A Frames "A Frames"

Hey, bands that start with letters, all right.



It would be kinda dumb for me to spend the whole time talking about how much I love this record. If you don't have it, you should. It's a no-brainer.



I think this is my favourite A-Frames record. It feels more urgent than others. I might also say that it's a bit poppy. The instruments all sound perfect. The guitar and bass are ferocious. The drums are crisp. The songs seem to be sci-fi love songs. Like maybe how Pillip K. Dick would've written love songs. Paranoid.



When I first got this record I was so obsessed with it that I kept giving away my copies as presents. "Oh, it's your birthday? You should have this record." "Oh, it's Tuesday? You should have this record." I even gave a copy of it to a small child. I don't know if he still has it, but I like to think that there's this 13 year old rocking his copy of it late at night and alone.



Woah, cool sounding phasor.



The first time I saw this band, was at some "working class" themed bar in Seattle (I don't remember the name of it and I don't think it exists anymore and who cares). They were all wearing bright orange jumpsuits. It was definitely different than what I was used to. I mean, what is a No-bot? There's no such thing (yet?) as a yes-bot. 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3. . .The language of the no-bot?



Flip record. . .



Empty Particles. Is this possible? What would an empty particle look like? Am I an empty particle? Probably.



Shortly after this came out, there was this glut of these terrible "angular" "post-punk" type bands. I never really got it. What I mean, is that most of those bands didn't get it. The thing with The A Frames is that they always seemed genuine in what they were doing. I think that "Surveilance" is an horribly depressing song. It feels like there's real emotion in it. That is a tall order when you are delivering songs like this.



Is "Test Tube Baby" a dis song? I hope so. His little yelp before the solo almost tricks you. "Woooo, we are a rawk band and you are not." Who are they calling a test tube baby? I wonder what it's like to find out that you are a test tube baby. You'd never have to grapple with the image of your parents having sex as a teenager which would be pretty cool. But, I bet it would taint your life.



Yes! More of that phasor. So cool sounding. Then, a bunch of 3s and we're done (I think).

'68 Comeback "A Bridge Too Fuckin' Far"

Record number 1. I don't think I've listened to this double album all the way through since I bought it 10ish years ago. It has a picture of Jack Taylor on the cover, I take it from the liner notes and what not, that he had recently died.

The first song is a decent lo-fi rocker, but '68, the second song, is the one that has always stood out to me. I think this is where Jeff Evans' song writing is the strongest, slow ballads. I don't know, I'm not having a strong reaction one way or the other to this.

I remember buying this record quite well since it was one of the first things I ever ordered over the Internet. It came warped and spent a long time dwelling beneath a stack of heavy books. I worked nights so I never really got to turn the music up too loud, a situation that surely caused most of my record listening to suffer.

I'm rethinking what I said in the second paragraph. This is one nasty guitar tone. The vocals sound like they're recorded in a tunnel. I like that.

Flip record. . .

This certainly doesn't make me pine for Gibson Brothers records. Some of these songs sound like the band members are all playing a different song. An inconsistent maraca keeps popping up in the mix, accenting sporadic drum beats. It kinda sounds like they're all dropping some of the beats in a way that works. Organ notes peak out at unexpected points. And jesus, that fuzz. It sounds like (and probably was) an amp dying. Horns sound like ghosts howling. Doing their best to haunt these recordings.

The way I'm thinking about this now, is that maybe it's one of those records that you try out too soon and don't quite "get" it. Well, I'm getting it now. This reeks of booze soaked nights, when you're running out of the good stuff, but just want to keep it going. I can imagine sleeping on someone else's couch while the last songs ends and the needle wears itself out clicking on that last groove.

Side 3. . .

Yeah, I'm sticking with that story. The night has ended for all but the chosen few. Let's dance/cry ourselves to sleep. Certainly, we couldn't be doing anything better.

Shit, this Freddie Hart cover is something. Definitely feeling the vibe of the third side. "That's How My Mind Works" is an evil, almost kraut rock, 2 chord number. This song is ominous. An organ and a bass drive the song into parts unknown.

Side 4. . .

It seems pretty obvious that lengths of these things are gonna vary greatly. This 4-sider is really testing my desire to keep writing. What am I gonna do with my Rolling Stones boxset? Probably do 1 record a day.

So, glancing at this side it looks like it's mostly covers. I'm getting the sense that all of these new "garage" bands should slam this record on the turntable. A quick listen whould make everything they're doing seem obsolete.

Dare I say that this final side is fun. I dare. See you tomorrow.

Coming up:
3 days of the A-Frames. Should be interesting.

Introduction

Hi. My intent here is to listen to all of my LPs in alphabetical order and write a mini essay on each one. I'm sure that there are some records that I've only listened to once or twice and some that will be overwhelmingly embarrassing. Oh well. Nobody will read it so it doesn't matter.