Thee Headcoats – ”A Town Named Squaresville” (Video)
Thee Billy Childish doesn’t stop. And here, he’s pretty bummed out about that and everything else.
Acid Eater: Lysergic Knowhow
OK. So, Acid Eater might not be the greatest JP band of all time, that right being reserved for some esoteric ’60s band no doubt. But this quartet unlooses some disgustingly distorted garage/punk with more than a dash of lysergic knowhow.
The (International) Noise Conspiracy: A Heedless Dissection
(This originally appeared in Skyscraper)
Whether you’re watching a film, reading a book or trying to deconstruct the meaning behind your favorite album, the best of creations include some sort of frame. Citizen Kane, while vastly overrated as entertainment, functions more than appropriately as a well told story. As a viewer, the summation of Kane’s life is already a foregone conclusion. He’s dead within the first few moments of the film, but his journey to arrive at his death propels the plot. Without the narrative frame, that film simply becomes another shot by shot account of a man’s life. And no matter how interesting his life may have been, linear narratives, even in film by 1941 had run their course.
So, in what manner can a band of any ilk work toward their own unique frame. How is one garage band different than the next? The Spits dress up in any variety of ridiculous costumes dependent upon their mood. The Mummies, dressed up, well, as mummies. And even earlier, the Monks all sported tonsures before disappearing into the annals of rock music. Given that these frames, née, gimmicks have been utilized in the past, what angle can now be appropriated to lend a band some mystical and unique quality?
Being proponents of situationism, which seems to either be easily disproven or just as easily accepted as the norm, the members of the (International) Noise Conspiracy really give themselves to the rhetoric of socialism in a very base sense. On every album that the group has recorded since the early ‘00s there’ve been countless tracks that aim to propel listeners towards some sort of realization that government should work for people and be based upon their needs. Of course, there probably aren’t too many folks who would disagree with that point of view and when one slaps that notion with the label of socialism, it becomes the frame that sets t(I)NC apart from their peers who ply the depths of garage at this late date. Of course, The New York Dolls and L.A. punkers The Dils may have utilized socialism for shock value as much as any other reason 30 some odd years ago, but t(I)NC fervently believes in it. And the belief that one has, or constructs, can become as good as the truth.
William Burroughs, who really seems to be as quotable as any other American writer, figures that as long as an individual appreciates this truth that has been constructed around him or her, outside obfuscations cease to matter. He stated that a bit more succinctly by saying, “Virtue is simply happiness, and happiness is a by-product of function. You are happy when you are functioning.” Applying that to any band, but specifically here to t(I)NC, we can conclude that their persistence as a musical outfit, is to garner some sort of self fulfillment. When the band plays, they are filling the space that they aimed to occupy, sloganeering and all.
Front man Dennis Lyxzén believes that “the time of the great tribal gatherings of music and politics are over, but there is still a possibility to touch and affect people” and continues tirelessly work towards creating a better future for the world’s citizenry.
Given his reticence to believe that rock ‘n roll can any longer be utilized as an avenue for social upheaval, though, Lyxzén explains that “real social change comes from places other than musical youth cultures. But hopefully we can inspire some people to be a part of that real change and give them strength and hope by supplying some danceable music.”
Part of that inspiration actually works backwards and comes from his past. Lyxzén, coming out of the Refused as well as a number of other punk inspired groups, learned some of his defining philosophical points of view from the Clash and other populist bands. And on the band’s latest full length The Cross of My Calling (Vagrant, 2008), there are ample instances of t(I)NC using the standards that the Clash began to further its own ideological beliefs.
Both “Arm Yourself” and “Washington Bullets,” from this new disc, include readily identifiable segments of work by the Clash. And in keeping with the expanded sonic palette of Cross when compared to earlier efforts, there’s even a nod to The Rolling Stones on “Satan Made the Deal.” When asked about the appropriations from The Stones, Lyxzén plainly answers, “‘Satan Made the Deal’ is a bit like the Rolling Stones to start with, so why not accentuate it a bit extra?”
His nonchalant perspective on originality, though, is one that can only come during an age where information, of all sorts, so pervades our daily lives that breaking free of tradition seems an all too difficult task. That being said, the somewhat plain effort to shock on “Black September,” stands alone on an album rife with lyrical content that’s been contemplated elsewhere.
The vague poetry of that track alludes to the inhabitants of Gaza. In the lines “We’re just sacrifice/Born into a wasted life/Brought on by religious plight,” the author seems to simplify a dramatic situation. Lyxzén fails to take into consideration the militaristic threats made by Egyptian President Nasser during the ‘60s, who himself was a proponent of Arab socialism. Lyrically, the track also ignores the right of a nation to defend its citizens and its borders. Of course, no situation warrants rounding up a people and imprisoning them, but as the lyrics continue to unfold, the people of Gaza are referred to as “A surplus population.” But if the population growth rate gets even a superficial examination, the rate of Gaza’s population growth more than doubles the rate of the rest of the world.
Obviously, it’s everyone’s right to reproduce as they see fit – well except in China – but, t(I)NC’s lack of objectivity diminishes its utilitarian philosophies. As a band though, it’s used this frame of social equality to make the statement in a succinct rock track while simultaneously creating a product that they believe is valid as art as well as political commentary. Band members are functioning within the roles that they, themselves, have defined and are thusly contented.
That one song, though, despite it’s disconnect from reality, sports the most characteristic screaming from Lyxzén even as the music falls just short of the classic garage and punk of Survival Sickness (Epitaph, 2000).
On the band’s first pair of full lengths and the First Conspiracy compilation (G-7, 1999), t(I)NC engineered a sound more stripped down and aggressive than what can be found on either its latest effort or Armed Love (Reprise, 2004).
Perhaps due to the presence of original keyboardist Sara Almgren on portions of Armed Love as well as the band’s earlier recordings, t(I)NC then worked in short blasts of garage inspired pop constructions. The political content was as plain as it would become. And on the Bob Dylan inspired A New Morning, Changing Weather (Burning Heart, 2001), the unequivocal line “Take action, take aim and sing this new blues,” unmistakably points the direction forward, not just for the band, but for the down trodden.
Leaving during the recording of Armed Love, Almgren’s exit contributed to a period that Lyxzén refers to simply as a “weird time.” It did result, oddly enough, in Billy Preston filling the keyboard seat for portions of that recording. The album, though, marked not only a line-up shift, but a drastic alteration in aural presentation. Armed Love became the dividing line of what t(I)NC was and would become.
Unfortunately, due to major label squabbles and shifting parent companies, Armed Love saw a drastic delay of its release date in the States which resulted in the album missing its chance to impact American culture. Partially due to that album’s lack of success here in the States, Lyxzén frequently encourages fans to download the album via the internet in lieu of paying for it.
“Well, that is a tricky question,” the singer begins when asked why. “I like the idea of file sharing as a political form of resistance – as a way of challenging the capitalist structure that we live under, to have an economy that is not controlled by the big corporations and such.”
The reasoning that moves behind Lyxzén’s advocacy of downloading media works towards further solidifying the frame that’s been used to characterize his band. And the fact that Armed Love is t(I)NC’s only album to be associated with a major label might contribute to why other albums by these Swedes have not seen the same request go out from the band.
Lyxzén continues by explaining the cultural import of his request, “Downloading, as the world looks today, also raises numerous practical issues for bands, filmmakers and cultural workers.” Advocating for the creative forces behind all of entertainment, he hypothesizes, “If we are not showing solidarity with the people that are creating the music, the movies and so on, there will be no more music to download and there will be no more movies to watch.”
The 2004 sessions that make up Armed Love, available for download on better interwebs near you, were the first meetings of producer Rick Rubin and the Swedes in a studio setting. A great deal of vitriol that earlier work swam in remains intact. And even the production by Rubin couldn’t subvert the grit in Lyxzén’s voice, the distortion of Lars Strömberg’s guitar or the propulsive quality in those organ lines, regardless of who was plying the keys. Even in this time of dramatic change for the band, it didn’t shed its political observances. Instead it began mixing its politics with a vision of love connected to its revolutionary posturing.
The lyric “When I think about the revolution you’re still in my dreams,” from that first collaboration with Rubin, stands firm with a foot in the sappy classic rock trope of love songs, but obviously also references the political hopes of Lyxzén and his band. This 2004 album might be the moment where the t(I)NC actually realized how to disseminate its subversive political message in a neatly wrapped package. Eschewing the stark imagery adorning the band’s first two full lengths, Armed Love is splashed with an inflammatory red, hinting at the clutch of love songs that the album holds within.
Even with this stylistic realization, t(I)NC always has and will continue to deliver their message of change in the English language. But why would Lyxzén choose to traffic in the tongue of the West’s two most powerful capitalistic societies?
One potential way in which to reason through that conundrum is to figure that considering English serves these two international powers, it also represents the citizenry that most needs to hear this message of change.
Regardless, though, it would seem that t(I)NC would still like to see this revolution of the common man in its lifetime. The consequences of that paradigmatic shift in economics as well as its social implications probably haven’t been laid out in detailed fashion by the band though. And really, upon any close scrutiny, the band’s lyrics call for insurrection, but decline to define how to go about it or what the results might be. The vague quality of this call to arms oddly mirrors what Obama was criticized for while running for president: lofty rhetoric doesn’t necessarily portend change. If in fact this world wide revolution came, t(I)NC as we know it would cease to exist. The frame of the socialist upstart would be shattered, leaving just another rock band.
Of course, that revolution isn’t actually afoot. There are countless grass roots organizations working towards social equality and the like in this country, but they hardly amount to a group powerful enough to overthrow the government. With Lyxzén’s predilection towards demonstratively characterizing the US as “a very juvenile country,” he continues to parade socialist rhetoric in an attempt to function as a revolutionary – a construction that he and his cohort have themselves created. But they are functioning. And according to Burroughs, as long as one functions within their own accepted boundaries, that person is happy. And happiness is that individual’s virtue.
Nicodemus – “Real Tight” Video
This just got sent over by the folks at Prog Not Frog…I honestly don’t know what album this is from, but it doesn’t quite reach the heights of Better Art Music. You, dearest internut geek, can check out Isabel’s YouTube page for more.
Previously: Nicodemus Prentdo Discography
Hunx and his Punx x Teardrops
With Jay Reatard’s reconstituted label, Shattered Records, expect a slew of low brow punk and garage releases. Ahh…here’s one now. Vinyl ready and willing…
Previously: Q: Do you smoke? A: Fuck no.
Holly Golightly in the Land of Grimy Garages
Top ranking garage reissue from a Medway alum on Damaged Goods…check x Osmosis…
Wooden Shjips – Dos (Holy Mountain, 2009)
More heavy psych from the Bay….check EBX for the write up.
BLOGLOAD: Wooden Shjips – Dos
Nicodemus Prentdo Discography
How this guy is still around is a mystery. Nicodemus is apparently still active musically, but in case you don’t ever have the chance to see him a partial discography is below…
DISCOGRAPHY
1977: Spacechild Squall
1978: Backstreet Orange
1980: What For?
1984: The Strange Saga of Henryetta Flagetta
1986: Better Art Music
1990: Antennae Moonlight
Monoshock – Walk to the Fire (BlackJack Records, 1995)
This might change your life. As a part of the musical basis for the sound of Wooden Shjips, Monoshock arrived and disappeared without too much notice. Cop this disc and head over to S-S Records to snag the singles/demo comp.
BLOGLOAD: Walk to the Fire
Ty Segall – Too Much, Too Suck
This, friends, is THEE dude. It’s kinda garagey and kinda punky. The fact that, for the most part, listeners will have no idea what Ty Segall is singing doesn’t even matter.
He’s already put out a full length, but the unwieldy slew of singles and tapes may prove problematic for fans. So, thanks to Static Fuzz, here’s a clutch of ‘em.
A few of the songs are gonna be familiar to those of you who already copped the full length, but the version of “The Drag” here is completely different that what you’ve heard. Don’t sleep.
BLOGLOAD: Too Much, Too Suck
BUYALOAD: Chocolate Covered Records/Wizard Mountain