September 11, 2006
A LITTLE GLASS JAR
Reading Jessica’s notes on T&G 25, two things popped into my mind: Big Black were, yes, very dependable on the stage b*ck in the d*y (no nostalgia), though their most entertaining show involved a Roland drum machine not working. (Summer, CB”s, 1985/6?) Their guitars were sexually violent, skullfucky, all that. A friend used to put her head right in front of the speaker when I played “L Dopa” real loud.
If Touch & Go bands were to be reduced to one moment in someone else’s music—they don’t need to be, and I have no desire to beyond getting the mini-pleasures afforded by crossword puzzle blogging—it would be Tracy Pew’s bass playing in The Birthday Party: the swing motifs, the overdriven Ampeg, the hard plectrum downstrokes, the triplets.
“Release The Bats,” The Hacienda, 1982: You can’t see Pew and he’s making the loudest sound in the frame.
Posted by Sasha at September 11, 2006 05:19 PM | TrackBack