Monday, December 13, 2004
the summer before the summer of action was better
Laddio Bolocko "Goat Lips"
I saw Laddio Bolocko play an incredible show in some guy’s basement on the outskirts of Athens back in 1998. One of the band members spent the entire show staring directly into Scarnsworth's eyes; at one point only about six inches separated their faces. The music sounded like Can and the Flying Luttenbachers mixed with free jazz and the best parts of Trans Am. It was crazy and amazing and maybe the best house show I’ve ever been to. I knew very little about them going in, but they were awesome live, so I wound up buying their first album, The Strange Warmings of Laddio Bolocko. The first song on the record, ”Goat Lips”, begins like a Roman triumph, with jubilatory guitars ringing out to proclaim that Laddio Bolocko have successfully vanquished the Dalmations, or something. It quickly shifts into a heavy funk-rock that sounds like the theme song to some high-energy tv cop show, before winding up with a couple minutes of droning, repetitive guitar wank. It's like This Heat crossed with Oneida. It's so good I just want to bash my head on my desktop and let the red stuff flow.
I saw them again with Trans Am in 2000 or 2001, not too long before they broke up. They were still awesome, and completely blew Trans Am away. They put out a couple of other albums in 1998 and 1999; all three have been compiled on the two-disc The Life and Times of Laddio Bolocko. We hear at MezEcl would recommend this record about as highly as possible. You can order a copy from Forced Exposure, if you'd like.
Laddio Bolocko "Goat Lips"
I saw Laddio Bolocko play an incredible show in some guy’s basement on the outskirts of Athens back in 1998. One of the band members spent the entire show staring directly into Scarnsworth's eyes; at one point only about six inches separated their faces. The music sounded like Can and the Flying Luttenbachers mixed with free jazz and the best parts of Trans Am. It was crazy and amazing and maybe the best house show I’ve ever been to. I knew very little about them going in, but they were awesome live, so I wound up buying their first album, The Strange Warmings of Laddio Bolocko. The first song on the record, ”Goat Lips”, begins like a Roman triumph, with jubilatory guitars ringing out to proclaim that Laddio Bolocko have successfully vanquished the Dalmations, or something. It quickly shifts into a heavy funk-rock that sounds like the theme song to some high-energy tv cop show, before winding up with a couple minutes of droning, repetitive guitar wank. It's like This Heat crossed with Oneida. It's so good I just want to bash my head on my desktop and let the red stuff flow.
I saw them again with Trans Am in 2000 or 2001, not too long before they broke up. They were still awesome, and completely blew Trans Am away. They put out a couple of other albums in 1998 and 1999; all three have been compiled on the two-disc The Life and Times of Laddio Bolocko. We hear at MezEcl would recommend this record about as highly as possible. You can order a copy from Forced Exposure, if you'd like.
