolly - "Afterschool Special With The Difference" 7" (Dalmatian)
A posthumous release from a fine band. I still don't know exactly why
they parted ways (since they had found a new bass player when Rachel
moved to NYC), but it makes me sad that they did. This single
features more of their solid stuff, with one being almost old-school
hardcore at times, and it makes me wish I could see them play one more
time. * 3/4
And one video review - if you see only one video this month, make it
"SABOTAGE" by the Beastie Boys. Absolutely brilliant recreation of
all the classic 1970s cop shows - Starsky and Hutch, Barretta, Streets
of San Francisco, etc., and a decent song to boot. I can't completely
recommend the new LP (but it would be hard for it to top Check Your
Head), but this song makes that lame-ass video channel almost worth
watching.
[To get a Beastie Fix, if you need one, check out the Beastie Boys
Home Page, put together by my man Ian Rogers - at
http://www.cs.indiana.edu/hyplan/irogers/BeastieBoys/BeastieBoys.html
Almost a thousand hits a day, and more data than you can shake a
stick at.
-es]
Grumpy Sean
grumpy@access.digex.net
------------------------------
From: "Josh Ronsen" <rons@midway.uchicago.edu>
Movietone, Corndolly, Flying Saucer Attack, PO!, et al.
Here are some things that I have listened to lately that might be of
interest to this list.
Movietone "She Smiled Manderlike"/"Orange Zero" 7" Planet Records
a nice 7" from Rachel of Flying Saucer Attack and Kate Wright. Moody
guitar struming and ringing a la Damon & Naomi/Galaxie 500/VU/Low/et
ceter, et cetera. Very nice, except the first song is too short! The
second song gets loud and punky during the middle, but nothing like
FSA. More!
Corndolly "Afterschool Special With The Difference" 7" Dalmation Records
Two more songs from Urbana, IL's Corndolly, who broke up a while ago.
Not quite as exciting or as catchy as their 2 7"s on Mud records, but
a must to whoever found themselves humming "Sex Kitten" in their
heads. Spunky girl rock at its best.
Flying Saucer Attack "Crystal Shade"/"Distance" 7"
Newest release from FSA. More ultra-fuzzy rockings from this English
group. Nothing different from their LP, which is fine by me! Side A
is a rock song with dispondent vocals over fuzz fuzz fuzz and the
second side is one of those computer sampled noise pieces, like a
Throbbing Gristle song, only not as spooky. FSA also has a piece on
the new Ptolemaic Terrascope 7", along with Anglagard and Guided By
Voices, but I have not had a chance to listen to it yet.
PO! "Ducks And Drakes" CD Rutland Records
22 songs from Ruth Miller's PO!, including several reworkings of songs
that have appeared on previous 7"s, including somewhat inferior
versions of "Sunday Never Comes Around" and "Fay" from their Sunday
Records 7". Like their first LP "Little Stones," this one ends with a
Bob Dylan cover, this time "My Back Pages" (perhaps next time they
will do the spastic "I'm In The Mood For You"). I also got four 7"s
and three tapes from Ruth, and they are all delightful and wonderful.
Anyone who likes pretty pop music and doesn't have everything this
band has ever done is missing out.
While in New York recently, I had the chance/pleasure to interview
some nifty people for my magazine: God Is My Co-Pilot, Juliana
Leuking, Anthony Coleman and Zusaan Kali Fasteau. Highlights include:
GodCo is planning to do a record of Bartok music and have numerous
other records on the verge of release; Juliana Lueking's CD will be
out on Kill Rock Stars in September, which will be 30+ short spoken
word pieces like her wonderful "She's Good People" 7", and she is
working on a couple of very interesting projects; Anthony Coleman has
a new band called Selfhaters, which you will get the joke if you are
Jewish, and is currently recording with them and awaiting release on
his last project, which combined avant-jazz with Sephardic Jewish
music; I doubt if anyone here has heard of Zusaan Kali Fasteau, but
she does jazz with Indian/Middle-Eastern leanings, a la late John
Coltrane or some of Sun Ra's stuff, and runs her own label, Flying
Note. She just put on a Summer Soltice Raga, which was a lot of fun.
Everyone was very nice and friendly; look out for the interviews in
the next issue or two of Monk Mink Pink Punk (email me for details
about Issue 1 with Dan Burke of Illusion Of Safety and Lida Husik, or
for more info about any of the above.)
That's enough from me for now!
-Josh
rons@midway.uchicago.edu
------------------------------
From: "Theodore A. Khoury" <khoury@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu>
Milkshakes/Skullflower + rant
I guess it was in indie list vol. 3 #40, and I'll keep this as short
as possible that Benjahmyn Ewens gave a review of the band Couch and
other Bulb bands. I believe he was thoroughly knocking them, quite
accurately, until he gave an advertisement for them at the end. I
just wanted to reaffirm all that he had to say. Currently they charge
like $1000 for all their shows so the guitarist Peter can further
pursue his math degree in Germany, which is bullshit if you ask me.
These guys know their music very well, but by no means are they
musicians, and likewise they're trying to package it up and pass it
off as 'experimental noise' in the form of 'Couch.' Please. I could
go to the state home, rip off 10 retards, and give them instruments,
and it would be no different than 'Couch' who are known to breathe
their name in the same sentence as Boredoms. Precisely, they are
snotty kids who are making a small killing off the (lack of) scene in
Ann Arbor. People are putting them up on some experimental platter,
which is making me sick. Ever since Big Chief suffocated and fled the
Ann Arbor scene 3 years ago, it's finally allowed shit like Couch and
any other Bulb bands to pop their moldy heads out. I didn't intend
for this to be even this long, to avoid giving them further press.
This is not personal, I'm just looking out for your wallet.
REVIEWS:
THEE MILKSHAKES- "I need you" + 1 7" (Unique Records) Thee Milkshakes
are my favorite Billy Childish incarnation. Beatles pop, played
better than the Beatles. "I need you" is a fairly short instumental,
with great big band drum solo. The flip is singalong pop, Childish
style.
SKULLFLOWER- "White Fang #2" + 1 7" (Freak Records) This is their
third new single out (besides the Sympathy, and Helter Skelter ones)
recently, and it's not as good as either of the other two. You always
get your money's worth timewise with SF; each song is at least 5
minutes, but these songs don't move me either way. Primal drone
guitar and drums, and vocals from the cave is their sound (usually it
seems), but this one has simply too much wanking and builds no
climaxes, just moves about in a linear way, with an undefined slope.
tk
------------------------------
From: Robert Lim <lim7@midway.uchicago.edu>
A slow week in indie hell
Greetings all from summer capital of the world (no particular
location)... Since summer is my traditional posting time I thought
I'd share a bit of indie-related hoo-ha with you...
I saw Velocity Girl for the first time in more than a year at Metro in
Chicago... Those of you not familiar with this venue should be warned
now that a show there is probably not worth the price of admission.
At any rate, lots of teenagers (not surprising, their previous shows
have all been 21+ except the one opening for Belly) and lots of
balding short guys beefed up on alcohol, which was surprising. We got
there before Sunny Day Real Estate went on stage to blast us with
their bombast and funny looking way of singing, which will probably
earn them a hugely popular video and lots of success as long as the
current bid for Pearl Jamisms does not wane. They do it ok, but
ultimately it's not really my type of music.
Velocity Girl went on and played a whole bunch of stuff off their
newest, and maybe three from Copacetic. Nothing before that, nope not
even a lousy My Forgotten Favorite. Not like the audience would have
realized what was going on; the aforementioned balding guys obviously
wanted to show how hep they were and started slam-dancing during the
more midtempo songs... I can't get over how a song called "I Can't
Stop Smiling" could stimulate such violent behavior. Kelly had
amazing hair that stuck up more and more... he also slightly
resembled Tom Hulce. Archie looked not quite so happy and more
concerned about the show being together than the rest of the band.
The very different thing about the whole show was the way in which
Sarah had transformed from a carefree T-shirt-and-jeans-wearing girl
to a silver pants and button down shirted WOMAN who made all sorts of
sex-kitteny swayings here and there. Very suggestive, I suppose but
she did seem kind of full of herself at times, which is odd because
she's probably the shyest one amongst them.
Oh and I suppose I should rant about the very loud drunken members of
the crowd who kept yelling "Danny Bonaduce" (morning lame-o DJ) and
were quite into pushing this one poor woman into other people, and
these four guys in particular who were trying to make her crowd-surf
against her will and finally succeeded. Now I understand exactly what
Jimmy J meant in the Chris Knox interview when he made references to
early NZ punk bands breaking up under the idiocy of their fans...
Archie seemed perplexed more about the number than the type of fans
coming out... They all had dyed their hair different colors of red
for some very punk rock reason, I suppose.
Shit. This was supposed to be short. Well just some record reviews:
Coral, Pillowtalk, Cargo Records: Well here we are, Bob Schick of
the Honor Role's new band. Does anyone have any idea why that's such
a big deal to people? I haven't met anyone who really ever cared about
Honor Role.... Anyway, some pretty weak post-Dischord angst going on
here, recalls Circus Lupus etc. without any of the sometimes
laughable sometimes captivating intensity. There's a handful of
listenable tracks on here, but avoid paying money for it. (**)
Experimental Audio Research, Mesmerized, Sympathy For the Record
Industry: I guess this should be Experimental Ego Research, after the
way that Sonic Boom dominates this "collaboration." Billed as a union
of Kevin Shields, Sonic, Eddie Prevost (one of the greatest living
percussionists alive, founding member of AMM, tho for a more blatant
display of his talent, I would refer you to his "duets" with Jim O'
Rourke on Complacency) and some dork from God, the fact that it's all
Sonic is given away by the cover, which says "produced by and
featuring Spacemen 3 and Spectrum mainman Sonic Boom." Since when did
the Sp 3 become his baby? Anyway, four longer cuts here (three on the
LP); it claims 65 minutes of music, but mine has only 56. I don't
feel very ripped-off because this is mostly Spectrumish guitar effects
with drones going off everywhere but seems remarkably devoid of ideas
for the talent involved. Lots of tremeloes (the artifical type) and
wahs, gets rather cheesy at times. The best moments are those in
which actual organically played and relatively untampered guitar plays
a bit, contrasting (gasp) with the effect pedals. I'd go for
Spectrum's solo stuff which is more interesting. Or more
particularly, pick up the first couple Suicide records instead. Was
Kevin Shields diddling with himself in the corner? (**1/2)
and finally,
Crayon, _Brick Factory_, Harriet: No offense meants to Tim (who has
put out some decent records in the past), but I have no idea why this
band sells so many damn records. I figure their record sales would be
a good index of exactly how many friends they have (or more
accurately, the number of people who were afraid to reject them
straight off). Supposedly cutesy pop done by a trio that contains two
men who not only cannot sing (let alone play their instruments), but
who, unlike Beat Happening, have very undistinctive and annoying
voices. None of them is capable of writing a good pop hook as far as
I can tell, and to add insult to injury, their lyrics are intensely
stupid. Luckily for us, they avoid printing their lyrics on the
sleeve (let's face it, any lyric written down looks stupid). For
examples of lyrics, check out the last cut, which is an update on the
"Hello, I love you, won't you tell me your name," but the singer goes
a step further, getting her name wrong then being bitter that she
would rather go out with the Gedgian him. For singing, the 2nd to
last cut is a duet which finds the singers trying to one-down each
other quality-wise. They both win. (1/2 * for not printing their
lyrics)
Well, that about does it for now. Gotta reduce that eye strain, ya
know. (hi Kathleen/Lena!!!) Hopefully next week we'll have the scoop
on the 1st Annual Snapple Indie-Rock Flea Market (slight exaggeration)
And perhaps heroic misadventures with Jamison....
(or even positive reviews?)
-rob
-rob
lim7@midway.uchicago.edu
------------------------------
From whitebrd@eden.rutgers.edu Tue Jul 5 17:35:41 1994
ANNOUNCE: Indie 6 Million cancelled
due to ennui and a lack of funding, mark and brandon have decided to
cancel the indie 6 million. we will, of course, be contacting all of
the bands ASAP, but while i'm here, i might as well tell everyone
else. sorry if this causes any ill effects. basically, we're both
burnt. i was just in a car accident. we have bills to pay, etc.
it's the end of the rock n roll era, or something like that. sorry.
------------------------------
From: Eliot Shepard <eliot@barclay.harvard.edu>
ANNOUNCE: new Drive Like Jehu mailing list
i just set up a mail exploder (a primitive mailing list) for jehu
fans. this message is an invitation to subscribe.
as far as i'm concerned, discussion of jehu, pitchfork, (and
marginally rftc), etc. is all fair game for this list. other bands
too if you can make a case for it.
FOR SUBSCRIPTION REQUESTS, mail to:
eliot@barclay.harvard.edu
*from the address you want on or off the list*. your request will be
confirmed by me after the action is taken.
TO SEND TO THE LIST, mail to:
luau@barclay.harvard.edu
after you're subscribed.
for now, this is a hand-maintained list, which means no niceties like
digests, subscription actions on weekends, etc. i'm sure traffic will
be low enough that this won't be too big a problem.
thanks,
eliot shepard
--
Eliot Shepard Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory shepard@cfa.harvard.edu
#include <std/disclaimer.h> http://hea-www.harvard.edu/~eliot/eshepard.html
------------------------------
From: Apple-O <adelucia@eden.rutgers.edu>
ANNOUNCE: looking for musicians to start band
SEEKING REAL MUSICIANS, SERIOUS BUT ALSO INTO HAVING FUN, WHICH IS SOMETIMES
HARD TO DO WHEN YOU ARE TOO SERIOUS
"music seems crazy bands start up each and every day i saw another one
just the other day a special new band i don't remember a line i don't
remember a word but i don't care i don't care i really don't care -did
you see their drummer's hair?"
My name is Apollo (aka Apple-O) I play guitar and write lots of songs.
I also dabble on other instruments and vocalize a little. I have a
track on the Jiffy Boy "10 Cent Fix" compilation and have recorded a
bunch of cassette albums which are available on my own mail order
cassette label.
I'm looking for mu