Sunday, May 24, 2009

the u-men - stop spinning 12"


released 1985

they helped pave the way for that thing called "grunge"

fronted by a one john bigley and his i've-had-waaaay-too-much-coffee vocals...they mixed up the dirty sound of be-bop-a-lula rockabilly with the mysterious purple velvet post punk sounds of the birthday party

best described as "swamp-o-billy"

the butthole surfers liked them so much that they titled a song after them

amphetamine reptile's own tom hazlemyer almost moved to seattle to join the band on bass after bassist jim tillman left (he did play onstage with them once opening for big black in 1987)

but you didn't come here for facts...you came for music (there are other u-men materials planted throughout this very blog as well)

DL: stop spinning 12"

4 comments:

1009 said...

I'm always surprised I never hear the Jesus Lizard mentioned in the same breath as the U-Men. Vocals, guitar, bass, they really seem to have been on to a similar aesthetic. If that's an aesthetic.

Thanks! Especially for the high bitrate! Strange, though, that "Year and a Day" is at 120 while the rest is 320. Glad to hear it anyhow.

ipecac said...

i was actually gonna throw up the jesus lizard comparison...but i thought that i'd just get met with a collective look of disbelief

and of course the jesus lizard is an aesthetic

as for the odd bitrate...i just don't know

1009 said...

Awesome awesome record. Just listened for the first time & it occurred to me that Bigley is the achronological offspring of Tom Waits & David Yow.

With a slightly more "metal" drummer & if the bassist used a j-bass with a little grit on it everyone would hear the Jesus Lizard comparison.

Finally, "Cow Rock" cuts off early. No!!!

Unknown said...

Can someone re-upload it please?

 
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