Otto's Chemical Lounge - Spillover

Name: Otto's Chemical Lounge
Album: Spillover
Year:1985
Style: Garage Psych Rock
Similar Bands: Husker Du, Meat Puppets, Soul Asylum, MC5, Cows, Butthole Surfers
"One-Word" Review: Freak Out Psych-Sludge Rock
Based Out Of: Minneapolis, MN
Label: Homestead Records, Dutch East India Trading, LSR Records

Cover, Record

Record, Back

Spillover (1985)

1. Masturbation 1:45
2. Spillout 2:32
3. Shine 2:19
4. Shakin' All Over 2:22 (cover Johnny Kidd & the Pirates)/
5. Duquette Stomp 2:21
6. Departure Blues 3:48
7. Slow Death 2:49 (Cover: Flaming Groovies)
8. Me and My Mind 2:14

Album Rating (1-10): 6.5

Members & Other Bands:

• Paul Osby - Writer, Guitar, Vox, Producer (Todlachen, Blue Hippos)
• Dale T Nelson - Lead Vox (Hearsemen, Sheepherders, The Little Ones, Noble Mice)
• Al Schroeter - Bass (Blue Hippos, Junkboat, Patches & Gretchen, Germaine Gemberling)
• John Anglim - Drums (Bludgeon, Halo of Flies, H*O*F, Lydia Lunch, Haze XXL)
• Grant Hart - Producer, Vox (Husker Du, Noble Mice, Nova Mobb, Yanomamos, The Strangemen, Sugar, DYS, Haze XXL, H*O*F, Arsenal, Patti Smith, Melvins, Superdrag)
• Terry Katzman - Producer, Engineer, Percussion, Vox (Cerveza Muscular)
• Steve Fjelstad - Engineer

Unknown-ness: Never heard of them, but the band name reminds me of Ned's Atomic Dustbin, so i was into seeing what this was all about. Looks low budget and maybe a little psych, just from their logo and name. It doesn't look like anyone in the band is names Otto.

Album Review: The songs on here are gritty and dirty, unrefined and raw. A fuzzy noise version of MC5, and early Soul Asylum (fellow Minneapolitans). The vocals feel like an afterthought, and are mixed low in the production. The band continues to play on occasion in the twin cities (2020). Their first single came out on Husker Du's label, Reflex. So Husker Du's Grant Hart was one of the producers for this album, but their Du connection goes back to Osby's earlier band Todlachen, who also recorded with Bob Mould for Reflex Records, but it was never was released.

Stand Out Track: Shine

Links:

Youtube full album

Discogs

Allmusic

first-avenue

facebook

punk vault

band to band

Rate Your Music

MN Punk

83 poster

Membranes - Songs of Love & Fury

Name: Membranes

Album: Songs of Love And Fury

Year:1986

Style: Punk, Noise

Similar Bands: Dinosaur Jr, Big Black, Sonic Youth, Half Japanese, Clash, Game Theory, Captain Beefheart, 

One Word Review: Chaotic Noise-Stomp Pop

Based Out Of: Blackpool, Lancashire, UK

Label: Homestead Records, Dutch East India Trading, LSR Records

 Songs of Love And Fury - Cover, Liner Notes, Record

Songs of Love And Fury - Back, Liner Notes, Record

Songs of Love And Fury (1986)

1. Big Fun Tonight 3:39
2. Kennedy '63 2:48
3. Postdetergent Vacuum Cleaner Man 3:29
4. Day My Universe Changed 2:48
5. Bang! 1:40
6. Snaffle Flatch! 2:25
7. The Murder of Sister George 3:52 /
8. Spaceships 2:37
9. 1986 3:24
10. Thank Heavens for The Iron Horse 3:16
11. Sleaze Ball 2:12
12. Phoney TV Repair Man 2:55
13. The Elvis I Know Was No Junkie 0:46
14. Everyone's Going Triple Bad Acid, Yeah! 3:11
15. Jaw Cracker Fuzz 4:17

Album Rating (1-10): 8.0

Members & Other Bands:
Jack - Backing Vocals
Nick Brown - Backing Vocals, Guitar, Violin (Alberto Fortis, My Bloody Valentine, )
Keith Curtis - Bass, Guitar (Goldblade, A Witness)
Wallis Tadpole - Bass, Vox
Coofy Sid - Drums, Percussion
Mark Tilton - Guitar, Vacuum Cleaner (Blackpool Sixth From College, Creepers, Black Crack)
Noel Kilbride - Guitar (Bear, AC Temple)
Woody - Guitar
Chris Jones - Keyboards, Sitar, Violin
John Robb - Lead Vox, Guitar (Blackpool Sixth From College, Sportchestra, Therapy, Goldblade, Sarandon, Poly Styrene, Philip Boa & The Voodoo Club, Muscles, Sensurround, Tim Wheater, Cecilia, )
Simon Clegg - Cover Painting
Ted Chippington - Vox
Rollin' Nolan - Poem

Unknown-ness: I've never heard of this band before, but from the looks of the cover, the year 1986, and picture of the band on the back, it looks like this will be a college radio band with an edge. The cluttered sleeve suggests a DIY aesthetic, so it could be an indie college radio band, or it might skew a little more punk. I do enjoy the cover image of the pumpkins running from the jester with a slicer cart.

Album Review: The Membranes were a noise punk band of the late 70’s that rallied against conformist pop songs, melody, fame and popularity. The driving force, singer and writer John Robb was also a budding journalist, writing a Zine while in the band  (Rox), and working in musical journalism. He was the first journalist to interview Nirvana in 1989, and apparently, he was the first to use the word 'Britpop.' They had a bunch of noise albums, very little straightforward Melody, and this release was their biggest one in the states. They are still at it, at least an incarnation of them, today, and have new material slated to be release in the near future (Dark Matter). This album is reportedly more accessible than their past efforts, which makes it one of their best middle ground, and enjoyable records.

“Big Fun Tonight” begins with a jangly guitar and tinny, rhythmic drum. The bass and rhythm guitar parallel themselves without fail. The song is a bit of a charging oscillation between two marching sections. The vocals are not clear, and very percussive. They also have a bit of a rugged, chanting, Clash-ness to them.

“Kennedy '63” has a simple, fast, side to side drum beat to start out the song. The guitar chords are in time, and it reaches the chorus quickly, with a pretty melodic backing guitar hook. The vocals for the chorus are call and response “Kennedy’s says” and “Oh-Oh-Oh”. It even sounds like there is some electronic distortion added to the guitar making it sound like synth keys.

“Postdetergent Vacuum Cleaner Man” enters with a stiff quick drum beat. The heavy bass line and general humming noise is layered in behind. The vocals are monotone and droning, but layered with a higher tonal vocal in the back. The short section of the chorus is downright Vaselines catchy. This is the first song that really drives home the idea of a blistering wall of noise as the last two minutes are just the same brief pattered repeated.

“Day My Universe Changed” begins with dreamy guitar chords and watery rhythm guitar. The vocals are weak and drawn out, added accent this song as a dream pop or shoegazing song. About the 1:45 mark, the guitars begin to add a layer of buzzing, but it is quickly dispersed.

“Bang!” is introduced with a fast and very repetitive 4 chord strum. Deep spoken word vocals are layered overtop, and a general minimal, fuzzy post punk melody supports the speech.

“Snaffle Flatch!” puts jangly college music at the front, with a simple guitar hook. But the bass line has different ideas, and takes it to a much darker and off-key direction vocally.

“The Murder of Sister George” is a loopy guitar based song where again, the bass decides to make it more aggressive. The vocals shift from one two note melody to a higher inversed two-note melody. The chorus is basically just a catchy bass line, reminding me a little of Gang of Four, except a weak and stretched off-key vocal is purposely attained.

“Spaceships” combines catchy guitar & bass melodies in a driving, and shifting song. The chorus has a group sing along saying “Burn this spaceship down,” and at the base, is just a simple and catchy track, almost to the point where it is mesmerizing in an unconscious way.

“1986” breaks the straight forward melody idea with a colder, industrial-yet-organic style song with well out of tune chorus vocals and stress inducing violins. The picture this paints is an anxious, lost person looking for rescue.

“Thank Heavens for The Iron Horse” starts with a warbling, jittery accordion sound, and the song just takes off into a barn dance hoe-down, all based on the knee slapping bass line and driving drum beat. The vocals are barely audiable, and feel like an afterthought, lost in the energy of the bass.

“Sleazeball” the twangyness is not lost, as this song picks up where the last left up with a more head down driving song. Still featuring the note-less vocals, it has a little of a Man-Man atmosphere.

“Phoney TV Repair Man” has a bassline start the song, and follows up with an oscillating alarm effect, but those quickly pushed to the back for a pop song with sloppy vocals, but a catchy tempo.

“The Elvis I Know Was No Junkie” stumbles at first with a jangly guitar sections that blossoms into a dead milkmen like melody with slowly spoken British vocals laid over top.

“Everyone's Going Triple Bad Acid, Yeah!” sounds like a toy guitar at the intro, it is tinny, and fuzzy, and very lo-fi. Like a true punk song, the vocals cruise up and down, supported by the chord changes. The song has a very juvenile feel to it, but the vocals go all in when it gets to the heartfelt or vision-inducing chorus. They use a lot of weird vocal sounds to pepper and enhance the melody.

“Jaw Cracker Fuzz” echos with the tinny guitar and dark melody. The drums are lively, and the music plays along, but it comes from a dark place. The vocals brighten it up a bit, and this does not feel like an album ending song. Based on this, they would still have a lot of energy left for three more tracks. But they must have just run out of room. 

Stand Out Track: Kennedy '63 (live)

Links:
Wiki
Discogs
Allmusic
Robb article w/ BBC
Metro 60 Sec interview
Robb's Website Louder than War
Membranes FB

Ground Zero - Pink

Name: Ground Zero
Album: Pink
Year: 1985
Style: Hard-Core, Punk
Similar Bands: Dead Milkmen, King Missle, Early Dismemberment Plan, Early NOFX
"One-Word" Review: Silly-Proto-Alternative/Grunge
Based Out Of: Minneapolis, MN
Label: Reflex Records, Dutch East India Trading, L.S.R. Records

Pink - Cover & Promo sheet
Pink - Back & Record

Pink (1985)

1. Will You Please 1:24
2. South 2:27
3. Just a Criminal 1:59
4. Company 3:47
5. The 11th Hour of the Skippy Peanut Cluster 1:31
6. Revenge of the Blimp 2:14/
7. Pink 2:54
8. Patriot 3:46
9. One Half Hour / The Legendary Rose 5:26

Album Rating (1-10): 6.5

Members & Other Bands:

Bob Mould - Producer, Engineer (Husker Du)

Steve Fjelstad - Producer, Engineer

Taras Ostroushko - Guitar Vox (Henry, Terry Eason)

Jamie Ronnei - Bass

Dave Evenhouse - Drums (Million Megaton Explosion, Wahinis)

Val Sutpher - Cover Art & graphic Design

Unknown-ness: I’ve never heard of this band, and I don’t know exactly why I got it. The cover art is a bit juvenile, with rats working at construction. The image, name and album title don’t seem to be connected at all except that the font is pink. But I am familiar with Dutch East India Trading co a little, and that is something familiar I can take assurance from. Also I like how the back is set up, it is very indie, with the band images in the middle and the lyrics right there too. The back says Bob Mould produced and engineered it, so that lends it self, along with the recording year of 1985, to being a competent record.

Album Review: “Will You Please” has a metal guitar pulsate in the beginning that after a couple of measures is picked up with the driving bass and drum beat. The vocals are basically spoken, and fast at that, and it reminds me very much of the Dead Milkmen. It is about riding a skateboard, and it places the singer’s identity of a mo-hawked punk into the song.
“South” again, has the vocals that are more spoken than sung over the music that comes in little sections that are split by tempo changes. It is fast in general, but it is fun and upbeat, rather than angry and aggressive. The guitar is nearly prog in its cruising up and down the musical scales.
“Just a Criminal” is a story song about a person put in jail, who should only be thought of as a criminal. And the storyline is dripping with sarcasm. It ends quite abruptly, but it follows the whole heavy punk/metal edge.
“Company” begins with a metal guitar base, but then quickly switched to a bouncy pop number, reminiscent of the Violent Femmes in the music. But it quickly changes to Screaming Trees or Dinosaur Jr when the guitars enter back on.
“The 11th Hour of the Skippy Peanut Cluster” is a fast thrash song with vocals spoken over it like slam poetry. It is like free-form jazz with beat poetry...but the jazz is speed metal, and the poetry is nonsense silliness. They clash with each other perfectly, creating more art than song.
“Revenge of the Blimp” takes off after bit of silence. It speeds through fast so the kids can slam and mosh together. But the vocals are laid over top, sounding a bit like Weird Al / early Dismemberment Plan. Yes. Early Dis. Plan is a good comparison. But it is not nearly as good. At the end of the song, the singer has a bit of mouth foaming ranting, but he settles down for the ending.

“Pink” finds the singer using a higher end singing style. The complexly crafted song changes behind the vocals, begging them to change with it, alas, no vocals are layered over the most complex changes. But where they do meet up, the vocals still seem teetering off key. They are wimpy and trembling, probably exactly how the band designed them. This is the most song of the songs, and it really pre-dates but would fit in perfectly with what was to come from Seattle 4-5 a few years later.
“Patriot” is a country folk-metal song. It is designed with simple chord changes, and the thumping bass and drum beats drive it on faster, leaving the true folk aesthetic behind. I could see the kids at the show doing a tongue-in-cheek square dancing hoe-down that would quickly transition into spinning their “partners” around and letting go into the crowd, thanks to centrifugal force.
“One Half Hour / The Legendary Rose” begins with a competent drum beat and electric guitar wailing, but overlapped, they throw each other off, and they seem very off beat. But they soon sync up around 45 seconds and continue to grow faster through out the musical intro. Around 1:15 they gain musical harmony and play out the rest of the intro, occasionally falling into a chaotic spiral, but it digs itself out with meandering scales and a solid drum beat. The bass helps out, but is really covered over by the drums. Around 2:45, the vocals, a story reading really, begins as the music pauses. The reading continues as the music pounds and pulses through the background. At 3:45, the vocals stop and the song changes direction to a silly speed punk/metal song. The vocals strip any hard core image that they might have by sounding like a zany Weird Al. The song ends with sound effects from the guitars and sporadic notes played without any real cohesion. And somewhere, for seemingly no good reason the album ends.

Stand Out Track: Will You Please

Links:

Kill From The Heart

Flex!
Andrew Earles

Discogs

Happy Family - Lucky

Name: Happy Family
Album: Lucky
Year: 1990
Style: Proto-Alternative
Similar Bands: Sonic Youth, Half Japanese, L7 (lite), King Missile, Pylon
"One-Word" Review: Juvinilly-friendly-lo-fi-noise-pop-punk
Based Out Of: Austin, TX
Label: Dutch East India Trading, 50,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 WATTS Records, Inc.

Lucky - Front & back insert & back
Lucky - Liner Notes & CD

Lucky (1990)

1. Cavemen in Neckties 3:03
2. We Love You We Don't Love You 2:00
3. Listen 2:32
4. Lucky 3:55
5. Nothing to Do With Anything At All 4:09
6. Big Ass on Fire 4:04
7. 8 Good Reasons 2:28
8. She's Your Trashcan 3:06
9. Everyday 2:07
10. World Of Distraction 3:59
11. Wear Your Clothes1:51
12. Bodies Lie 3:30
13. Where's My Tribe 3:48

Album Rating (1-10): 7.5

Members & Other Bands:
Cindy Widner - Vox, Cover Design (Flinchtones)
Laura Creedle - Guitars, Vox (Flinchtones)
Rich Malley - Drums Vox (Scratch Aid)
Julia Austin - Bass, Vox, Clarinet, Tinwhistle, Cover Design, Art (Chlorine, Wild Seeds, Kamikaze Refrigerators)
Spot - Guitar, Producer, Engineer, Denmother
Lynell Malley - Cover Design, Art
Ellen Gibbs - Drawing
R.U. Steinberg - Photography

Unknown-ness: I seem to remember buying this cd out of a cheap CD bin at a chain store like Tower Records somewhere, sometime before college like 10+ years ago. But I don’t remember where or for how much. I remember trying to listen to it when I was in college, but did not like it too much. But maybe I never gave it a chance. I bought it because I liked the imagery, the Spanish flash cards with block coloring were a neat touch, and they kinda look like tarot cards. I also might have picked up the cd because it is on the same label Half Japanese used for a few records. The cd printing looks very homemade/generic, but that could also be the limited quality indie labels were able to make back in 1990.

Album Review: “Cavemen in Neckties” starts out with lo-fi drums and heavy guitars and monotone girl-punk chanting. The chorus consists of shouting female vocals. It falls somewhere between post-punk Delta 5 & a lighter L7 or Bikini Kill. The vocals are not really singing, as in sing-talking. But the lyrics are silly, like something I’d expect from a Half Japanese or Dead Milkman song. “We Love You We Don’t Love You” picks up the pace, with Devo like chord changes, but without synthesizers. The vocals are not sung in any kind of key, similar to Kim Gordon’s style, without as much guttural snarling. The final note of you is held onto for an unnecessarily long time. “Listen” gives off a snarky, cocky girl personality with the vocal style and tempo of the music. It actually reminds me a lot of the song that the fake band at the end of “Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge” plays. I can see why I did not like the record in college; I never gave the style the time of day. But I like and appreciate it more now, and although the record is not great, it is more tolerable than I thought previously. “Lucky” is a quiet shoegazing, meandering song featuring somewhat of a drum march beat. It is like the bed time lullaby that Belly could pull off. A random drum beat and chaotically unbalanced heavy buzzing guitars introduce “Nothing to Do with Anything At All” but then some cohesiveness takes place and the song begins to rock. The off-key female Blondie vocals we’ve become used to start, but they are supplemented with energetically loud Braniac-Style guy vocals. You can just feel the beginning of Alternative music style ooze out all over the place here. “Big Ass on Fire” begins with a funky, catchy, jittery guitar beat, and the monotone female vocals compliment the music by not taking any distraction away from it. The chorus is a little juvenile, but it is nothing unexpected from the album’s content thus far. The vocals sound tired and half-heartedly performed. Although that I might just be what the song demands, and what they wanted. If the song was not so long, and had just one more interesting section, it would be the best track thus far.

“8 Good Reasons” starts with a rockin, drivin drum beat, and a great female vocal, which reminds me of an audible Mika Miko. It is a solid punk song without the inhibiting angry punk energy. “She's Your Trashcan” has a mellowed deeper female vocal that actually is singing, in a PJ Harvey way. The song is somewhat boring, even if the chorus is nicely repetitive and has a basic-yet-catchy hook. “Everyday” has shredding guitars in the start, and the vocals are similar to “Listen,” with smarter-than-you personality inspiring vocals. It is not a fast paced song, but it is begrudgingly plodding. “World Of Distraction” is like King Missile in its minimal music and story time vocals. The vocals maybe a bit like the Pretenders, too. The tempo is similar to Aimee Mann’s “Your With Stupid Now.” And the song ends with a latter day XTC like guitar and bass instrumental section. “Wear Your Clothes” is nonchalantly sung over a catchy pop-punk hook. This one is a shame that it is so short, and only uses the big hook once in its under two minute length. “Bodies Lie” comes to a slow whirling start with echoey metallic noises. And the song stumbles along thanks to an extraordinarily slow drum beat. And my CD has decided to stop playing after freezing up a few times during the song. But I did not sense it going anywhere too different than what I got from the first minute and a half. I was able to jump ahead, and realized that it really did not go anywhere too different from the first half. It is a constantly building song, that feels like it might get somewhere, but never does. “Where's My Tribe” ends the record with a dancy tambourine beat and light picked guitar work. A building bouncy bass is added too, and the song sounds a bit like Pylon. Supporting female and male vocals are added in the chorus, and the song continues to build in energy in its instrumentation. Other effects, like a recorder, are added, and its complexity is on par with some of the more intricate Violent Femmes songs. Over all, not that intricate, but each element blends its own unique sound, yet you can listen to each thing individually.

Stand Out Track: 8 Good Reasons

Links:
Cindy as Author for Austin Chronicle
Hole In The Wall Review 2/22/1991
Amazon + reviews