Released by Homestead Records
Tracklist:
1. Tallow Waters
2. Filthy Five Filthy Ten
3. Guapo
4. Flesh Colored House
5. Short Haired Robot
6. Can of Whoopass
7. Decent Skin
8. Enagaging in the Reverend
9. Wurlitzer
10. Hoosier Logic
11. Shoot Me a Deer
Lineup:
David Grubbs – vocals, guitar
Clark Johnson – bass
John McEntyre – drums
If you hear somebody say, “I like ‘those’ bands but only stuff like
Big Black, not the quiet instrumental bands” they are talking about
Bastro. This band is the result of our hero, David Grubbs, beginning to come of age. He left
Squirrel Bait for college but apparently never stopped making music. This time around he is the front man, responsible for both guitar and vocals. Presumably he wrote most of this too.
Bastro started out as Clark Johnson (also Squirrel Bait) and Grubbs playing alongside a drum machine. Before long they recruited the drum wunderkind himself, John McEntyre. This man has the Midas touch; every drum set he touches turns somebody’s album to gold. Well, nobody moved a million units but you get the idea. Diablo Guapo is
Bastro as a three piece making smart, brutal music. It is the bespectacled nerd who will kick your ass when pushed.
The opener, ‘Tallow Waters’, displays what you are in for: chaotic punk rock held together with a great rhythm section and pushed forward by Grubbs’ aggressive guitar and varied vocal delivery. Like many of their songs, it almost degenerates into noise but ends before that can happen. Next up is ‘Filthy Five Filthy Ten’ that features an angular guitar riff and a big indication of what you will hear come out of the Louisville underground for years. This song is post-rock and math rock before either existed. On top of repetitive heavy riffing, Grubbs seems to vocalize whatever comes to mind. ‘Guapo’ is controlled noise that vaguely resembles a punk song with vocals again yelped at will. The end of the song breaks down with a flurry of brass instruments playing freely over the established rhythm. This is perhaps the first moment that associated the Louisville punks with Jazz. The album contains others bits such as the song ‘Wurlitzer’, an instrumental piece with a freely swinging piano in the lead.
The album goes on like this for eleven songs. The main difference among them is whether the vocals go wild and loud or mumbled and quiet. I hate describing bands with comparisons to other bands but in this case I can hardly help it;
Bastro sounds like a combination of
Slint and
Big Black. They also set the bar really high for avant-garde rock bands in the 90s and Diablo Guapo is another album made by the
Squirrel Bait family that seems to me like it should show up on more ‘best’ lists and generally get more respect. It gives you something to think about and still rocks hard – what more do you need? If it’s more intellectualization of rock music then just move on to
Gastr Del Sol or
Brise-Glase. For now just rock out to this handsome devil of an album.
8.7/10