VARIOUS – AREA 52 SPLIT RELEASE #001 (AREA 52 RECORDS)

VARIOUS – AREA 52 SPLIT RELEASE #001 (AREA 52 RECORDS)

Here is a four band four song split seven inch dating from around 2002.  And it is a very strong line-up with Trumans Water, I’m Being Good, Penthouse and the mysterious Gravel Samwidge making their way onto the release.

There was always some kind of cross Atlantic kinky bond between Trumans Water and I’m Being Good with this not being the only time that they shared space on vinyl as they also appeared on an Infinite Chug split single together.

This is the kind of music that excels with volume.  Here are the lo-fi remnants of the grunge era, the explosion of alternative that briefly gave the world hope back in the nineties.  Since the beginning of this century however, it has all been fucked.

Trumans Water will forever inhabit a major milestone in my rock education being the support band at my first ever gig back in September 1993 when I saw Babes In Toyland play in Colchester.  Their contribution here “Abstracter Jet Nine” is suitably angular and borderline broken as they continue running with the batten of sounding like early Pavement which to the layman will always be a nonsensical din.  The layman generally tends to be wrong.  It is the kind of song you wonder whether you are playing at the correct speed when it begins.  Mucky stuff.

Their UK counterparts I’m Being Good hail from Brighton and are equally awkward serving up “Your Dog Hates You”, a very scratchy accompaniment arriving with more nonsensical gestures via the words that they say.  This too is a band with a pivotal mark on my rock education being the band that Hirameka Hi-Fi played with in Brighton the night they debuted Ben on drums.  Good times.

Moving on Gravel Samwidge open the second side sounding very much like Ligament albeit with a more piercing near industrial guitar sound.  “What You Need” is a winning as bubbling bass and vibrant drums accompany direct vocal gestures as the aforementioned guitar retains relentless.  It actually turns out that the band is a four-piece from Brisbane much in the tradition of Cosmic Psychos.  Blokes you can trust.

Closing the release is the always reliable Penthouse who generally tended to grunt their way through proceedings in the style of a beer stained London version of The Jesus Lizard.  And “Timmy’s Chagrin” resembles exactly that, rocking in calamitous fashion right to the end when even harmonica makes a show.  Did somebody do something to upset Mr Cedar?

Without question this is an amazing release representing one of the best times that there ever was for UK indie rock.  In taking cues from American counterparts, a few of the acts understood what made the moment.  I managed to see at least three of these bands live and every time was awesome.  Please come back.

Thesaurus moment: recapitulation.

Trumans Water

I’m Being Good

Gravel Samwidge

Penthouse

Area 52 Records