Scramblehead

Valley of the Bugs (Scorpion)
by Lex Marburger

I’ve always been slightly fascinated with Charles Manson. In High School, one of my nicknames was “Charlie.” Later on (when I got into perception psychology), I was intent on finding out how Manson could do all that he did with such devoted followers. His music, however, always seemed to belie a gentler side than slapping “Piggy” on a wall in human blood. Maybe it was because he worked within the hippie years, or because they wouldn’t give him anything more than an acoustic guitar in jail. Enter Scramblehead: The Manson Children of the ’90s.

About Valley of the Bugs (Scorpion)… First off – a brutal neo-industrial sound, with heavy drums and buzzsaw guitars. Add vocals sung through a walkie-talkie by an extremely pissed off man. Throw in three female backup (go-go) singers with no distortion and hardly any reverb (it’s amazing that such a simply sung, sweet sound can be so in-your-face). And for the icing, all lyrics were written by Charlie himself!

Scramblehead has taken Manson’s tunes and processed them through an angrier society, transforming his utopian, almost naive words into the voice of a new revolution. This is the music that would have demolished cities, had Manson been a musician rather than an ordinary sociopath. It’s hard to tell if this is some satirical put-on, or if they needed some hook, or if they couldn’t write any good lyrics of their own, or if they’re serious. I’m not sure. However, seeing that they’re from Denver, I think I’ll go skiing somewhere else this year. Somewhere safer, like Bosnia.