Customer Reviews

Twin Infinitives

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the sound of the rock n' roll genome, post-Altamont and recycled through way too many misunderstandings, miscarriages, mistakes, and misappropriations. A summer of love hangover rounding the bend into a punk rock junky nightmare, where it shatters on impact into a thousand beautiful shards. This is where Downtown meets the Haight, where filthy indie self-loathing and numb-gummed tax exile knock skinhead into feathered shag. The confetti that bursts from within these two seemingly dissimilar cascarones turns out to have the same sparkle. All of these musical and weird sociolinguistic detours that Chuck, Elvis, Buddy, and Bo would never have imagined in their wildest dreams were a given by the time Royal Trux recorded this head-scratcher. Understandably, some will never get it. However, those willing to ride the cyclonic uptake of this scumbag rock echo-chamber will find a place where early Sonic Youth at their most damaged take a sharp detour into a blurry nod. But the rock gods will make the best of a bad situation, when push comes to shove; and the ultimate indie-rock mess comes right out the other side of the black hole into brilliant. There's hiss and moan and clank and tremelo blooze slop, all arranged in an intuitive conversation where Ornette and Burroughs have a Jamaican sound system battle with cheap drum machines and even cheaper amps. In the end, Jerry Garcia and Darby Crash share needles, to the horror of their respective fanbases, but to the delight of those who remember that rock n' roll means endless possibilities.

My personal review of this monster would have five stars, but I recognize that not everyone shares my love for horrible noise. Just trust me--love it or hate it (I can't imagine much middle ground except total bewilderment), you've never heard anything like this. Soundtrack music for very, very bad experiences, remembered through a psychotic or pharmaceutical haze.

This album can no doubt only be enjoyed with an open mind and a sense of humor. Neil and Jennifer created "Twin Infinitives" to keep the stupid Pussy Galore fans from coming to their shows. I guess it worked. Along with the recently released Hand Of Glory, this album is Royal Trux's rare trek into experimental post-punk junk rock. In other words if you love Celine Dion you'll probably vomit upon the first few notes of this album and loathe all things associated with the Great and Almighty Royal Trux.

I still don't know, but TWIN INFINITIVES earns a 5 for balls alone! This album is from the tape-loops and noise era of RTX. It has sounds of early Kraftwerk, Delta blues, go-go, noise rock, shoegazer, and classic hard rock..... often all at once! True, it takes a few listens to get, much less like, but once you give it a shot, you'll be gald you did. There's almost no trace of the current RTX sound, but they never made music for the average listener. RTX were and continue to be a music fan's band. Let them open your ears to a new level of comprehension.

Words cannot describe the disorienting feeling one gets when this record is playing. It's totally alien-sounding and hallucinatory, although there are some rudimentary rock riffs beneath all of the Moog and guitar noise. If every household had a copy of this CD, nobody would ever need to abuse drugs again.

If you are familiar with the other records by RTX and HAVEN't heard this one, then hang on to yer lobes. This album takes up where "trout mask replica" by Captain Beefheart left off. The only difference is in the gravy that is left behind in yer britches after the initial listen. Jenifer's voice on "NY bridge" sounds like she was gargling glass and razorblades when she recorded it. The cd has four cuts, one cut for each side of the original double vinyl. Hang on all you alternative types, although the record is already nearly ten years old, it is centuries ahead of any of YOU! (yes, you!)

Rarely do I EVER(!) give an album 5 stars but this is one of the few that actually deserve it. I actually traded my entire U2 collection for this one album and let's just say I don't even know who Bono is anymore. "Twin Infinities" is something that keeps calling back if I haven't listened to it in a day or so. I really cannot go 24 hours without listening to this album. For most this will be unlistenable garbage but if you - here comes the catch phrase - "get it" you will never let go of this album. Even when the album is at it's most messy and incoherent you can still here the underlying riff and song underneath it all after you've listened to it about five times or so. This is also great to put on when you've got people over you dislike and want gone in a hurry.

I wish I could describe the album better but its something you need to hear for yourself and give it a chance and keep listening to it and if you still don't "get it" then at least you have a rare album that's a pain to find. But if you've somehow gotten to this page then I highly recommend getting this album because it's beyond brilliant, just give it a chance and you will not disappointed. Too bad Neil and Jennifer split the creative ways but with albums like this it'll be a long long time till they die...

While I like to think of myself as a pretty committed RTX fan, I must admit that I've never been able to listen to this thing all the way through. Having said that, I am glad it exists, and respect Neil & Jennifer for having made it. It strikes me as one of those records which is hip to own - you can impress your less cool friends by pointing it out to them - but really, it's all a bit much...like a lot of modern art, there seems to be more effort put into explaining it than creating it...

Suffice it to say, if you dig No Wave and all its intermittent revivals--Contortions, DNA, Theoretical Girls, Liars, Erase Errata, Numbers or if you like to cut yr teeth on storied and ostensibly impenetrable slabs--Trout Mask, Metal Machine Music, pick yr favorite Stockhausen or lastly but not leastly if yr world got rocked by Coum Transmissions/Throbbing Gristle and all it's sad, intense and mind-bending progeny, dig in. "Trust me" (tm), it'll bend you over for all time...riyl enuff fr ye? Loops, drone, murg, despair, repetition, repetition, deeply and tangentially felt pain--all await you. Wear ye bin all my life?

I agree with most everyone here that this album isn't for everyone. It's hazy, often unlistenable, and boring in parts. It's a lot of songs about drugs written by people on drugs and unless you are on drugs, that gets pretty dull.

That said, when it's good, it's downright genius. No other band that I know of outside of The Fall can set up menace and dread as well as Royal Trux did on this album. "Ice Cream" will stick with you for days and "NY Avenue Bridge," wow. That song will send chills up your spine even after hearing it a dozen times. Fifteen years after first hearing this album and that song still creeps the hell out of me.

For me, this was as interesting as Royal Trux ever got. After this, it degenerated into a lot of rock 'n' roll cliches and posing. Still, does one great album... well, one great song... justify a career that spiraled so downhill so fast? In this case, maybe so.