Customer Reviews

Serpentine Gallery

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It's hard for me to describe this band to people who've never listened to music of this type. To be honest, I had never heard this genre myself. I liked it so much once being introduced to it, however, that I did a search for other, similar bands. I didn't find too many that were like this, but I will say it opened a door to some new bands I ended up really liking as well.

Tina Root's vocals are hypnotic, both beautiful, hypnotic and haunting. The music lends to this feeling and tracks like "Doll House" and "Gutter Glitter" are perfect examples of this style. The only tracks I tend to get bored with are "Wallflower" and "Dissolve" maybe "Sweet." None of them are bad tracks, however.

This album has a sound all its own, and none of their later efforts succeeded this(not that they were bad).

Anyone interested in Switchblade should start with this 2-CD version. The bonus disc has some good songs that (so far as I know) were never released on another album. If you really like the band and end up wanting all their releases, you'd have to buy it eventually anyway to get those tracks. "Blue" quickly became one of my favorites and the other "new" songs on that CD are really good as well. I never bothered to listen to the interview. Some fan I am. And for the record, I don't think I've heard a "remix" I liked.

Still, this version is only $3 more, so there's no arguing that it's a better deal.

Switchblade Symphony can be compared with Siouxsie and the Banshees.
Serpentine Gallery is a fusion of orchestral sounds with heavy synth sequences and ethereal vocals.
Switchblade Symphony disbanded in November 1999

After the band parted ways, vocalist Tina Root started Tre Lux.
In 2008, Tina Root and George Earth formed SmallHalo.

(the author of Cottonmouth Kisses and co-editor of Pills, Thrills, Chills, and Heartache: Adventures in the First Person; mentioned among the band's "thanks" in Scrapbook and releases thereafter)

"My first trip through the cobwebbed gates of House of Usher was a molar-splitting, life-changing experience. Sure, I'd read about the club in subculture `zines, but nothing compared to the wondrous revelation of stepping through its doorways. The first thing I saw was Goth drag of the highest order: embellished period costumes, corsets cinched dangerously tight, silk velvet rustling in hues of shadow, shiny latex clinging to skinny bodies. Hair was teased, tossed and sculpted in a playground of shapes, skin pale as pressed powder. Piercings glistened, and silver jewelry tinkled. It was the body as art and adornment.

Filled with flashing heat and spinning wild with desire, I danced; I drank; I introduced myself to Bay Area darklings. But more than anything, I wished the night would go on forever. Fortunately one of the friendships I made from my first visit did: that with a girl named Tina Root. We struck up a conversation because we were the only two people wearing color in the cavernous venue, which sparked a lengthy dialogue about what each of us was trying to do with our art: explore the "other" facets of dark expression--she with her music, me with my writing.

That night, we yammered till closing time in a fit of pure inspiration. Whether employing somber themes portrayed in bright colors, or enjoying the juxtaposition of artifice and high glamour with street-tough sensibilities (a term Tina coined as "Gutter Glitter"), we made a pact to revolt against the Marilyn Manson T-Shirt/Lunchpail-as-Purse clichés in hopes of making something new happen within the scene.

When I showed up at Usher the following Tuesday and saw Switchblade Symphony step on the stage, I knew immediately that Tina and her band mate Susan were already well on their way. With bright blue back-lighting and Tina bopping around the stage in an ice-white wig, there was no doubt that they stood out from other acts in the darkwave genre: they were having fun, and weren't afraid to show it.

At this point, they were still an unsigned band--so I had heard of them, but never actually heard their music. As with House of Usher, I'd seen photocopied images in fanzines and tried to imagine the experience, but nothing prepared me for what I saw and heard that night. When they opened the show with "Chain," the first thing that struck me was the warmth, the humanity in Tina's voice; it drew me right in. And Susan on the synthesizer--an instrument too many myopic types have claimed has "no soul"--well, she poured every ounce of her being onto that keyboard, the emotion practically dripping off her. Robin was on guitar, his technique fueled by a manic intensity. Through the wafts of smoke slithering about the stage, we could see he was playing that thing with an inhuman ability. It was phenomenal.

"Something's really going to happen for them," I told my friends. And it happened so quickly, I barely remember the in-between. The next thing I knew, Tina had invited me out to celebrate their record contract at another local haunt, a club called A Winter Gone By. I showed up to a packed house and bottles of champagne being passed around by reps from Cleopatra and a cadre of other celebratory folks. Susan was the first person who saw me make the club. "We're a signed band!" She gushed. "We're a signed band now!" It was just about the happiest I'd seen anyone, ever.

That night led to studio time, which led to the release of Serpentine Gallery. Between then and now was a whirlwind of tours, interviews, press, parties, more tours, more studio time and more music released. Susan and I faded in and out of each others' lives, and the cast of band members went through a few changes--but along the way, they continued to refine their distinctive skills, establishing Switchblade Symphony as artists in the truest sense of the word. They continually pursued a different sound, always challenging themselves and taking chances with the work they created. To me, that's what living is. That's what creates a classic work--and Serpentine Gallery is a classic.
Tina and I are still great pals, so after the passing of ten years, it's easy to understand how the anecdotes have piled up. There was the time I interrupted their show at the Palace Theatre with a bullhorn in hand, screeching alcohol-drenched terms of endearment and adding more than just my two cents (and less sense) between songs. And the time Susan, Tina and I participated in a silent film project--though it wasn't necessarily intended as such--by our dear friend Nick Bohn, who sadly is no longer with us. Or the time the crew accidentally caught Tina's South of Market loft on fire during the filming of the "Clown" video--look closely in the background and you can make out carbon kisses from the flames that licked at her butterfly painting and backdrop fabric. Always a trooper, Tina just rolled with the sooty aftermath and smeared ashes on her face. And then there was the time they asked me to perform spoken word as the opening act for their Halloween show at the Trocadero--a show they reference in the Live 105 interview among the special edition bonus material disc--and I was struck with sheer fear when I stepped onto a stage with over 1200 faces staring back at me.

Bias notwithstanding, I'll say that while the band took their cue from the disparate elements of a scene steeped in intense emotion, they continued to interpret "The G Word" in their own way, taking threads from pop and trip-hop and electronica and weaving their own gorgeous tapestry. They released just three studio albums, but this little Bay Area band punched a gargantuan hole in not only a subculture's history, but also the lives of everyone they touched.

Switchblade Symphony was one of the seminal acts that made San Francisco in the mid-90s feel like the center of the universe.

It was a magical time. The magic in their music remains."

-- Clint Catalyst

A very impressive re-issue of The Bladies' classic full length debut. A Nice Double Disk Digi-pack format with gorgeous photos of Tina and Susan on the fold-outs. The remaster of SG sounds rich and fresh, crisp and clear. Finally, Cleopatra gets something right and gives the fans what they want: A second disk of (mostly) raraties! Some sublime leftovers from TTC sessions (particularily the darkly danceable synth-groove of 'Waiting Room') as well as early gems such as 'Rain' and 'Numb' are sure to please fans who have waited a long time for pre-SG material to have a proper release. In general, reissues are with out a doubt cash cows and a way for record companies to double-dip into a band's catalog and fan's wallets, however, the deluxe edition of Serpentine Gallery is definitly worth every penny, and fans of SBS and the dark-wave genre will not be dissappointed. Five stars - Keep the SBS material coming Cleopatra!!!