Customer Reviews

God Bless The Red Crayola And All Who Sail With It

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is worth buying for the song 'The Jewels of the Madonna' alone. The line 'fifty dollars worth of half dollars' makes me feel funny all over every time I hear it...

Second record from Texan noise-makers. It's filled with short "tunes", or rather pieces, that are built mostly around guitar, bass and drums. But they perform their music as a cross between amateurish playfulness and artistic conceptuality. Not that they are bad musicians, but they have understood the charm of simplicity that the lo-fi bands of the nineties use to great effect. This record deserves better recognition as an important art-rock/alternative influence.

The album itself is ordinary. It can be scrathed or burned just as easily as any other vinyl out on the market. However the songs on the album......WOW. These guys invented the spastic rhythms normally associated with DEVO and the TALKING HEADS. The lyrics are so ambiguous and disconnected you'd wish you were trying to derive meaning from a SYD BARRETT album. It may take a few listens to start to appreciate the songs. It's a very subtle experience that most cannot fully grasp without the help of strong narcotics. However if you are patient enough to let MAYO THOMPSON lead you nowhere slowly, and only feed you a very few insightful lyrics along the way (which will still ultimately only confuse you)while changing your bio-rythms akin to that of an elderly, wandering psychotic.......I promise, you won't be sorry. Best tracks......"Save the House"....."Sheriff Jack"....."Dairymaid's Lament"......"Leejol"....."Sherlock Holmes"...."Green of My Pants"....."Night Song" ENJOY

A stone cold class in my book as unique as the first two Velvet Underground albums, Pet Sounds, or Revolver, but totally different. With its weird time signatures, loopy bass and drums, Mayo Thompson is a kind of Syd Barrett by way of Texas; this totally modern sounding album is simply a low-fi psychedelic classic. Their previous album is a loud, freaked out classic. This album influenced bands as diverse as Galaxie 500 (who covered the catchy Victory Garden), Spacemen 3, Gastro Del Sol and ,in spirit if not sound, many of the Chicago bands that involve John McEntire (The Sea and Cake, Tortoise) and many others that record for the Drag City label. Songs like Dairymaid's Lament, Victory Garden, and Sherlock Holmes are among the most accessible. No two songs sound alike, one should mention. Many aren't so accessible at first but worth the effort. Also check out Mayo Thompson's excellent solo album, Corky Debt to His Father, if you like this album.

Forget England in the late seventies;Texas 1968 is where it all began. This is punk before punk even began to pretend it was rebelious. Now in the 90's we have punk watered down even further. Give it up and get some Red Krayola. You wont regret it.

Originally released in 1968,this was their second lp as well as the follow-up to 'The Parable Of Arable Land' CD reissue(see my review).Possibly a mite too strange for most.Some of the tracks I sort of dug were "Say Hello To Jamie Jones",the acappella "Music","The Shirt",the quirky "Victory Garden" and "Big".A couple of these tunes are even too weird for me.Some very experimental psych(if you'd care to call it that).Recommended for '60's throw-backs, the yippie-hippie type,tree huggers,acid freaks and burn outs everywhere.Just might appeal to fans of Muslimqauze,Fifty Foot Hose,Terry Riley and perhaps Silver Apples.