musings, ramblings, observations, all blown out of proportion and mistaken for insights


Wednesday, May 18, 2011

thank you, Cleveland & Lou Reed

There are a plethora of things to thank The Velvet Underground for and one of them is playing in Cleveland Ohio in the late 60's, inspiring a group of young musicians to ignore traditional music theory as well as the industry standards of the time and express the industrial angst they felt with an intensity and abandon not previously seen in music. Bands like Rocket From the Tombs, Mirrors, The Electric Eels and The Styrenes are rarely given recognition by the mainstream but left behind a sonic blueprint for not only punk rock but for the avant-garde tendencies of post-punk as well. In an age where being 'art-rock' meant sounding like ELP or Yes bands from Cleveland were recording lo-fi noise masterpieces that were arty without being pretentious or overwrought.

Rocket From the Tombs are probably best known for two reasons: Pere Ubu and The Dead Boys. Both groups were spawn of the RFTT and represent two opposing but equally important poles of the punk axis; Ubu were art damaged weirdos inspired by dadaism and free-jazz while The Dead Boys were nihilistic and rude rock'n'roll traditionalist that had more in common with The New York Dolls. Rocket From the Tombs utilized both of these musical approaches. There leader was the self-destructive genius Peter Laughner (RIP) whose Lou Reed fixation possibly led to his premature death of acute pancreatitis. Though they never recorded a proper album they are one of the most incendiary groups to grace rock history.



Consisting of demoes and live recordings from the group, 'The Day The Earth Met the Rocket from the Tombs' is an essential collection for anyone looking to witness the genesis of punk rock. If you are familiar with the work of Pere Ubu and The Dead Boys many of these songs will already be familiar to you but exist here in there rawest and most authentic form, unhindered by production and sanitation. Stand out cuts include an explosive cover of the Velvet Underground rarity 'Foggy Notion' that adds even more of a relentless pulse to the original, a stumbling and anarchic early version of the Pere Ubu classic 'Life Stinks' that sounds like Captain Beefheart on quaaludes and 'Aint it Fun', an absolutely timeless rock anthem of alienation and violence. Given greater fame by The Dead Boys and mistreated by Guns'n'Roses, 'Ain't it Fun' is a plea for redemption from drug addled and shattered soul of Peter Laughner.

Ain't it fun when you're always on the run
Ain't it fun when your friends despise what you've become
Ain't it fun when you get so high that you, well you just can't come
Ain't it fun when you know that you're gonna die young

While Rocket From The Tombs approached nihilism they never reached the same level of sheer sociopathic madness as their contemporaries The Electric Eels. Probably the closest of the Cleveland bands to the modern definition of punk, The Electric Eels completely dismissed political correctness as much as they abandoned traditional music theory. Their songs are explosive and angry, bathed in distortion and fuzz and set to a primal back-beat that threatens to split ones mind open at any second. On 'Agitated' one can practically hear singer Dave McManus pulling his hair out while practically screaming in agony about how "the whole world stinks". Atonal guitar solos and fractured rhythmic sensibilities are abound, showing a band aware of their complete lack of commercial potential as well as the innovations of free jazz and Captain Beefheart. This is not to say The Eels are unlistenable - some of their songs are even catchy, carrying an infectious drive that could be missing link between The Stooges and punk 77.




The Electric Eels are not a band to play around your politically correct liberal roommates - songs like 'You Crummy Fags' and 'Spinach Blasters' are completely irresponsible flirtations with homophobia and racism that come across as completely tasteless and even harmful. One could easily assume the band to be the first neo-nazi punk band as well, their flirtations with swastika imagery not helping their case either. However guitarist Paul Marotta pleaded otherwise - "It was shock tactics, it was confrontational art, it was meant to be satire". Many bands in the future would take this same approach but The Eels were the first to cross the line of social acceptability as daringly.

If one wants to hear the best work of The Electric Eels one can find a good selection of their material on the compilation album 'Those Were Different Times: Cleveland 1972 - 1976' as well as their 'Eyeball of Hell' album.

Mirrors on the other hand were a far artier group, less afraid to embrace 60's influences and romantic sentimentality. Also featured on the "Those Were Different Times" compilation they are as indebted to Syd Barrett era Pink Floyd as they are to Lou Reed. This doesn't make Mirrors prog wankoff's by any means - they are just as capable of raw immediacy as they are of psychedelic whimsy. 'How Could I' is an almost victorian sounding ballad that works beautifully and could fit alongside the best works of The Kinks while 'Everything Near Me' almost sounds like something from The Nuggets Compilation. While the Electric Eels had their strengths in attitude Mirrors are simply gifted songwriters that aim for the sublime rather than the nauseating. Weird sonic experiments never get in the way of their incessant garage rock drive and melodic sensibility. Along with their contemporaries The Styrenes, Mirrors carry a sort of nostalgia for the 60's counterculture that punk rock prided itself in stomping on the grave of. However this is a 60's where The Velvet Underground were just as important as The Beatles, with any signs of pretentious hippy spirituality thankfully missing.



What is so essential and important about the Cleveland proto-punk scene, beyond it's influence on future musicians, is that it demonstrates the greatness that comes from musicians who are liberated from the need for commercial success and inspired by the bleakness that surrounds them. In a time where rock music was getting more and more overproduced and predicable the aforementioned bands favored authenticity over pop postures. Pioneering 'lo-fi' before it became a hip buzzword on Pitchfork and refusing to follow any rules, social or musical, Cleveland was the brewing ground for a musical ethos that still reverberates through the sound of artist to this day.

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