The Spook Lights
Thursday, June 24th, 2010
Teenage Maniac / Night of the Queerwolf 7″
Self-Released, 2010
Like the previous post, here’s another underrated midwestern freakshow featured in the Horror Punk 101 countdown last Halloween. Lawrence, Kansas’ kings of reverb-drenched Cramps worship finally got pressed to wax—red wax no less—the perfect format for their brand of throwback garage stomp. And don’t assume that this is some showy retread tribute group dimly aping their heroes. The Spook Lights craft an aesthetic that draws from and extends their influences, keeping them as relevant and vital as anything you’ll find seeping from the underground in 2010. This debut 7″ captures their outstanding track “Teenage Maniac” from the KJHK Farm Fresh compilation and backs it up with a slithering B-side, “Night of the Queerwolf”, packaged up in fine, screen-printed PBR case paperboard. Fans of Haunted George, Kid Congo, and of course The Cramps, take note.
LINKS
There were only 300 of these babies pressed on Lawrence, Kansas’ Priapus label and it’s about time you heard it. During the mid-1990s, the idea of ‘post-rock’ was quite the hot item with bands like Tortoise, Sea and Cake, Gastr del Sol and others mixing electronic and scholarly elements to sprawling rock compositions. That’s the category Hypershperian seemed to get lumped into, which doesn’t quite fit their freewheeling sound since they weren’t quite as fussy about their songs as some of the headier bands of the era. In fact, they had more of an “out there” vibe you’d find in bands like TFUL 282 or the more grandiose moments of The Flaming Lips and Brian Eno‘s early work, mixing and piling up sounds into a churning sonic stew that pulls you in instead of foisting itself upon you like some of the post-rock groups. The A-side features their best song, “Epic Majestic,” a vintage synth-soaked gem that stumbles along like a lazy stroll on a summer night, loose around the edges and just gnarled and weird enough to make things really interesting. The B-side kicks off with “Activation,” which stacks up nicely to the Stereolab catalog with minimal Moog giving way to waves of warm electronics and an increased density. “Hubris,” the final track, is a sparse indie rock-style duet featuring rolling basslines and electronic piano, which brilliantly culminates into a locked groove. Hyperspherian managed to put out a CD (only “Epic Majestic” from this 7″ appears on it) that doesn’t quite have the magic of this record, but it’s worth a listen if you happen to come across it.