The first time I heard this EP several years ago, it was a cheapo record I picked up on a whim the middle of a batch of Amoeba Record finds that included a bunch of gems that I had been looking for for a long time - I listened to about 30 seconds of this, thought "Huh, OK, nice" and filed it away. It was not until I rummaged through my records I wanted to part with before moving to New York that I even gave it a second thought.
I gave it a good listen, and it instantly grew. It starts with the midtempo and spacey I Enter Your Void, which, although very repetitive, contained a mix of characteristics that made me love it. The guitars were dissonant, the drums steady, and the vocals almost in the glam-punk realm. The tempo practically doubles with Miami, which mixes more of the dissonant guitars with plucking basslines and more of the glam punk vocals. But the songs on side B are really the killer tracks. By the time A Room In Your Head started, I realized that the band's strongest point is the difficult ability to take dissonant and effected guitars and slightly snotty/arty but usually perfectly clear and articulated vocals and spin them into perfect dark pop. Your Manikin Hand drove this point home, sounding like a frantic version of Joy Division sans the studio atmospherics. This record is now one of my favorites. The band was from Massachusetts and I believe this was their only release. Perhaps, sadly, the city of New Bedford was not quite ready for their arty brand of dissonant new wave.
Gluons: S/T EP
1983, Self-released
A1 I Enter Your Void
A2 Miami
B1 A Room In Your Head
B2 Your Manikin Hand
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7 comments:
This band later morphed into Blue Hollow. http://www.discogs.com/artist/Blue+Hollow
They also backed up Allen Ginsburg on the BirdbrainSue Your Parents single- Alekos Records 1981. Could be a different Gluons, but I think they are the same.
I believe Mike Means went on to do work in Holy Cow. Same era as Blue Hollow. Both were 1986 faves at Southeastern Massachusetts University's WUSM.
Ron and Tom from the Gluons/Blue Hollow are my cousins. Have this on vinyl.
Oh my god, there's a lot of useful info in this post!
I was a DJ at WUSM in North Darmouth during my college years and we played this record a lot! I loved Ron and the guys in this band. When I went on to WHJY, I tried like hell to get them played. They should have been signed by a label. Their manager went on to manage Throwing Muses and Pixies (Ken Goes). Thanks for posting!
glad to have found your blog today. thanks for all the great sounds. these guys remind me a bit of Polyrock..
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