After a three-year break occasioned in part by wrangles with the Sky label, Swans returned in 1995 with a vengeance, as always pursuing their unique muse of dramatic, ever-more textured music. Gira and Jarboe work with a fantastic core band this time out, including returning veteran Westberg, who trades off guitar duties with Steele, at points playing together with him, a magnificent combination. Other returning musicians include Kizys and Parsons, while newer players like drummer Bill Rieflin from the Chicago Wax Trax!
circle join as well. As is par for the course by now, Swans seem incapable of producing a bad album, Annihilator being crammed full of astonishing songs to prove it. Everything's a little more stripped-down here, possibly due to having a central band, but it's still all very lushly arranged and created, perfectly balancing force and restraint.
Leadoff single "Celebrity Lifestyle" is one of the catchiest things the band has ever done, but it's still uniquely Swans -- a minimal, throbbing song matched with a sharp lyric on starlust and what it might mean. "I Am the Sun" pounds as hard as any early Swans track, but the use of careful space between blasts, Gira's heavily echoed, out-of-nowhere vocal (accentuated by equally vivid background vocals from Jarboe), and tempo shifts clearly demonstrates the constantly evolving nature of Swans music; the band is never content to simply repeat the past. Jarboe's own standout tracks include "Mother/Father," a brawling number showcasing both her and the band at their full-on best, and "My Buried Child," with her softly husked take on a terrifying Gira lyric, which is carried by a roiling rhythm.
This is followed immediately by the sweeping, cinematic "Warm," where she contributes wordless vocals. Once again, Swans have created an epic, incredible work of art.
This was a transitive period for Gira and Jarboe's SWANS, a natural progression from the previous "bunny" artwork themed albums ("White Light From the Mouth of Infinity" and "Love Of Life") and a premonition of what was to come with the conclusive trilogy ("Die T
ür Ist Zu", "Soundtracks For The Blind" and "SWANS Are DEAD"). Many of "TGA"'s songs delve into a darker and grittier sound but also maintain melody, mixed moods and brevity. "Celebrity Lifestyle" and "Mother/Father" flirt dangerously with mainstream rock roll conventions while "Mind/Body/Light/Sound", "My Buried Child" and "Alcohol The Seed" throb with tantric mantras.Tenderness is a distinctive trait of "Blood Promise", "Warm", "Killing For Company" and "Mother's Milk", the last of which features an especially bittersweet vocal by Jarboe. Lyrical themes follow Gira's ever-present obsessions with the eternally entangled dualities of life and death, love and hate, mind and body, man and "God", etc. The title track embraces Stephen Hawking's theory of an omnivorous, universe destroying black hole - science's embodiment of God, perhaps.
Near the end Gira invitingly sings "come on in and come inside" in harmony with the title and Jarboe's backing over a spiraling mass of percussion laden rock, perfectly evoking the very nature of said sucker. To my ears the remastering improves overall clarity but is far from drastic and the bonus track, a bootleg quality live rendition of "I Am The Sun", pales in comparison to the version on "SWANS Are DEAD". No matter.
"The Great Annihilator" is what nearly all SWANS albums were and remain to be: powerful, evocative and, ultimately for me, indispensable ...
The disc opens with a trio of songs that on the surface have elements of straightforward rock.
"The Grain Kings" is a power trip-pop song that is catchy and has a definite sense of rock n roll, but still has oodles of that nasty ST 37 space punk aggression. "A Huge, Rare Cheese" is similar but with killer meltdown guitars. "Stack Collision With Heap" is the track that would be ST 37's best shot at a single with college radio play.
But don't let that put you off because the whining and winding ST 37 guitars are still much in evidence.
Things change dramatically, however, with "Daniel Said", a chunky slab of balls to the walls holy shit here comes a meteor SPACE PUNK! Phewwwww.
.. not even 4 minutes long and this one wore me out.
"Oh My, Goddamn" is a space punk instrumental that I enjoyed. And the band get a little into punk metal with "Caves Of Ice". "Sweet Thought" is a tune that almost has a love song quality, though all around it are ricochet UFO synths and whining trip guitars.
"Hit In The Head" is similar but the guitars go far deeper into space. "Curse Of The Strained" is a trancier tune with haunting cello by guest Sara Nelson. But it soon blasts off into space with wall-of-sound chainsaw guitar chords and freakout alien synths.
An excellent song. "You'll Die In A Carcrash" is a cool tune with classic ST 37 cosmic aggression. And the closing track, "Valentine Alibi", is a 14 minute psycho acid meltdown that plods along like Godzilla having a stroll through the streets of Tokyo.
If you want something meditational you can forget it...
this is dark and aggressive stuff that Klingons and Romulons everywhere will love.
In summary, for me this is ST 37 at their very best. The trademark ST 37 space and psychedelic punk sensibility is not only ever present but shows a band well tuned to one another during instrumental workouts and jams.
Fans don't want to miss this one.
Reviewed by Jerry Kranitz.
Bio :
ST 37 was formed in January 1987 as a merger of sorts between Austin cult bands Tulum and the Elegant Doormats.
Bassist S.L. Telles has been active in the Texas music underground since singing with Houston teen punkers Vast Majority in '79-'80, releasing a single on Wild Dog records that has since been reissued several times, including outtakes.
Telles formed the Elegant Doormats in spring 1982 with original ST 37 drummer John Foxworth (who later joined Tulum). The group endured for five years, playing with bands like the Butthole Surfers and the Reivers, and recording with legendary God of Hellfire Arthur Brown.
Guitarist Joel Crutcher and vocalist Carlton Crutcher founded Tulum in 1985, and recorded for Rabid Cat records before that label disintegrated.
Jello Biafra wrote, "The bizarre side of Austin is still alive - first the Buttholes, then Scratch Acid, and now Tulum."
After recruiting Jon Torn (son of Rip; from the band Thanatopsis Throne) on keyboards, ST 37 began playing out in April of 1987 at the Cave Club with the Def MFs (still called Def MCs at that point). The stage was set right away when Telles informed the crowd that if they didn't like it they could leave.
The band released the cassette EP "billygoat nothinghead" late in the year, and thus began a string of cassette only releases.
ST 37 made their vinyl debut in 1990 on the Noiseville Records sampler, "From Twisted Minds Come..
.", and the 7" single, "Look at yr Chair", followed soon afterward. Lance Farley replaced Foxworth on the drum throne at this point and Shane Shelton took over from Torn on the keyboard duties.
Live shows continued unabated, with ST 37 organizing the Noisefests at Waterloo Park featuring bands like Ed Hall, Seemen, Crust, Liquid Mice, Pocket FishRmen, Coz the Shroom, Squat Thrust, etc.
Following the cassette LPs "feature silica vicarious" and "from space w/love" ST 37 finally entered the digital age with Over and Out records of Austin releasing the "Invisible College" CD. The release of a second single, "Taboo/Hoodoo", saw the addition of Craig Johnson from Puffy Brutha Man on rhythm guitar.
This expanded six piece lineup traveled to Phoenix for the Arizona Music Conference, but disintegrated soon after that, with Farley leaving first to be replaced by Cisco Ryder G. and Shelton and Johnson bailing shortly thereafter. Carlton Crutcher expanded his musical role in the band to include sequencer (Roland SH 101) and Telles began utilizing occasional keyboards and drones to fill the gap.
ST 37's first tour followed, with the newly trim 4-piece lineup playing two weeks of shows on the west coast in January 1993. A third single, "The Gypsy's Curse" was released on Prospective in 1994, spawning a two week Midwestern jaunt that summer. The band met with Paul Stark of Twin Tone records in Minneapolis, papers were signed, an advance was paid, but alas.
. it was not to be. Perhaps ST 37's next project, the sprawling double LP, "Glare", was a bit much for Twin Tone.
John Kass of Prospective was soon able to find a home for it with Helter Skelter records of Rome.
After "Glare", ST 37 toured the Midwest again, this time with Prospective lablemates the Green Machine. Further recording projects followed, including appearances on Bowie and Hawkwind tribute records.
Finally, after completing the sessions the resulted in the "derobe" split LP with Vocokesh on RRR, Cisco quit the band, but was kind enough to find his own replacement, Dave Cameron of Roky Erickson and Evilhook Wildlife E.T., Glass Eye, Brave Combo, 3-Day Stubble, etc.
, etc. fame.
1997 saw the addition of Mark Stone on rhythm guitar, allowing Joel to further explore the stratosphere on lead.
Another Midwest jaunt was undertaken which saw the band playing their largest and most successful show yet at Weedstock outside of Madison WI. A compilation CD of the event was released featuring a smokin' live version of the band's Neu! cover medley, "Hallohero".
Contacts formed from roadwork enabled the band to fulfill a long-term ambition to play with Hawkwind . This happened on Labor Day weekend at the Strange Daze festival in Sherman, NY. Other space rock luminaries such as Nik Turner's Space Ritual, F/i Farflung, Alien Planetscapes, etc.
were also on the bill. A CD compilation of this show has been released on Pangea records.
January 1998: After the release of "Spaceage" on yet another Italian label (Black Widow of Genoa), ST 37 saw their most significant local recognition yet with a major feature in the Austin Chronicle and a string of prime Saturday night shows with the likes of 7% Solution, Ursa Major and 60's psych legends Silver Apples.
An original score for the 1926 Fritz Lang classic "Metropolis" was written that summer and has been played three times since then at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema to ecstatic, ticket-scalping crowds and adoring press. Large portions of the score will emerge on "The Insect Hospital", a forthcoming double LP/single CD from Black Widow Records.
July 1999: After the release of the vinyl-only limited edition LP "The Secret Society", ST 37 played five dates in the Bay Area with some great bands like 3-Day Stubble, Liquorball, Beyond-O-Matic and the amazing Rubber O Cement.
1999 also saw the release of "I love to talk...
if there's anything to talk about...
" on Emperor Jones. Finally the ST 37 virus can spread to all corners of the globe through the massive veins of the Touch and Go/ADA/Southern Studios distribution/global conspiracy network. Along with Alastair Galbraith and Adam Wiltzie of Stars of the Lid, ST 37 accompanied Pip Proud on his Emperor Jones CD, "Oncer", released 2/00.
No less than six different compilations appeared featuring ST 37 contributions.
Summer 2000: ST 37 journeys to the East Coast to make their NYC debut at Tonic. Shows are also played with Bardo Pond in Philadelphia and at Strange Daze 2000 with Daevid Allen's University of Errors and many more.
A live broadcast is recorded at WFMU studios. A good time is had by all.
KFJC releases the extended 3-guitar version of "Nicht Jetzt" on their excellent 2xCD compilation "Live from the Devil's Triangle Vol.
2". The band finishes work on "The Insect Hospital" CD and double LP in the spring of 2001, and begins a series of limited edition CDR releases with the improvisational "Frantic Search for Zero". After a stellar Roky Erickson benefit show the band enters Sweatbox Studios to record their ninth LP.
Midway through the recordings Carlton Crutcher leaves the band. Although a founding member, Carlton's musical role in the band was changing and he needed to devote more time to his project with his wife Sharon, Book of Shadows..
.Nonetheless, the as yet untitled album is rushing towards completion as the band awaits the proposed February 2002 release of "The Insect Hospital". Work has also begun on a new score for another Fritz Lang silent film, "Destiny" (Der Mude Tod), which will debut at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema on 4/27/02.
..
News RSS