TockTockTock

Bush Tetras (1979 - 1983; 1995 - 1998; 2006 - Present)

General Information

Bush Tetras was a post-punk/dance-punk group formed in 1979. Some consider it directly apart of the No Wave movement, while others say it wasn't. One of their members was Pat Place, who was a founding member of the Contortions as well as their lead guitarist, which is probably why Bush Tetras is in the grey area of No Wave.

Band Members

Cynthia Sley (Vocals)
Pat Place (Guitar)
Laura Kennedy (Bass)
Dee Pop (Drums)

Album Reviews

Too Many Creeps (1980)



Track Listing

1. Too Many Creeps................ 4:02
2. Snakes Crawl....................... 3:36
3. You Taste Like the Tropics.. 1:31

Total Length: 9:09

Allow me to say that this was a pretty fun EP to listen to... and this is coming from someone who doesn't like most dance-type music. The first song, "Too Many Creeps," is probably their most famous one. There's not much to it except a basic post-punk beat, monotonous bass work, and occasional quasi-noisy guitar riffs, and yet... it still kicks ass. The next song, "Snakes Crawl," has a few similarities to the No Wave "sound" (if there even is one), although it's mainly in Pat Place's semi-unconventional approach to her guitar playing. You can definitely hear a bit of The Contortions' influence in this track... Lastly, there's the third song, "You Taste Like the Tropics," which has very punkish lyrics that flows along side repetitive, unchanging music. Of course, it's only a minute and a half long, so it's not expected to evolve too much. It cuts off at an usual point, too, which wasn't what I was expecting (then again, I'm sure that was their intent).

All in all, this is a very funk-driven E.P. It's fun to listen to, and I would definitely suggest it to someone who wants to get into post-punk. Doesn't have a lot of No Wave tendencies, though.

My Rating: 7/10




Rituals (1981)



Track Listing

1. Can't Be Funky.............. 2:40
2. Funky (Instrumental).. 2:41
3. Cowboys in Africa....... 2:51
4. Rituals......................... 3:54

Total Length: 12:06

This EP is a bit less funky than their previous one. "Can't Be Funky" and its instrumental are pretty much the only ones that exhibit any sort of funk-driven sound. The only difference between the two tracks, however, is that the instrumental omits Sley's vocals and adds a piano at the beginning of the song and sparse saxophone throughout the rest. The only funky aspect of the next song, "Cowboys in Africa," is the bass playing (or at least, I thought it was funky). Other than that, it uses simple, distorted guitar riffs, a little more developed percussion (but only a little), and an almost Ian Curtis-like delivery of the vocals. Lastly, there's "Rituals," which is a very slow-tempo post-punk song. There's just something so... badass (I guess that would be the best term to use) about the way this song flows... Maybe it's the Western-like vibe of the guitar or the small inclusion of the piano in the background (which is mainly just hitting the 'G' note over and over again).

Anyways, I liked this EP as well. I would recommend you check out the other one before moving onto this one, though.

My Rating: 7/10

Quick note... I'm sort of ripping off of Wikipedia when I say this, but the only characteristics of this band that really "stand-out" to me are Cynthia Sley's singing and Pat Place's guitar work. Everything else is just... boring and not very unique. Personally, I feel I am being a bit too generous by giving both of the EPs 7/10, but I guess I'm letting my own bias of liking the songs get in the way of giving them lower scores (oh well).

Zer0

Bush Tetras are a pretty good band. I discovered them a while back in Gavin B's journal (where the hell is he these days by the way?) and I grew to like their funky brand of NY post-punk. While they're not a proper no-wave band the influence is definitely there, especially in Pat's guitar playing and the feeling it gives to some of the songs. They actually have a lot more material than those two EPs, you can get their entire catalog collected in their Boom In The Night compilation.

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TockTockTock

Circle X (1978 - 1995)

General Information

Circle X, a criminally overlooked act of the No Wave movement, was a post-punk/noise rock/art rock band that was formed in Louisville, Kentucky in 1978. Originally, Circle X's name was simply meant to be a symbol -- a circle with an x inside (kind of obvious), but it had to be changed into proper lettering enable to label the band's name and album without any difficulty. I'm not entirely sure why they chose that name... They were fairly rebellious people, and they were just about anti-everything…. Anti-mainstream labels, anti-independent labels, anti-professionalism, anti-classicism, and probably a bunch of other stuff… So, perhaps they felt the need to rebel and reject a proper name for their band?

Band Members

► Bruce Witsiepe
► Tony Pinotti
► Dave Letendre
► Rik Latendre

Album Review

Prehistory One (1983)



Track Listing

1. Current................... 6:22
2. Prehistory (Part I)..... 5:12
3. Prehistory (Part II).... 5:17
4. Culture Progress....... 6:32
5. Underworld.............. 7:55
6. Beyond Standard...... 4:35

Total Length: 35:53

When I first listened to this album, I was vacuuming around the house. The mixture of the album's music and the vehement roar of the vacuum cleaner gave birth to a somewhat loud ambiance (if that even makes any sense). I'll admit that it didn't really catch my attention at first, and I soon became a bit disheartened by the idea of writing a review for yet ANOTHER uninteresting album. Fortunately, I gave it another listen... and by just sitting down and listening to it I was able to differentiate the sounds better. Noisy albums tend to do that... They demand your full attention enable for you to fully appreciate and digest it. Anyways... in comparison to the previous releases that I have reviewed on this thread... this one, so far, is the best. There is so much going on in this album... The sometimes "sloppy" polyrhythmic (invented a word) percussion, various noisy guitar parts going on at once, babies squealing, power tools being turned on, psychedelic-like electronics occasionally entering in and out of a piece, vocals ranging anywhere from a scratchy and unintelligible yell to just a deadpan voice, and so much more... Strangely enough, this album can be pretty mellow and sometimes psychedelic with its intermittent sparse instrumentation and echoey vocals and electronics (or keyboards... not entirely sure what it is).

All in all, this is an almost brilliant album... It is strongly recommended for those who wish to explore a bit more into the No Wave movement. Also, I would recommend you listen to their self-titled EP, which was released in 1979.

My Rating: 9/10

Odyshape

officially my favorite thread

FRED HALE SR.

Nice lil rundown Jack. The self titled ep gets a 10/10 from me. I find myself loving this album and circle x the more i listen to it. They have this gravitational sound that can pull anybody in. Nice to see them talked about, as they were pretty integral in the scene at the time.

Though this might interest you Jack. A movie documentary based on the No Wave movement. I'm certain you've probably seen it but just in case.

http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1884863232/tt1398949