Spacemen 3 – Performance – Review

Spacemen 3

Performance (Taang!)
by Nik Rainey

Simply put, Spacemen 3 were thieves. The songs of theirs that weren’t outright covers were, often as not, barefaced rips of known underground quantities such as the Stooges, MC5, Lou Reed, and Led Zeppelin (?!). No fewer than three of their “originals” were based on the first three notes of “I Can See For Miles.” They weren’t exactly virtuosos on their instruments and were seriously uncharismatic live (they never even stood up!). They also just happened to be the greatest fucking band in the world, and Taang! has the re-issues to prove it.

The final two installments in the S-3 repackage series are here, ready to trepan your skull and play hob with the contents. Sound of Confusion, their ’86 debut, is first-embryonic Detroit-via-Rugby fuzz-drones that light up the firmament with incandescent bursts of beauteous fury. They didn’t drop the real bomb ’til their next two albums (The Perfect Prescription and Playing With Fire, also on Taang!), but it still smokes, and the bonus of their hypno-sonic 17-minute version of the 13th Floor Elevators’ “Rollercoaster” alone renders this a necessity.

Performance is the extended version of their ’88 live opus, recorded in Amsterdam in front of what sounds like an audience of three. Sonic Boom himself has disowned it, claiming that the band was, um, “distracted” that night (in Amsterdam? Now what could possibly have caused that?), but it’s a hip trip nonetheless. If you haven’t yet tasted the sweet buzz of the 3 because of exorbitant import prices and suchlike, you now officially have no excuse. Swallow this. It’ll make you fly.