Holding me down
FLY ASHTRAY "Rapscallion"
Proving the old adage that inside every middle aged man there's a teenage girl (and I don't mean that literally) I have to admit to being something of a MySpace addict at times, which is insanely dorky I know. But I have reconnected with some old friends on that thing, as well as been exposed to some really good music in addition to the expected emo-pap. (PS: Add me!!!!!)
Today I got a myspace friendster request from Fly Ashtray, a band who, in my first failed attempt at having a record label, I put out a CD (via Shimmy Disc) of theirs plus a 7" (via the band so it wasn't really like it was "my" release but the logo, that Redon eyeball/ balloon drawing, looked awesome on the label of the single). Damn, horrible sentence construction there.
Listening to their new-ish songs on their myspace page, I was surprised at how great their new material is -- not very different from their old stuff, but you don't always expect bands to be good after being around for twenty-three years. Sometimes toiling in obscurity can do wonders for your output. Speaking of which, Fly Ashtray's a band that would seriously benefit from a deft compilation disc, since the one thing they allways seemed to lack is an editorial impulse; some of the tunes they put out on their packed to thegills records were so awful you couldn't believe it. Sort of endearingly awful, but awful nonetheless.
This song here, "Rapscallion," it has so many hallmarks of F.A., maybe that's why I like it so. Successive layerings of guitar, guitar and bass, all following the same rhythm and melody, a bit staggered from each other on purpose; Kavoussi's pleasant voice buried almost entirely in the mix; drums that sound like cardboard; demented surf elements; and a lot of weird little almost-hidden obsessive stuff that starts to pop out after a few listens. Eptness and ineptitude co-exist so wonderfully with this band. They did the too-short-and-very-Beatley-but-fucked-up song thing well before anyone had heard GBV outside of Dayton. And they continue to do it today, rather well. Rejoice, and stuff.
Proving the old adage that inside every middle aged man there's a teenage girl (and I don't mean that literally) I have to admit to being something of a MySpace addict at times, which is insanely dorky I know. But I have reconnected with some old friends on that thing, as well as been exposed to some really good music in addition to the expected emo-pap. (PS: Add me!!!!!)
Today I got a myspace friendster request from Fly Ashtray, a band who, in my first failed attempt at having a record label, I put out a CD (via Shimmy Disc) of theirs plus a 7" (via the band so it wasn't really like it was "my" release but the logo, that Redon eyeball/ balloon drawing, looked awesome on the label of the single). Damn, horrible sentence construction there.
Listening to their new-ish songs on their myspace page, I was surprised at how great their new material is -- not very different from their old stuff, but you don't always expect bands to be good after being around for twenty-three years. Sometimes toiling in obscurity can do wonders for your output. Speaking of which, Fly Ashtray's a band that would seriously benefit from a deft compilation disc, since the one thing they allways seemed to lack is an editorial impulse; some of the tunes they put out on their packed to thegills records were so awful you couldn't believe it. Sort of endearingly awful, but awful nonetheless.
This song here, "Rapscallion," it has so many hallmarks of F.A., maybe that's why I like it so. Successive layerings of guitar, guitar and bass, all following the same rhythm and melody, a bit staggered from each other on purpose; Kavoussi's pleasant voice buried almost entirely in the mix; drums that sound like cardboard; demented surf elements; and a lot of weird little almost-hidden obsessive stuff that starts to pop out after a few listens. Eptness and ineptitude co-exist so wonderfully with this band. They did the too-short-and-very-Beatley-but-fucked-up song thing well before anyone had heard GBV outside of Dayton. And they continue to do it today, rather well. Rejoice, and stuff.
posted by Mike McGonigal at 10:55 AM
2 Comments:
Every once in while, a group comes along with sounds that reverberate some internal chord that shifts your ear and utterly alters your sense of what music can do.
Fly Ashtray strummed that inner twang a decade or so ago, when Robert Price (KLS) duped a cassette of Clumps for me. I wore that tape to nothing in my car stereo (boombox) with obsessive listening and the help of South Floridian heat and humidity.
The Chemical Imbalance 7" featuring Pavement, Sun City Girls, Kicking Giant, T.V. Personalities and Faust was another multi-track shifter.
All threads from the above wind back to you and forward to now, with one all-capped thank you.
THANKS MIKE
—R
Appreciate this blog post
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