'Closet Full of Clothes' Compilation LP
From Portland, Oregon, USA to Manchester, England with six stops in
between, 'Closet Full of Clothes' takes the listener on a sonic trip
through the Wendy's drive-thru and into the Earth's core. The harsh,
glass-melting blasts of Mammal and Hair Police swelter skulls. The
sweet, glorious rock of Pearls and Brass sit you on a country porch.
The hectic, shifty-eyed panic rock of My Name is Rar Rar teeters on
top of an acidic percussion bath courtesy of Black Eyes. Nice Nice
fingerpaint a concerto, while Small Rocks and Doormouse chime like
evil Grandfather clocks possessed by Sammy Davis Jr. This closet is
constantly throbbing with a wide variety of fabrics and textures, yet
all possible outfits always end up looking damn good. This 12" long
player features unreleased material from all the performing artists.
There are 5 test pressings, each on black vinyl with hand-written
center stickers. All test pressings have clear plastic sleeves with
hand-cut and hand-colored stickers. There are 1007 copies of half
white / half red vinyl, each with full-color glued jackets. They all
come with a photocopied 8.5"x11" insert. 500 copies come with an
additional photocopied 8.5"x11" crossword puzzle insert. 50 of the
puzzles and 65 of the inserts are on green paper.
MY NAME IS RAR RAR
01 - Tyrone and Jimmy
SMALL ROCKS
02 - Muchachos Gordos
03 - Damp-proofing Dub
PEARLS & BRASS
04 - I'm Not Living, I'm Just Waiting In Line
NICE NICE
05 - Okaygo
06 - I Never Ever
07 - Stun One
BLACK EYES
08 - Ten
HAIR POLICE
09 - I'm On Steam
DOORMOUSE
10 - Chmura
MAMMAL
11 - Second Skin
Skyscraper:
Closet Full of Clothes is a twisted compilation chock full of
no wave reverence and a distinct appreciation for all things left
of center. Beginning with My Name Is Rar Rar's distinctive brand of
spazz rock pastiche, the compilation continues its frenetic pace
with tracks by the Ritalin-starved Black Eyes, the sample-heavy
gabba crunch of Doormouse, and the bent folk of Pearls & Brass.
Best, though, is Hair Police's "I'm On Steam", a visceral assault
of power electronics and punk rock fury. Those lamenting the loss
of the great Harry Pussy would be wise to catch up with these
Kentucky noise-fiends. Pressed onto very attractive two-color
vinyl, Closet Full of Clothes is a promising introduction to a
label that will surely be making marks. Cracked loners of the world unite and take over!
Blastitude:
More monumentally colored vinyl! The White Denim label does a
lot of colored vinyl, and this is actually one-half rosy pink
and one-half white! What was I saying about candy? This one
looks like an all-day sucker. And, the record comes with a
crossword puzzle! Starting things off is Chicago act My Name
Is Rar-Rar. At first I'm like "These guys actually remind
me of Harry Pussy" but then J. Hischke's utterly retarded
synth bass changes that, as do the tortuous prog guitar lines
and Small Rocks I've never heard of, but it's electronic, almost
dancey spooked X-Files music, actually better than that might make
it sound. From the UK, it seems. Pearls and Brass I've heard of
a little bit but I don't know much -- they do "I'm Not Living,
I'm Just Waiting In Line," and it's weird -- kind of a blues-rocker!
Can't say it's my thing, really, but at least someone is just
playing roots guitar without it being part of some Wire Magazine
and/or Drag City-approved lifestyle. Nice Nice: their debut 7-inch,
also on White Denim, got reviewed twice twice last ish . . . here
they contribute three songs. Again, they indulge in some 1980s
vintage "Downtown NYC avant-funk" stylings, and somehow make it sound
better than it should. Black Eyes is next, and I think this is
the band on Dischord or whatever . . . maybe you're like me and decided
you probably didn't like 'em because they stole their name from the
Black Dice / Wolf Eyes collab, but this is my first time hearing 'em
and they aren't too bad. Vocalist might be a little too trad screamo
but the guitars and drums wreak slow lurching havoc. I probably still
won't buy the album. Hair Police you've all heard of . . . they're
immediately killer with a weird noisy band-fighting-its-way-out-of-buzzing-sculpture-jail
jam -- weird vocals make the track sound like it was mastered at
the wrong speed -- and then it just thrashes out for dear life --
long track too, almost like a whole EP . . . Door Mouse are another
from the 'I have no idea' file . . . more one-man noisy electronica
. . . a lot of samples for that 'moving towards (or away from) Negativland'
feel . . . Mammal you've all heard of, his track on here is substantially
quieter than the preceding one and it's ill, sounds like some far-away
sheet metal storm or Sightings record on crappy car stereo as car drives
past on nearby overpass . . . let me go turn it up . . . oh yeah, that's
Mammal, brain-firing slam codes as always . . . . . . . . . . Well yeah,
real nice 'thrash psychedelia' comp, pretty much worth it for that
colored vinyl and the cover art by "E*Rock" alone but practically none of the music disappoints either.
Punk Planet:
A compilation from the label that brought us hardcore's The Ultimate Warriors ("blast
beats + wrestling = FUN!"). Somewhat surprisingly, the moshing has been eschewed for an eclectic
mix of music equally loud and grating. My Name Is Rar Rar throws on some demented, spastic noise
that sounds like evil elves jumping on their instruments with occasional samples of John Williams
scores. Small Rocks creates a foundation off of a strong beat that shifts manically between sub-dued
ambience and tense chaos. Pearls And Brass is the only conventional band on here, adding a bluesy
honky-tonk number. Nice Nice's quirky instrumentals are so idiosyncratic it makes me want to stomp
Goombas. In pure Black Eyes tradition, they drown and smother the listener in a sea of choppy, percussive
violence and a walloping bass riff. Hair Police overlay avalanche-like textures and build them into
sheer noise guaranteed to make ears bleed. Doormouse provides my favorite track, with loopy beats,
melodic noise, and tasteful samples. Mammal bring it home with rhythmic, garbled feedback so monotonous
you forget that it's over.
Released June 2003
