At the 2007 Athens Popfest, on what festival organizer Mike Turner was informally calling “Elephant 6 Night,” a band took the 40 Watt’s stage with little buzz–”Thee American Revolution? Whuzzat?”–but everyone pulled tighter to the stage when they recognized Robert Schneider, Apples in Stereo frontman, stepping up to the microphone in sunglasses and ceremonial robe. A throne was placed stage right, and a mysterious man known only as “William Shears” (not Ringo Starr), also in sunglasses, claimed his rightful place as master of ceremonies. With brother-in-law Craig Morris (then of Ideal Free Distribution, who’d played a stunning set to a smaller crowd earlier in the evening), they kicked out the jams and almost literally blew out the speakers, and between each song turned to the seated Mr. Wm. Shears, American Revolution mentor, who would issue his silent approval with a royal nod of the head. His approval is something, as the band’s message and means is 60’s-style psychedelic rock, and Shears is a British musician of 60’s psych pedigree who recently moved to Lexington, where Robert & Craig are located. His identity is intended to be a mystery, as is the exact role he plays in this outfit. (Was he controlling them with his presence, like a psychic puppetmaster? Perhaps.) We are told the band united under William’s direction, and also out of the new collective that’s solidified after Robert moved his Pet Sounds Studio from Denver to Lexington a long time ago; Craig, too, has a studio, and their enthusiasm for this particular musical genre gives their album Buddha Electrostorm an interesting mix of sincerity and self-parody. The long, feedback-driven guitar intros are both utterly ridiculous and definitely awesome. Until now their releases and live appearances have been sporadic and mysterious; an impromptu show in Lexington, or MP3s passed along to this website from Robert, Craig, or William as a 4th of July present. Still, it wasn’t meant to take this long: a certain indie label was intended to release this record some years ago, so Buddha Electrostorm is far from “brand new.” After a complicated birth, it’s finally out from Garden Gate Records, the psych-specialty label started by Craig and his sister, Marci Schneider, and which released the superb Laminated Cat record in September. I’d like to imagine a shop in San Francisco selling medical marijuana, Tarot Cards, X-rated comix, and Garden Gate records.
To those finally getting a chance to hear the Electrostorm, it’s a blast: the band sounds like acne-faced teens starting a band and hitting proms and parties in L.A. circa 1966, too anxious for stardom, playing bigger than they are. Of course, winking at you, there’s a sophistication beneath this sloppy exterior; it’s a bit too clever to be just what it appears. The sure-footedness to step between a straightforward, we-will-rock-you, riff-driven anthem like “Power House” and a more melodic, handclapping number like “Blow My Mind” can’t help but display the experience of the minds behind it all. What does it all mean? Nothing, thank Christ. This is anti-intellectual, take-your-pants-off fun. Like “Grit Magazine,” named after those ads in the back of old comics asking you to waste your childhood acting as their cheap magazine’s door-to-door salesman; that premise is married with great ceremony to Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water” monster riff. Not a similar riff, mind you. The exact same riff. What else can you do with this but set aside nitpicking and turn it all the way up? Granted, this is the most shameless track on the album: you’ll feel less guilty, if any guilt remains, blasting the genuinely very good “She’s Coming Down” and “Haircut,” and dammit if “Electric Flame” wouldn’t do honor to the last Apples in Stereo album, because it even has a little bit of polish to it. Not that conventional polish is welcome here. The bursts of between-take dialogue, ear-punching feedback, and random misplaced noise are all deliberately arranged. It’s like a Jackson Pollock. E6 fans will be able to easily place it in Robert’s discography, but then, despite all his side-projects, he’s always been barking up the same tree. The psych of Fun Trick Noisemaker and Her Wallpaper Reverie blossoms here, as do the experiments with harsher, dressed-down live sound in Velocity of Sound and the Ulysses record. And it’s appropriate that Will Hart (Circulatory System) provides the artwork, as there’s an early E6-tapes vibe here too (”Blow My Mind” in particular). For Apples in Stereo fans, it’s essential listening, but the appeal should be broader. The real American revolution was rock and roll, and Thee American Revolution wallow in it, shamelessly, irresistibly. Hopefully this record won’t stay underground.
Buddha Electrostorm,
by Thee American Revolution
1. She’s Coming Down
2. Grit Magazine
3. Electric Flame
4. Haircut
5. Power House
6. Blow My Mind
7. Shoeshine Blues
8. Little Girl
9. Saturn Daze
10. In Your Dream/Japanese Clone
You can buy it now at Garden Gate Records.
Attention Kentuckians: There will be a Garden Gate Records Showcase on Friday, November 20th at Al’s Bar in Lexington, KY, featuring live performances by Thee American Revolution, Big Fresh, and Laminated Cat.
