Sunday, December 23, 2007

Treat Yrself

Without a doubt the record I wore out more than any other this year was the Population Problems comp. 7" on Cephia's Treat. The comp. features eight bands (6 from Tampa, 2 from Savannah, Georgia). It starts off simply enough with a lumbering sneer from two piece junk-rockers Byron House and then moves into harsher territory with Savannah's Oubliette generating a ravaging meditation on child birth. Both choice tracks, for sure, but it's after this that the record takes a turn into the truly odd. Then and Than utilize simple drum machine patterns, frequency sweep synth lines, and an instrument that may or not be a theremin to create something that sounds like it should've been on the soundtrack to AI (remember that shitty movie? actually I've never seen it, but this song makes me think of the imagery from that film). Turmoiled Functions follows this up with a piece that works as a compliment to the Then and Than track, but definitely has a bit more of an ominous feel to it. Next up is The Oals. If you've ever wondered what it would be like to have a picnic on a cloud, this track could probably give you some insight. Soft piano, brushed drums, soothing vocals that are all about how much they care about you (no shit!), this track always puts me in a great mood. Short but sweet. Haves and Thirds, aka Cephia's Treat headmaster Todd Lynne, weighs in next. The track is typical of what he's been doing for years, but in case you're unfamiliar, it involves hip hop beats, a very distinctive style of guitar playing, and samples from all your favorite 80's films. I literally can not say enough good things about Haves and Thirds. This particular movement finds samples from the Cleese classic Clue popping up and warbles along at an unsteady speed, creating what I'm daring to call his best composition yet. Noche Rider follow up doing another two-piece rock thing, though their track is much more, shall we say "rock n' roll", than the Byron House contribution. It sorta has a Sabbathy feel to it for a second, and then there are a couple of drum rolls, a few string bends and it's over. Curious to hear more from these Savannah cats. Capping off one weird-ass monster is the Fas'ners. I played their song for a friend and she said it sounded like elevator music. While that's not something I completely agree with, I can see where she's coming from. The instrumentation on this one is similar to that of Then and Than or Turmoiled Functions, only instead of alien landscapes it brings about visions of a much more loungey, casual setting. Maybe like a post-modern beer commercial or something. Does that make sense? It doesn't does it? It doesn't matter. So what exactly is so special about this record that made it stand out for me so much? Well, for one it's very uncommon for artists in this realm to have songs this short. Most of the songs are less than a minute and a half long, but in a style that could easily lend itself to much longer more drawn out tracks. Sometimes this can be problematic (see Limp Lungs below), but in this case it works for every song. More than anything else though, I think it's the sense of simplicity that all of these bands have in common that really got me hooked. In a time when everything in underground music has been completely blown open and anything can be and regularly is accepted, it's truly amazing to hear artists making music that is this distinctive and well thought out with little to no skill and incredibly simple instrumentation. There are so many weird records coming out now, it's rare to find one that is still weird when compared to everything else. This record is beyond that. It is truly a bizarre experience and absolutely my pick for record of the year. Oh and before I get too carried away, it's worth mentioning that the 12" comp. Everything Is A Theory, which came out in 2006, is probably the best record of last year. Tampa's on a roll.















So after listening to Population Problems over and over (and over and over and over), I decided to check out a few of the other 7 inchers Cephia's has put out in the last couple of years. Here's a quick recap:

The New Flesh w/ Robert Inhuman- Punch Drunk In this Shit World one sided 7"
Ho-ly Shit. This is the kind of record that would make my dear mother cry. Absolutely mind-shreddingly shrill vocals from Realicide's Robert Inhuman on top of the New Flesh's grinding hate-rock. The combination of the two artist's distinct styles is undeniably compelling and forms to create something that makes yesteryear's hardcore seem like something yr dad tries to tell you is cool. Essential.

Byron House- Boys Will Be Boys 7"
When I was in high school I was in a grind band. We had somewhere around 25 songs and knew every single one note for note and by name. No one else could tell our songs apart and everyone said they all sounded the same. That could be because every single one was written and performed in the same style, OR it could simply be because they weren't listening closely enough. Byron House strikes me as a band that could have a similar problem. While to me their songs don't all sound the same, there are a lot of haters out there who will probably tell you that this band has no idea what they're doing and has no control over their compositions. Not only is this mis-informed it's outright fucking wrong. Borrowing the manner in which grind bands operate and plugging in their own twisted variables these two Tampa delinquents crank out 13 doses of discordant punk racket that took a lot more planning than many would give them credit for. Think Half-Japanese with the attitude of Body Count and you've got an idea of what's happening here.

Limp Lungs/Fas'ners- Punk Cliches split one sided 7"
I actually picked this one up awhile back when I ordered the Sword Heaven/16 Bitch Pile-Up split LP. This record is now out of print, but I like it a lot, so I'll talk about it anyway. The Limp Lungs are an odd proposition, especially in this format. They turn in an airy, buzzy number, that barely taps you on the shoulder and gets you involved, but is too short to really latch on to. I loved this track when I first got the record. Now I think it's just okay, but I'm desperate to get the full story and find this band's opus. I know it's out there. Limp Lungs, if yr reading this, please get in touch. The Fas'ners really upset me on this release. "What the fuck is this shit!?" I kept asking myself listening to the song over and over. It sounded like a good natured booty bass track played through a toy keyboard or something. It actually wasn't until after hearing their track on the Population Problems 7" that I decided to give it another chance. I used to hate this song, now I love it. Funny how things turn out.

Cramped Quarters comp. 7"
After being so into the Population Problems comp. I figured I had better check out it's counterpart from a few years earlier. This record actually starts off quite similarly with a Byron House rager followed by a harsh noise blowout (this time by Dead/Bird). That's about where the similarities end however. Gone are the alien picnic synth jams (except for the obligatory Haves and Thirds track of course), replaced instead with out there harshness (Russian Tsarcasm, emBard, EN, Hepatitis Youth) and more traditional rock stylings (Yukhonic, What's Yr Damage?). This is still an incredible record in it's own right, released to commemorate a winter 2003 tour that took place while I was still in musical short pants.

SLD- In With The Old 7"
I picked this one up on a recommendation from a friend who said it was the best punk record of the 90's. While I don't exactly second that, what's here was well documented and I'm glad I got to hear it. SLD was the band of Haves and Thirds/Cephia's pres. Todd Lynne back in the late 90's. Listening to it makes it easier to understand why he seems to be so insistent on dissing the southeastern hardcore scene of the same time period, since this music is very disconnected from what was happening in that miserable excuse of a scene (yeah, I was there, and while I love many of those bands, nothing, and I mean NOTHING, was less fun than being at a political hardcore show in the late 90's in Tennessee). The description on the Cephia's site says the record is a cross between Void and New Order, and that's actually not so far off. Basically you have the traditional hardcore speed parts and then pretty breakdowns that have nice melody and texture to them, and the occasional noise loop popping up here and there. Not what I would consider essential listening (like the Southeastern Hardcore, Fuck Yeah! 7" comp. or the first His Hero is Gone 7") but well worth hearing if you get the chance.

1 comment:

Scott Fuxan said...

Great post! I'm surprised no one has commented. I use to live in Tampa (now Orlando) and was pleased to see some coverage of these bands. I'm going to post a link to your page on my blog (terminal beach party) that focuses on the Florida experimental/post punk scene. Some great stuff is still brewing here. Peace! -Scott