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THE BON
VIVANTS
Soul Action (Old Gold) $11
The Bon Vivants is a band led by Ben Young, who runs
the avant-noise-improv label Old Gold in Atlanta. In the past, Ben has
also
headed a couple of song-oriented art-pop bands (Bad Poet and Forever),
but this time around the rock is way out front. Although definitely
post-punk in form and attitude, it's hard not to hear bands like the
Raspberries and Big Star at the heart
of what's happening here (and the Beatles at the root). If you're
used to listening to shiny digital sound, my first suggestion here
is that you turn up the volume on this platter. Bass player Ben
Lawless's 4-track cassette production is brilliant, but it still sounds
thin and murky if you don't boost the output. Personally, I think
a few bottles of Bass Pale Ale also helps a lot! It all kicks off with
"Mercury and Cream," which sounds so much
like Big Star playing Eno's "Burning Airlines Give You So Much More."
Then the boys use a modified "Sweet Jane" riff for "Highway," which
features some excellent spazz-guitar leads. This segues nicely into
"Basketbakers," a tune filled with delicious outta-kilter hooks. "The
Bells" begins with flying saucer whoosh, which quickly yields to
a groovy pop riff and vocals with the reverb turned up to 11. Just
beautiful--it should already be at the top of the hiss parade. Flip
over the record
and dig guitarist Rob Parham's oh-too-brief "Pink Sangria," a nifty
blend of Voidoid slither rock and power pop. Then they pull out another
"Sweet Jane"-like riff for the intro to "Infinite Surprise," gliding
right into a song filled with the spirit of Midwestern pre-punk circa
1974. "The Lake" reminds me of the Beau Brummels from their mature Bradley's
Barn/Triangle period. The Bon Vivants dangle that jangle in
your ear better than anybody since at least the 1980s (and I don't mean
R.E.M.!). Ben Y. sez "The Mall Song" was influenced by Simply Saucer,
and who am I to argue? But it's Simply Saucer at their most concise. To
my ears, it has that sweet Syd Barrett/Soft Boys thing that a lot of
bands did so well in the late 1970s--but not much since then. How'd a
band of noise lovers from Georgia get back and down to such an
unpretentious approach? Well, I think part of
the "secret" is exactly that the outsider improv mindset has once again
embraced something that's even more basic to American cultural
consciousness: R&R. No irony either. Everything old is new again,
and you can hear excitement in these grooves that mere retro rockers
always miss because they've spent too much time listening to
the same music. Ben Young, who also plays guitar and keyboards, has an
unpretentious vocal style with the same sort of mild Southern drawl and
slightly geeky whoop that once made Alex Chilton sound so special. And
he's aided by
a fine band: Ben Lawless (bass, percussion, guitars), Rob Parham
(guitars), and Tim Genius (drums). Hey man, these guys are for real,
and not even slightly full of shit. How many rock bands in 2006 can
pull that off? Well . . . maybe more than a few years ago, but it's
still no mean feat. And speakin' of feets, let's roll the rug off the
floor and . . . I think you know the next part: boogie!
NEW, UNPLAYED COPY
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CRAWLSPACE
God-Zee (Behemoth Records) $20
OUT OF PRINT; VERY FEW COPIES LEFT.
Byron Coley, Ecstatic Yod website: "It was on this
record
that Crawlspace really began to show their potential. From the
unexpected
opening gambit--an exploration of Ornette's 'Theme from a
Symphony'--into
a very stoned valley of free rock space, this is the sound of acid
transmuting
garage rock fans into prophets of truth. Eddie Flowers is one of the
strangest
visionaries rock music has thus far produced and his attempts to name
the
unknown here are nothing short of glorious. For reasons I cannot
comprehend
this band remains below the radar of all but a few people who truly
breathe
w/ all their holes open."
Released February 1993. Recorded 1991. Edition of 600
copies. With Eddie Flowers, Joe Dean, Mark McCormick, Keith Telligman,
and Bob Lee.
NEW, UNPLAYED COPY
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DANCING FRENCH LIBERALS OF
'48
Scream Clown Scream (Broken Rekids/Revenge Records) PICTURE DISC
$24
Picture disc with five tracks. Released 1994.
VINYL EXCELLENT/NEAR MINT |
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