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Review Roundup #2
The Unholy Two - CDRSCY1! Single - CDR029
If you think that the placement of the Unholy Two's "Kutter" on our year-end singles list was a fluke, or an inside job, you're partly correct, but also completely wrong. Granted the myth of the Unholy Two as an actual band has been perpetuated in the dive bars and porcelain buffets for years in the Columbus Underworldª, and anyone in earshot of lead ram-jam Chris Lutzko in that time would have been very suspect, but "Kutter" arrived, at many doors, on wax, in flesh, and that was a feat worth rewarding, because Allah knows we weren't going to get another ear-bleed of this sort again.
Well, I'm not motioning a phantom blowjob in my cheek right now, because the Columbus Discount Record Singles Clubª promised another Unholy Two document in their subscription back when it started in September, and just as the Gaza vs. Israel cage-match started heating up for prime-time, they delivered. I'm not exactly sure if that was coincidence or some Nosferatu speculation on the part of Lutzko. As a result, the pairing of "Altamont 1969" with "Beirut 1983" arrives as Obama steps into office, a gripping winter overcomes the Midwest, and all of the sudden the Unholy Two transform from pigfuck hucksters into competent political commentators in the course of a 7-inch.
Well, "Altamont 1969" starts things off with a beat that could double for the beginning of Audio Two's "Top Billin'" or the standard skittle tub-thump of that blues band from Chicago that used to fry bacon behind the drum kit (Cash Money). From a local database, it's the Bassholes "unholy" tripe. Soon that skeleton magnetizes the real rally for the Unholy Two, and that's besides the rudiment two-note back and forth of the meaty melodyÑit's the sonics involved. And it's the way the gel happens. There in the smoke of agent orange a fascist death-march is forged, the illegible Mussolini-fist-raise vocals rising into ether madness, the guitars coalescing into a buzzsaw, and the sound of what is perhaps the crowd raising their fists in return or rioting into a coup. That's the fine-line the tunes of Unholy Two straddle. Behind a teapot dictator such as Lutzko, Adam Smith (on obliteration_ and Bo Davis (laying significant apocalypse landscaping) put up a cloud of disorientation that fits perfectly for this environment of ambiguity from dear leader.
Even on the B-side, "Beirut 1983," there's propaganda in a title. Methinks the bloodshed was more, so the Unholy Two go for less, surveying the wasteland after the wasting. In picturesque remembrance, the studied and spaced song sounds like dirty bombs far off in the horizon. If those followers of the Two need a come-down, three songs in is ample time. This, though, could reveal a guilty Lutzko love for Spiderland and fingerbanging at all-ages Rodan shows. After the fact, he'd probably pass it off as post-post jibber, then pile in the framework for the full-length. No explanation needed, surprisingly "Beirut 1983," with the Unholy Two in quiet mode, manages to gleefully offend. In the waning moments especially, as Smith, out of nowhere, solidifies the presence of said "band" with a grimy, Ô70s, solo that defies local legend that the Two is a fluke.
- Kevin Elliott, The Agit Reader
Torn between the coke pig & breakfast
Ett av fšrra Œrets mest angenŠmna bekantskaper var Ohio-bandet The Unholy Two. Stškig, distad och primitiv riff-rock. Like a riff-crazy bat out of hell eller kanske som ett švertŠnt The Stooges anno 1969. Bandet har precis slŠppt en ny singel pŒ Columbus Discount Records som helt klart Šr vŠrd att plocka upp om du inte har nŒgot bŠttre fšr dig. Det Šr klart, en fšrutsŠttning Šr fšrstŒs att du mŒste gilla bredbent muskulšs arbetarrock. Det gšr inte heller nŒgot om du Šr lite efterbliven eller har ambitionen att aldrig nŒ lŠngre Šn till nŒgon hejarklack pŒ nŒgon stŒplatslŠktare runt om i detta land. "Altamont 1969 Šr fšrvisso inte riktigt i klass med fjolŒrets mŠsterverk "Kutter" men det Šr onekligen en fin start pŒ det nya Œret. Bombastiska och genomlortiga trummor tŠcks av en vackert nedstŠmd och hŒrt lo-fi-erad gitarr och sedan mal det bara pŒ. PŒ sina stŠllen pŒminner det hela en hel del om tidiga UT eller kanske ett lite mer sparsmakat och knastertorrt Killdozer. The pig was cool och det Šr precis vad The Unholy Two Šr. Oh by the by, "Kutter" har precis kommit i en andrapress vilken du givetvis ocksŒ kan plocka upp hos Columbus Discount.
We Don't Know
Sandwich - CDRSCY1! Single - CDR028
Holy shit, Ron House has a new band. Dramatic, glamorous rock, like Columbus, OH taking on Roxy Music, with all the rust and ugliness you would come to anticipate from such an endeavor. Not being familiar with the other members of the band (playing guitar, bass, drums and synth – Ron plays himself, as usual), I can’t recall ever being disappointed by the works of the American genius up front, so I say go for it. Columbus Discount Singles Club record #4, 300 copies. Must-hear music for those of us who spent time on the barnacled side of the '90s
Dusted Magazine Still Single
Columbus Discount’s December entry to their singles club is the second straight to feature a Columbus monument, and this time it is Ron House, the granddaddy of all local heroes in Columbus. If ever a person were to write the definitive text on what it meant to be punk in Ohio, it would be Mr. House, whose vocals have blessed a handful of legendary recordings spanning almost three decades and whose presence is consistently felt among generations of the record-buying, beer-swilling, literate thinkers around the OSU campus and beyond. House’s newest band came together at last year’s Columbus Rock Potluck, an annual band mixer of sorts where local musicians are randomly assigned new combos and come up with original songs to perform. Ron brought a couple of his own to the table and liked the band enough to keep it together and record.
As is de rigueur with House, his nasally wail and tales of debauchery take center stage, but luckily he’s found a secret weapon in John Olexovich (The Lindsay) on guitar. Ron and John take turns as the stars of the A-side, a slow-burning tune with buzzing synths beneath strangled guitar solos and a rhythm section that sounds like they’ve been together for years. “I’ve Had a Few” introduces a garage/surf vibe to the mix, with Ron crooning a bit more than usual. Both songs are great, amounting to what may be the best 7-inch of CDRSCY1 yet. Sandwich LP coming later in the year. - Doug Elliott
The Agit Reader
The Harrisburg Players - The Harrisburg Players Vol.1 CDRSCY1! - CDR026
Four-cut compilation of songs from the old guard of Columbus, OH punk/Velvets-based singer-songwriters. Tommy Jay, Nudge Squidfish, The General and T.A. Lafferty all get a turn here, and while these tracks are a bit more marginal than anything from last year’s Tommy Jay reissue, or even the last Mike Rep and the Quotas 12”, it’s more worthwhile than much of what the youth of today have to offer, and it’s very cool that this crew, all staple participants of Ohio rock ‘n’ roll, is back in the limelight for a modern audience. Columbus Discount Singles Club release #3, 300 copies.
Dusted Magazine Still Single
"Recorded somewhere between 1798 and yesterday by Harrisburg-area musicians and their cohorts" according the liner notes this Mike Rep & Tommy Jay involved project shines a light on some of the music coming out of a central Ohio hamlet with a population of 332 people. Small towns always have a reputation of a breeding ground for a particular kind of weirdo and the place this music comes from ain't no different. Tommy Jay starts off this four song EP with "No Place"- A Lou Reed acolyte in a Dylan sitting in the kitchen with a friend or two and recording it on an telephone answering machine. The General, who plays bass on "No Place", then is backed by Tommy Jay in a vocal/guitar only duo on the Chrome goes (almost) Unplugged (almost cuz Tommy's UFO crash guitar sound has to be produced by electricity) "I Did It". Nudge Squidfish's "Jess" woozy country shambles along & lures ya in. A lullaby that take things to some very dark and creepy places. T.A. Lafferty closes the record out with "Take It To The Father". He bangs on the guitar, blows the harp and has a Lou Reed thing going on in his vocalizing too but also digs some the Move psych move's in the choruses. They're are piled up in a four track tape, decayed and degraded into into magnetic scratches. Mike Rep's on organ. Tommy Jay's on guitar & drums. I've been lost in many a rinky dink village. Hell, my great-great grandfather was one of the founders of one. No, not the town I live in. I'm talking really rinky dink ones. Never wanted to hang in them much other than people watch for a few minutes. Observing life in Harrisburg, OH might be interesting for a couple of hours though. - Dale
Smashin' Transistors
What a year for Central Ohio! What a year for Columbus Discount Records! But where did it all begin? From what’s been re-discovered this year, it appears all roads lead to Harrisburg. Mike Rep, the Harrisburg figurehead, has always been around. His stuff is (somewhat) readily available, but 2008 brought Tommy Jay’s Tall Tales of Trauma, the Magna Carta of the commune, and now comes CDR’s November selection for their singles club, The Harrisburg Players’ Volume One, a corner torn from the small town’s Dead Sea Scroll. “Recorded somewhere between 1798 and yesterday by Harrisburg-area musicians and their cohorts,” reads the liner notes, further blurring or making clearer the dirt-weed mysticism of the body of work they created (and are still creating). Everyone who hasn’t already, get their due on this four-songer, and everyone collaborates. Tommy Jay’s “No Place” is certainly a logical beginning for this occasion, never knowing where to fit in his Lou Reed talk-sing chronicling the chasm between new waves and punkers. As a folksy anthem it’s in neither camp, but somehow retains the weirdness of both. It’s an intimate contrast to the spiritual fervor in the closing track, T.A. Lafferty’s “Take it To the Father,” fed with a similar riff that revels like a cult mass in the tavern at the end of the world. You’d think the strangest moment would come from the infamous puck of the collective, Nudge Squidfish, but instead his “Jess” is a near-heartwarming honky-tonk ballad that still manages to slur in creepiness during the last line. Somewhere along the stretch, a night got out of control and the General recorded “I Did It,” and I’m sure in the vaults there’s a ton of this improvised basement mayhem—catchy, unrefined, intuitive, and drunk. Thank CDR for re-documenting this treasure. These are records that can’t come out fast enough. Kevin J. Elliott
The Agit Reader
El Jesus de Magico - CDRSCY1! Single - CDR025
This is the second Columbus Discount Singles Club release, and it’s a belter. I can’t figure out what it is about El Jesus de Magico; maybe they hit all of my familiarity buttons in the right sequence. But their take on grotty, noise-caked rock dirge recalls both GBV and the Grifters in a way that no band has successfully accomplished since … well, since GBV or the Grifters. “Unclean Ghost” surges forth with a tired determination that really makes it work, while “Pirate Utopia” picks things up a bit, jumping out of its skin like some lost New Zealand pop chestnut. I look forward to seeing what this band can do. Clear vinyl, 300 copies, silkscreened sleeve. Hunt this down.
Dusted Magazine Still Single
I suppose we’ll start with the label that’s currently dominating the singles club sweepstakes. With this October treat El Jesus de Magico have a new calling card on wax that goes above and beyond the excellent Funeral Home Sessions 7-inch, and Columbus Discount Records are batting two for two. In the past it may have been hard to call EJDM a traditional rock band, as most of their output often devolved into shambles, and you may as well have been taking acid during the lurid live shows because besides the careening rhythms, not much made sense. It’s like they’re constantly pushing for that breakthrough. I’m sure the guys and girl would not call this one the holy mountain light they’ve been searching for, but it certainly cuts a sharp line down the template that shares space for both Pavement and Amon Duul II, and any psych-enthusiast who came-on in the ‘90s would probably salivate over such a descriptor.
“Unclean Ghost” is the Malkmus specter. Let’s be clear, it does not sound like some left-over Slanted and Enchanted B-side, but it does burrow that same slack melody in the song’s creases when the guitars chime in. Underneath the robot groans and sighs that emanate from Tony Allman’s organ grinder control center, there’s a clear sign that melancholy pop is the order of the day. “Unclean Ghost,” however, is distinctly of the Jeezy, and in their short span on the shores of Columbus, it’s also their best work so far.
Consider the A-side the present exception to the flip. “Pirate Utopia” finds the group chugging back into their ramshackle Midwest version of post-punk that has made them a household name in Washington Beach. Only now guitarist Dave Capaldi is mining through Sun City Girls territory, the steely line that snakes throughout is sinister exotica. The vocal here is as reverb-stretched as shaman John Whitzky can get, imagining those kinetic trails found in the best Butthole Surfer rituals. In fine form “Pirate Utopia” ends in the deconstruction of what was just built, the band picking up their instruments and crashing into the walls, dissolving into a pile of cacophony and melted blotter. Rinse and repeat. This one comes on clear vinyl and each cover is silkscreened and different in color and form from the next. - Kevin Elliott
The Agit Reader
A fuzzy two note buzz starts off a-side's "Unclean Ghost". A mesmeric boom bop beat then joins in giving signals for an Eno in the most turbulent of moods keyboard drone to meld into the sound. By the time the glassy splashes of guitar and haunting heavy echo chambered vocals come in you are already in a stupefacient daze...eyes closed (cuz they're rolled in the back of the head) with yr head swaying back to forth. Simplicity like the lure of one of those good Wire songs uses, the missing things that have puzzled me when I meet people who claim to be Discordians but haven't ever heard of Hawkwind and a part where the could've let doves out of a box but they end up being rats. No one notices the punctured skin/bite marks until a day or two later. By then it's gonna take much, much more than iodine and calamine to treat it.
All kinds of hell breaks loose when you flip it over for "Pirate Utopia". Stand back cuz they're gonna start a fire of metallic (but not METAL) grind voodoo played on a guitar that was being used as an oil drip pan underneath a block of a greasy old real engines that were made to be worked on in your driveway. Sparks fly & skulls break from the smack! pound! smack! pound! If you listen very closely rumor has it that you can hear Gibby Haynes & Peter Cushing arguing over who get's to play the lead in the movie based on the songs El Jesus de Magico write. - Dale
Smashin' Transistors
Pink Reason - CDRSCY1! Single - CDR024
This is the first in the series of Columbus Discount Records singles club. 250 copies on bubblegum pink vinyl. Inner sleeve liner notes written by Pink Kevin giving a little history behind the songs and why he chose them for this record (and if you've ever read/heard any of his stories you know it's a doozy). Both songs date back to the band's inception. "3:16" is something that starts out crawling like a slug then someone gets out a salt shaker to see what happens. Eventually, the meander turn into a slashing fit. Knives and blood gets drawn. It ends up being a really messed up scene so everything gets set on fire to destroy the evidence. In one of the other sorta recent reviews we've done for a Pink Reason record it here it was mention that one particular tune was the closest they've come to working a "garage rock riff". Well, with "Sweet Sinister" (named after a substance that has kept many a contributor to the Pink Reason mission up for more days than they'd care to count) ya get the closest to a "blues rock riff" that they've attempted. Given the date the song was originally conceived and the company that was being kept at the time-having the Mystery Girls as cronies in chemical indulgence probably holds a larger influence than whatever White Stripes record was on people's lips at the time. - Dale Smashin' Transistors
Ignore the date above, I intended to review Pink Reason the moment after I heard it for the first time, and now it’s some feature over at the Agit-Reader. So ignore the fuzzy math. I really love this Pink Reason single and thought it appropriate to share the liner notes with those who didn’t get one of these. They are kind of immortal words:
"Three Sixteen is an early recording with one of the very original Pink Reason lineups. Shaun Failure played drums. Tim Triplett on the bass. I played amplified twelve-string acoustic. HFK. Hatefuck Crew. Zone 13 Rejects. Hatefuck. Pink Reason. Desperate Living. All the same, but all different in their own way. This song was recorded in the kitchen of a dope farm in remote Northern Wisconsin. During the recording my roommate “Dirtball” went missing and was assumed to be dead, so the police stopped by. We literally grabbed the cassette out of the 4-track, ran out the door, hopped in the car and were out the driveway before the police could say anything to us. There was probably twenty grand worth of dope in the basement and shotguns hidden beneath our pillows.
Thanks to this interruption the vocals were recorded in Tim’s closet in Green Bay. Shortly after his housemate drove himself into the woods and shot himself in the face. The police again showed up to ask questions. It was a strange and gloomy time.
Sweet Sinister was an ode to a particular substance that helped keep us awake through these rough times. It was recorded in Shaun’s bedroom at an apartment we shared with our friend C. “Reich” who played the handclaps on the recording. “Reich” was a convicted domestic terrorist and a neo-nazi, but most importantly, our friend. 3-D “David Lee Fuckin” Ralph Puke also clapped his hands and provided “ahhhs.” He was the “singer” for a while in Zone 13 Rejects. We asked him to “sing” because he could puke on command. This song has the distinction of being the only Pink Reason song not written by me. I came up with the words, but Shaun wrote the music himself. We were all tight up on speed and slamming Jagermeister and cheap beer (Meister Brau? Mister Beer?). I played bass guitar and sang falsetto. It seemed to make sense at the time. "
Only a few know if this is truth, but all the talk of shotguns, domestic terrorists, and dope farm leads me to believe remote Northern Wisconsin is the wild west or at least Baghdad of the 90’s. All this just reminds me of Jim Shepard’s equally blunt literature. Even if it is fiction, even in the slightest, you sit here and believe it to be true. Dude, write a book. - World of Wumme
World of Wumme
First missive from the Columbus Discount Singles Club, which has pound for pound trumped Sub Pop’s reboot of their own subscription 7” series, even with strong contenders like Blues Control boosting their cause. This was the one to get on, and though it’s a bit late for all that, the records still seem to be available here and there. This is one of the strongest of recent Pink Reason releases, comprised of two of their earliest tracks, recorded several years ago. “3:16” is somewhat of a surprise, all windswept emotive rock propulsion, evincing none of the mystery found on the first single or the lonesome goth-folk of the LP. Every facet of this group continues to surprise, and hearing how fully formed and confident they sounded early on is not as much of a shock in the light of their performance model, but still surprising enough to require mention. “Sweet Sinister” is a hand-clappin’ blues ode to cocaine, and though it’s incredibly strong musically and lyrically, it touches on the one aspect of Pink Reason I don’t care for, namely Kevin’s prideful drug/dropout tales. He’s not the first or the last guy to make a case for chemicals as the font of creativity. Anyone can take drugs and write a song, and he’s lucky that his are better than others, but grandstanding the issue takes away much of the mystery behind the material. It’s hard for me to be impressed by that tack anymore, though that’s not a dig on this guy’s art, which I hope he continues to make with as much vigor as previous efforts have called upon. He’s already proven himself to me, and to many others, as someone to watch. Pink vinyl, 300 copies.
Dusted Magazine Still Single
Press for CDRSCY1! - CDR029-036
This is more like it - right out of the gate with the Pink Reason single, I knew I was in for something great - amazing liner notes, excellent selections from the Pink Reason’s archives, bubblegum pink vinyl - yes. “Sweet Sinister” is (for me) up there with my favourite Pink Reason songs. El Jesus De Magico’s single came next - featuring a hand silk-screened covers (and glow-in-the-dark paint?). This single features one of my favourite songs of 2k8, “Unclean Ghosts”, a slow build with a burbling analogue synth that snakes throughout the song, this single spent a great deal of time on the turntable.
The first surprise came in the form of the third single, “The Harrisburg Players Vol. 1“, a four song compilation of songs recorded “somewhere between 1798 and yesterday”, which makes absolute sense because it is otherwise impossible to hear any certain era (other than “post-1970’s”). I’m no scholar of the Ohio music scene, other than my previous obsession with all thing Robert Pollard/Guided by Voices (and the bands associated in various ways). Seems Mike Rep had his own lo-fi cabal doing something in a similar vein (throwaway songs recorded in a grungy basement on bargain-store recording equipment). Everything here is gold, and is making me want to start tracking down more music from all involved (aka: mission accomplished). What a treat! Sandwich was another pleasant surprise, a Ron House fronted “supergroup”, this single contains two awesome psychadelic rock songs that have warranted repeat listens sincel. I just got the Unholy Two single (featuring Tom Shannon of Cheater Slicks) and Will Foster of Guinea Worms), and haven’t much to say other than it is a sludgy affair that will take some more listening. Singles Clubs are mysterious things - they cost a lot of money up-front, and often yield weak results (see last years “Bored Fortress” collection, which left me wanting). The first five singles in Columbus Discount Recording’s singles club have been an exception to the rule - a few bands I knew already mixed in with a few pleasant surprises, lots of great songs, innovative packaging, a tight schedule - Columbus Discount Recording’s singles club gets a solid A.
- SevenTenTwelve
This isn’t so much a competition as much as a comparison of two different models of a re-emerging trend. You could certainly call any Termbo/BullTongue/Siltcult beloved label a “singles club,” as long as they’re pressing wanted vinyl at a consistent clip. But forgive me if I’m wrong, it was probably Sub Pop who’s responsible for launching the true “singles club,” that is a yearly subscription that guarantees the recipient a fresh piece of wax every month for 12 months—each one a surprise, each one limited, each one a perfect relic of that particular time when you arrived at the mailbox. In the beginning and in subsequent versions, Sub Pop rolled out perfect summations of the early heavyweights (Nirvana, Sonic Youth, Flaming Lips, Afghan Whigs), ushered in some future wonders (Modest Mouse, Death Cab, Unrest), and kept it local to the Pacific Northwest scene most of the time even when it hurt (Green Magnet School, Dead Moon, Big Chief). The original “singles club” went for four years; in the 7-inch slump of version two it went just as long (minus the consistency). Now, in the current environment when everyone and their brother are forging a vinyl exclusive label, Sub Pop is held to a higher standard—put out or get lost.
I’m obliged to side with the locals in this battle (though again, this isn’t Contra) and give my allegiance to Columbus Discount Records as they are the little label that could vs. a ritual of sorts already established. Like the early days of Sub Pop, they are giving their singles club all the trappings of yore: established heroes, head-scratching weirdos, and local mainstays. With their 2008–09 line-up in place, it will be hard to find a label with an ear as close to the underground as CDR.
First up for CDR are the Wisconsin-Columbus-Brooklyn transient musings of Kevin Failure and his Pink Reason (on pink vinyl no less). I’ve been suspect if there’s anything going on in the lab, as everything since his stunner bummer, Cleaning the Mirror, has been archived muck (potent muck, but archives just the same). The pairing of “3:16” with “Sweet Sinister” is no different, with the latter not even being credited to Mr. Failure but a long-lost friend. Even if these songs are some of the oldest in the PR repertoire, they are both puzzle pieces that are essential in locating the heart of darkness that pervades his most recent recordings. “3:16” is a blacked-out jam of hungover dirge rock recorded on a dope farm, probably recorded at that stated time when all the drugs were gone and the brains were tortured more than were the unforgiving souls in the room. Like I said, essential in procuring that diamond from Failure’s songwriting genius. “Sweet Sinister” is nearly conceptual in its junk-box beat and hand-clapped rhythm, precluding Jack White by some years and sounding like some cracked bluesman budding up with the 7-11 hellions that loiter near the house. I imagine what’s purported is all true as, “This is a document of the past. They all are. This one is the same, but somehow it’s different.” Regardless, CDR start their singles club with one for the ages, foreboding a year filled with documents that go beyond the format they’re placed upon.
Sub Pop meanwhile gets a pass with OM—it was obviously a decision to pander to those Sleep fans—and though I’m partial to bands that revel in 10- to 20-minute stoner ramblings and zonked jazz odysseys like OM, it doesn’t translate well to the 7-inch platter. So don’t let that Notwist bore me to tears, okay? Luckily number two (of version three) is something of a throwback even though they’re breaking a relatively new Seattle band. Unnatural Helpers harken back to that pre-grunge, manic riff and sludgy backbone that supported the area. “Dirty, Dumb, and Comical” is all one needs to return to Love Battery, Cat Butt and Bleach—a welcome surprise to stuff I need to dig into and Sub Pop needs to revive by all means necessary. I’d like to think Sub Pop is certainly conscious of this decision, and I’m intrigued if any more local gems like this one will appear in 2008. Given the tried and true uniformity in font and design, not to mention the sediment green vinyl, of this (second offering) from Sub Pop, there’s no doubt they’ll not fuck this up. That said. I’m cheering for the home team to completely buck the trend.
- Kevin Elliott , The Agit Reader
_________________
CDR - 85 Grand
http://www.columbusdiscountrecords.com
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