How exactly did someone manage to program a 3 night (alleged) psych fest in Austin this weekend but neglect to book San Pedro, France’s GUNSLINGERS? A deconstructo trio whose not-so-nuanced approach recalls at various times the Groundhogs, Mick Farren’s Deviants, Sonics Rendezvous Band or the sludgier moments of the Bevis Frond, the Gunslingers are making their first Austin visit this Sunday. That it falls outside the confines of anything Black Angels-sanctioned is all the more reason why these visitors to our beautiful city need our help.
“In a systematic act of alchemy clearly designed to upstage in one fell swoop every budding Asahito Nanjo, every rising Kawabata Makoto, every post-Reck and neo-Keiji Heino, nay, every occidental Japrock wannabe combined, French super freak and guitar mangler Gregory Raimo has “ with this solitary Gunslingers album release “ put to shame each™n™every proto-metal musician across this lickle planet with a spiteful racket so accursedly evil, so mischievously demonic, so gurningly and grinningly piss-taking that barbarians across the globe (myself included, natch) can only drool in disbelief and green-eyed envy. For NO MORE INVENTION is nothing less than the sum total of every move culled from every essential No Wave, Post Punk, Free Rock statement thus far spewed forth onto vinyl and CD.
I know, you know, we ALL know the French might not know how to rock™n™roll 99.999999% of the time. But when they get it right, boy, does it smoke pole! And, like existentialist hero Albert Camus™ bizarre death in the back seat of a massively expensive Facel Vega HK550 supercar, Gunslingers™ NO MORE INVENTION is a raging and fumingly Gallic summation of all things Righteous, Nihilistic and Stylishly Paradoxical simultaneously.” – Julian Cope, August, 2008
Gunslingers
Dikes Of Holland
Air Traffic Controllers
Woodgrain
I didn’t think anything that would “smoke pole” would warrant such purple praise/prose, but this band is great.
I’ve never seen “smoke pole” used as a compliment — or anything other than an over-ornate way to say something blows — before. But I’m less familiar with Julian Cope’s writing than I am with his music. And I only barely know his music.
I’ll refrain from comment about pole-smoking. However, Cope’s post-Teardrop Explodes music includes but is not limited to the streamlined poppier solo offerings like “World Shut Your Mouth” to the far heavier/uglier Brain Donor. Cope’s books on German and Japanese rock’n’roll , ‘Krautrocksampler ‘ and ‘Japrocksampler’ are highly recommend, as is the dual volume autobiography ‘Head On/Repossesed’. Cope’s website, Head Heritage, is pretty entertaining, esp. his album of the month entries (‘no more invention’ being one of ’em).
Just heard this band for the first time….Wow…. Thankfully they will be playing
in Philadelphia at Kung-Fu Necktie on 4/5