Customer Reviews

Science Faire

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Robert Schneider was a wiry guy living with a lot of cats in a dank basement apartment in Denver when his band recorded these songs. They were then just The Apples, and when they were forced to change it, I hoped they'd become The Robert Apples, because everyone called him that. Anyways, buy this album.

Maybe it's not quite rocket science, but "Science Faire" is an interesting compilation for any fans of the Apples in Stereo. Compiled out of EPs and singles that the band created during the early 90s, it's rough and unpolished, but has a certain exuberant charm.

Fun percussion and a driving riff start off the fun "Tidal Wave," before the dense fuzz-rock of "Motorcar" and "Not the Same," and the rural pop sound of "Turncoat Indian." And some songs like "Running in Circles just exude fun and enthusiasm, with a simple dancey melody and some heavy instrumental layers. But only "Hypnotic Suggestion's" twisting electric riffs hint at the less conventional possibilities that lie under all the fuzz and hooks.

Usually there is a reason why songs are released in these compilations -- often they're not so good. The Apples in Stereo don't fall prey to that, although there isn't really a standout track here -- they're all pleasant, but none will make listeners shriek "wow!" and hit the repeat button. It's the sound of a brilliant young band still finding its way, and producing some pleasant tunes along the way.

A sense of infectious fun goes through all the songs. "Tidal Wave" is basically about splashing in puddles -- "Splish splash in a pool of puddle/don't trip up on a tidal wave - /you'll crash in a murky muddle." Sounds like the sort of fun, childlike song a hobbit would sing. With many bands it would sound trite, but it doesn't here.

Musically the Apples in Stereo show that they're not quite mature yet. The vocals are muffled under the music, rather than being balanced out with the instrumentation. And the fun sound is similarly muffled by the sometimes murky sound of the music, like "Motorcar" and "Haley" -- although I can't tell if the distractingly off-kilter riffs in "Haley" are meant to be that way.

Despite being not yet musically mature, "Science Faire" is a fun, slightly wild album by a band that has gone on to fulfill the promise they've shown here. A pleasant early work by the Apples in Stereo.

This album is much better then you may expect. I listened to this for a few months before finally getting fun trick noise maker. I found the first versions of the songs from that album to be done with much more energy and enthusiasm here. Also, you get songs like Haley, and Motorcar, that are totaly great and apear on not another album... in my opionion this low fi outing is their best and most honest work. definitly worth while.

This music sounds like what I sometimes have heard in my dreams. When waking, jangly catchy guitar-heavy riffs mix with a blurrier background that sounds submerged. I don't know what this says about my subconscious, but Robert Schneider and pals 1993-5 must have heard similar sounds of fuzz and reverb. This is primitive music, as if what you'd tape from a garage band down the block, but it's magic. Extra credit for fitting the title to the cover photo--band as if the Audio-Visual Club 10th grade yearbook 1974. The majority of the songs survive their ramshackle arrangements and limited production; tracks 1-10 and 13 stick to you as if recalled from years ago when you hear them.

A slight drawback is that this CD may start to sound like one long rave-up. Best not to play it all straight through. If you're a fan of Fun Trick, be warned that this is low-budget. The tempo does slacken towards the end, even though these songs sound weaker as well as subdued. If you like their debut LP, however, Fun Trick Noisemaker, the earlier versions of many of its best tunes can be found here. They lack the polish given their second incarnation, but they make up for it with an energy that the later versions sometimes coat over with a glossier finish.

At this pre-LP stage, Apples' singles and EPs were raw and restless and at the band's creative best, I think. True, they lacked finesse, but make up for it with determination. This comes sadly before the band de-volved into RS and more of a backup set of musicians that he would dominate as Apples became more fey, Beatlesque, and baroque- meets- bubblegum as they fittingly wrote TV themes. Fun Trick does have strong moments, and power-pop fans would favor it over Science Faire, but those needing a subtly diverse array of influences blended and pureed--here Nuggets-meets Notorious Byrd Bros-meets Eno on Tiger Mountain and Warm Jets-meets early demos by the Undertones or the Crazy Rhythm debut by the Feelies--however small a group this sub-culture of us this may be, this is our music.