Dear Friends,
The kids will sing today for their parents and family. These are pretty great moments, and they are fun glimpses into the other part of my student’s lives. Luckily, most of the interactions with their parents are positive. Every once in a while, though, they are not.
Last year at this time, I got my first real glimpse of Cocaine Baby’s dad. I wrote about it, but if you have forgotten or are new here, he was an asshole. There are a few instances where I’d like to really tear into a parent, but nothing good can come from that. That was one of them.
I haven’t seen the Cocaine Baby lately. He’s gone from his side of the two schools before I get out to the gate. Hopefully I will get to see him before the winter break. I worry about him and like to get the occasional check in. Hopefully his dad is not being a total dick to him these days.
It should be interesting to see who comes out today and roots on their youngsters. I’m hopeful.
*****
One of the things I have figured out that I love about noisier bands is how they represent possibility. I like being surprised by music. It keeps things fresh, as they say, and I find it really interesting how different groups of people come together and make these sonic puzzles for us.
I hope that other people listen to music that I make and feel something similar. I hope they listen or watch and wonder, “How did they come up that?” or “Why did they do that?” Many of the bands that I have grown to love over the years inspire me like that.
In the early 90s, I got turned on to a San Diego band called Trumans Water. It was my buddy, Geoff, at Eastside Records who recommended that I pick up their CD, Spasm Smash Xxxoxox Ox & Ass. Before long, I had three or four of their records, but I always came back to this one and the one right before it, Of Thick Tum.
I went back and forth about which one to write about, to be honest. It could have gone either way, but I think I like more songs on Spasm Smash Xxxoxox Ox & Ass. While there is a lot jazzier stuff on the first one, I think I like that the band really goes for the great riffs on this one. The guitars are kinda dominating and kinda dope on the first few songs, for example.
“Aroma of Gina Arnold” and “Speeds Exceeding” both have this great use of tension. It’s one of the things Trumans Water was really fucking good at. Their songs often have this kind of build and release and then they take off into something else completely. The ending of “Speeds Exceeding” is like this. A lot of Of Think Tum has these great loud-quiet-noisy-quiet-incredible transitions going on. They built on this for record number two.
Spasm Smash Xxxoxox Ox & Ass is a double record, so I am not going to comment on every song. Hell, I don’t even know if I could truly do this band justice by writing much more about them at all. It might be a huge compliment to them that I feel like their lyrics are mostly unremarkable.
There are parts, of course, that totally suck me in to this day. A lot of the songs, though, are way more memorable for a certain visceral feeling they evoke. They make me want to get in a room with some friends and just bash some song parts out. Maybe something will stick and maybe it won’t.
Earlier in 2024, I was rocking out with my buddies, Amy, Dana, and Ward. We were doing some things kind of like Trumans Water. It was great fun. Listen to the song “Rations” and you’ll get what I am talking about. They are just chopping away at the song and don’t care if the parts that end up on the floor are just bloody stumps.
This reminds me that when I used to try and turn people on to Trumans Water, I got a lot of strange looks. I don’t remember ever having too many people say, “I love that band.” I remember when they played Eastside Records in Tempe, and they used my old Kustom PA. It was one of the true ‘tuck and roll’ PA’s and it seemed sort of fitting. It was a temperamental and noisy piece of equipment on its own, but Trumans Water couldn’t have sounded better playing through it. I wish I had had a cell phone back then with a nice camera in it. Pictures would have been rad.
In those days, I was resistant to having any kind of electric tether device, though. I lived my life without needing to be in constant contact with anyone.
There is so much good stuff on Spasm Smash Xxxoxox Ox & Ass. I had forgotten how much more consistent this record is than some of their other stuff that I had. This is the one I always went back to and listened to a lot in my little red truck.
Part of my University (with a capital U) experience was alienation. I made one friend at ASU among my fellow students. One. I spent a lot of time on campus in those years alone. I would go to class and not really talk to anyone and walk between classes and not talk to anyone and get something to eat, either on campus or off, and not talk to anyone.
Spasm Smash Xxxoxox Ox & Ass was part of the soundtrack of those years for me and it makes me remember what it was like to feel like I was all alone. Again, I have to mention that most people I played Trumans Water for back in those days, even fans of noisier stuff, could not take it for very long.
I would listen to the entirety of Spasm Smash Xxxoxox Ox & Ass and then let it play again. It’s about 75 minutes long, so by the time you get to the end, the beginning seems like it was a long time ago.
“Bludgeon Elites & Stagger” is another favorite of mine. I have to mention that one. “Lo Priest” is another one that I have always really loved. It’s got a lot of stuff going on…like a lot. It’s pretty epic, too.
“Our Doctors Think We’re Blind” has a Japanese hardcore kind of thing going on that I always thought was cool. I can see why Trumans Water was influential to a lot of those early 90s heavy bands. I would have jumped at the chance to play with other people who liked this kind of stuff, but I was also heavy into getting Hillbilly going and thought there was a chance that Hillbilly could morph into something a little noisier.
We just got heavier.
On a final note, I always thought “La Jolla My Armpit” was a great song title.
*****
See you tomorrow.
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