I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: TRENCHMOUTH-More Motion: A Collection (2003).

Seven years after they broke up, a Trenchmouth compilation was released.  Does a band with four albums, no chance of hits and a bizarre evolution of sound warrant a collection?  Well, in that most of their discs are out of print?  Yes.  In that Fred Armisen has become more and more famous and people might be curious what his band sounded like? Sure.

The fact that there are a few rare songs is a nice feature, although again, most of these albums are hard to find anyhow, so they’re almost all rare.  But what this disc really shows is the fascinating evolution of the band from noisy punks to smooth dubsteppers.  I have two of their albums and that progression is not really clear, but hearing them all laid out in chronological fashion it all becomes apparent.

The early songs are noisy and  jittery–the kind of songs that they would perfect on their second album, they’re just not quite as screamy.  As if they haven’t quite pushed the envelope far enough.  “Making Money for the Freak Machine” comes from an early 7″.  The song is challenging because of several abrupt halts–the song sounds like it ends but then after a longer than expected pause it resumes with a bass heavy reintroduction.  “Gold” and “The Volcanic Action of My Soul” show the kind of music they would be known for–bass heavy, noisy guitars and chanted choruses.  “Volcanic” in particular rocks hard (and the chorus is great).  Armisen’s drumming is great too.

The bulk of the songs of the collection come from Inside the Future and they are really a highlight.   They sound great in this context, too.  There’s also five songs from Vs the Light of the Sun.  Hearing the music chronologically like this, you can hear that the band is moving away from the frenetic punk and into a more dub style.  Although there’s still a lot of noise and noodly guitar solos and such.

By the last four songs, the dubstep version of Trenchmouth is fully in play.  The jangling wild guitar solos have been replaced by subtle echoing guitar notes.  The bass is as wild as ever, but the pace is slower  The instrumental “Contrast Beneath the Surface  is downright mellow–things seem calmer without Damon Locks sing/screaming).  The final song is live and the audience really responds.

The switch to the dub sound is an interesting choice–possibly a chance to make more money although it seems like jumping from an unpopular niche to a more unpopular niche.  Did their later live shows have both sides of the band?  That would be crazy.  Nevertheless, this is a good collection of songs from an underrated and really, unknown band.

[READ: February 5, 2013] “That Doubling is Always Observed”

I don’t know Robert Leonard Reid.  And I don’t understand this story at all.  I don’t even really understand this type of story–it is a very detailed history of a fictional thing.  It’s not so much a story as a historical background–told in sections that sound very formal and official.

The story is about the kupuestra which appears to be some kind of un-sensual dance.  Reid devotes many paragraphs to explaining this “dance” and its unsensual nature.

Edward Vekner was the father of the kupuestra, although that seems to have been accidental–his heart attack appears to have inspired others to emulate his moments.  There’s also someone named Lop, a woman who sank into the kupuestra (which means she was very good at it).  Lop was brittle like a cracker and the color of bacon grease–in other words, perfect.

There’s mystical supernatural things going on, there’s a book written about Lop and the dance (which sold 11 copies).  And then it ends.

I kind of applaud the idea of inventing something and giving it a lengthy detailed back story, that’s pretty cool.  But I don’t understand writing it as if it was real and pretending it is.  Why not invent a cool story to go with this idea.  And sure the back story (Lop and Vekner and the others do create a  story, but it’s so…whatever).  There’s precious little joy, albeit a little humor.  And as I say, I really just don’t get it.