TEEBO/LANDO – SPLIT SINGLE (GRINGO RECORDS)
This was where it all began, our initial release on Gringo Records and that first big mountain get over that, if nothing else, would always serve as the best of learning experiences and experiences in general.
With hindsight the part were larger and more valuable than the sum, in many ways this was the best release for the label offering a dense and murky sound underneath layers of noise that housed many delights if you bothered to exhibit the patience to investigate.
The single was recorded in the backroom of a pub in Halstead which is a Podunk town thirty minutes from Colchester surrounded by greenery and small-town mentality. All four songs were recorded on four track and later transferred to DAT at the most of basic and anal of small studios. This was 1997 and computers were still to take over the world, they were poking their head into proceedings but still were pretty much the domain of nerds and millionaires.
Originally I was supposed to be drummer in Teebo, even buying a new drum kit from Sound Attak (no Cs there) in the process, but cars issues meant that I missed the session and eventually Dom from Lando drummed on the record, admittedly doing a better job than I ever would have (he could drum for starters).
At the time the music climate was open to bands and labels such as us. Bis had just experienced their freak pop hit “Kandy Pop” and Chemikal Underground were starting up and winning as the DIY independent music scene briefly hit a healthy stride again.
Listened to the first time in years now it holds up pretty well. Releasing the record on seven inch vinyl was always going to be forgiving to the sound of a four track recording as one format blemish would serve to paper over the cracks of another format blemish.
Time has been kind on the record as listening to the Teebo side the tracks still sound accomplished and positively fizzy. Perhaps they were sold short at the time origin, killed at birth unceremoniously by too many discerning voices. On “Spanos” there remains a true energy and spirit, a crashing ingenuity that suffers from a lack of resources and not a lack of ideas or talent. The guitar playing still sounds crisp and defining, succeeding despite the elements and managing to overcome the minimal equipment that it is being conceived on. I have to concede to forgetting just how high in the mix the bass was and just what it adds to the sound. The way the track ends with the refrain “just got bored” is the kind of snide snarl I have seen a hundred times since and seldom/rarely so well done. As the side reaches the second track “Waverly House” it displays a seachange in proceedings and an element to the band’s repertoire that I don’t think was ever seen again in any of their future bands/endeavours. The closing psychosis of a bass sinking in wah and a guitar screaming to be heard is the kind of fiddly stuff only welcome in certain hearts. I’m not really sure how this was supposed to succeed.
For the record I never did describe the songs of Lando as being “out of context, a consistent motor of anger and madness.” Would I really say something like that? Instead I think these days after listened to the record I would be more inclined to point out the similarities of “Cop Out” to The Stooges, especially “I Wanna Be Your Dog”. For me “Cop Out” was always the star of this release, a beautifully distorted charge with one hell of a hook employed to draw the listener in while the drums rattled in a jingle bell manner. As the song comes to a close it all goes Mudhoney in the best possible way. To listen to is to love. The following effort “Adjacent Tyrants” is a much less raucous effort, rattling a sounding very much like a band listening to a lot of Pavement and early Sonic Youth. If somewhat more subdued than the first track the fuzz is still there along with attitude and given some excessive volume on the stereo (its what it needs) there is a real hidden punch to this subtle winner.
Now having listened to far too many records in subsequent years and been quite literally sickened by so many bad first efforts here was the real deal, a genuinely great first release that may have sounded like it was recorded by teenagers because it was but teenagers in possession of more ideas than hundreds of over yearning musicians their age, post past and present.
Sadly despite having played live shows before the recording and release of this record not long afterwards both bands split/broke up for various reasons. Too soon.
Thesaurus moment: prize.
Lando interview
Gringo Records
This was where it all began, our initial release on Gringo Records and that first big mountain get over that, if nothing else, would always serve as the best of learning experiences and experiences in general.
With hindsight the part were larger and more valuable than the sum, in many ways this was the best release for the label offering a dense and murky sound underneath layers of noise that housed many delights if you bothered to exhibit the patience to investigate.
The single was recorded in the backroom of a pub in Halstead which is a Podunk town thirty minutes from Colchester surrounded by greenery and small-town mentality. All four songs were recorded on four track and later transferred to DAT at the most of basic and anal of small studios. This was 1997 and computers were still to take over the world, they were poking their head into proceedings but still were pretty much the domain of nerds and millionaires.
Originally I was supposed to be drummer in Teebo, even buying a new drum kit from Sound Attak (no Cs there) in the process, but cars issues meant that I missed the session and eventually Dom from Lando drummed on the record, admittedly doing a better job than I ever would have (he could drum for starters).
At the time the music climate was open to bands and labels such as us. Bis had just experienced their freak pop hit “Kandy Pop” and Chemikal Underground were starting up and winning as the DIY independent music scene briefly hit a healthy stride again.
Listened to the first time in years now it holds up pretty well. Releasing the record on seven inch vinyl was always going to be forgiving to the sound of a four track recording as one format blemish would serve to paper over the cracks of another format blemish.
Time has been kind on the record as listening to the Teebo side the tracks still sound accomplished and positively fizzy. Perhaps they were sold short at the time origin, killed at birth unceremoniously by too many discerning voices. On “Spanos” there remains a true energy and spirit, a crashing ingenuity that suffers from a lack of resources and not a lack of ideas or talent. The guitar playing still sounds crisp and defining, succeeding despite the elements and managing to overcome the minimal equipment that it is being conceived on. I have to concede to forgetting just how high in the mix the bass was and just what it adds to the sound. The way the track ends with the refrain “just got bored” is the kind of snide snarl I have seen a hundred times since and seldom/rarely so well done. As the side reaches the second track “Waverly House” it displays a seachange in proceedings and an element to the band’s repertoire that I don’t think was ever seen again in any of their future bands/endeavours. The closing psychosis of a bass sinking in wah and a guitar screaming to be heard is the kind of fiddly stuff only welcome in certain hearts. I’m not really sure how this was supposed to succeed.
For the record I never did describe the songs of Lando as being “out of context, a consistent motor of anger and madness.” Would I really say something like that? Instead I think these days after listened to the record I would be more inclined to point out the similarities of “Cop Out” to The Stooges, especially “I Wanna Be Your Dog”. For me “Cop Out” was always the star of this release, a beautifully distorted charge with one hell of a hook employed to draw the listener in while the drums rattled in a jingle bell manner. As the song comes to a close it all goes Mudhoney in the best possible way. To listen to is to love. The following effort “Adjacent Tyrants” is a much less raucous effort, rattling a sounding very much like a band listening to a lot of Pavement and early Sonic Youth. If somewhat more subdued than the first track the fuzz is still there along with attitude and given some excessive volume on the stereo (its what it needs) there is a real hidden punch to this subtle winner.
Now having listened to far too many records in subsequent years and been quite literally sickened by so many bad first efforts here was the real deal, a genuinely great first release that may have sounded like it was recorded by teenagers because it was but teenagers in possession of more ideas than hundreds of over yearning musicians their age, post past and present.
Sadly despite having played live shows before the recording and release of this record not long afterwards both bands split/broke up for various reasons. Too soon.
Thesaurus moment: prize.
Lando interview
Gringo Records
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