Racebannon

In the Grips of the Light (Secretly Canadian)
by Craig Regala

Yowling balls-on-fire spasmatic hard rock vs. punk noise gibbering. “Punk” like the early Butthole Surfers were punk, shambling, blown apart and glued together songs more there for reference than whatever else. “Noise” like their spiritual forefathers in Stickdog before those guys moved from the-heart-of-it-all westward fifteen years ago. It may be odd that these guys have landed on this particular label; home of zonked folkies, out-sider indie rock and Nikki Sudden reishes, but Racebannon is the wailing ultimate of the Secretly Canadian “aesthetic,” honest. Jesus, these guys do a retardo demolition job on Captain Beefhearts “Electricity” making Sonic Youth’s sound like XTC or the Foo Fighters or some such radio doodle. That’s Secretly Canadianesque: Berserk, but very human music. Plus, someone between the coasts has gotta hire these sorta guys or they’ll move away and all we’ll have is emo bands and doofy nü metal.

Apparently, large parts of this are improvised within the setting, and it’s not boring. So I assume long hours of practice have given these guys a good glimpse into what their partners are gonna do. Like when James Brown used to shout “Take me to the bridge,” to his band. He didn’t know where the band was in a specific tune-oriented way, but everyone involved knew what to do and when. So; someone in Racebannon probably yells “Take me to the exploding stuffed-animal part,” and it gets done. Amen. I hope they stay in Indiana. The Midwest bred’m and needs’m.
(1021 South Walnut Bloomington, IN 47401)