If I would have realized what I big fucking deal the closing of Gold Standard Laboratories was going to be I would have:
a) stocked up on more of their stuff while it was still in print (the stuff that’s out of print is available HERE and act fast; I bought a few things and they became unavailable immediately after!)
b) written an obituary, heartfelt and tear-jerking as Will Ferrell singing “Dust in the Wind”
c) invested all of my non-capital in the venture
Guess I missed my chance! That’s what Used Bins are for, though, which is exactly where I found Kill Me Tomorrow‘s The Garbageman and the Prostitute. I remembered it from my college-radio days and figured it would have aged well like most of the GSL stuff (I’m still waiting to find copies of the Rhythm Of Black Lines records).
I was correct and THEN SOME. Packed within this full-length record is a fitting example of the best that electroclash — and post-electroclash — had to offer. The singer affects a hazy, moaning drone of a vocal style while his band works barbed-wire guitar leads and thrumming basslines into a constant four-on-the-floor beat.
I personally miss this stuff and this scene, if it could be called that. Les Georges Leningrad, Think About Life, Numbers, Test Icicles, too many GSL alums to mention, Beep Beep … oh, those were the days, by god.
What a great time to relive them! This is the sort of scuzzy rock ‘n’ roll that appeals to several sects of the indie-underground persuasion, a high-tension musk that stinks if you’re on the outside — looking in on a bunch of dancing hipsters — and smells great if you’re in the middle of the crowd, sandwiched between two bulbous bodies like a rolled-up dollar bill stuffed into the middle of a bra.
WHEW … Listen to the MP3 while I catch my breath enough to maybe, just maybe, muster the strength to post to this blog again.
Test Icicles RULED
come to think of it, i have a neon-green Test Icicles 7-inch i'll have to whip out soon …