My Review from Bucketfull 42-1983
THE SCREAMING MEE-MEES CLUTCHING HAND MONSTER MITT Dog Face Records DF 002 (US LP)
For more than a decade St. Louis' own man mountain and self-styled guru of musical mayhem. Bruce Cole and equally insane partner Jon Ashline have been producing cassettes of uniquely bizarre cacophonies of wit and wisdom. Lurid tales of talking pumpkins with accompaniment that cares little for the niceties of melody, rhythm and staying in tune. It's all one huge joke to some people, but at the centre of this clamorous noise is the very real lyrical talent of a true one-off, Bruce Cole. More subtle is the concept that 10 years of trying not to play musical instruments has resulted in the boys not being able to play their instruments superbly!! A sort of inverted virtuosity abounds - it's just a question of listener acclimatisation - and after three or four plays this album will suddenly make some sort of sense.The Mee Mees smash all sensibilities asunder with long, merciless sonic assaults that are like the coming of the Anti-Christ to the average Bongos fan. Titles like "Psychoward Reunion" and "Riotous Crowd" say it all. It takes real effort, and a couple of Panadol, but after a while you'll cotton on to what it's all about. Didn't people have the same problem with "Trout Mask Replica" when it first came out? Leave your brain in the cloakroom and come down to the basement of cortex violation that is "Clutching Hand Monster
Mitt".
As well as being a musical adventurer Bruce was also an inventor with a unique vision..here are just two of his inventions
No comments:
Post a Comment