(Die Stasi, 2007)Happy Presidents’ Day Eve, everybody! Do you have your Prezzy Day tree set up? I sure do, and I’m hoping that upon waking tomorrow I’ll see that the ghost of Thomas Jefferson brought me everything I asked for this year (leather-bound edition of the Federalist Papers, Jimmy Carter action figure, knife). Luckily I didn’t hafta ask Tom for the wunnerful Frustrations 7” that Die Stasi put out in ’07, what with me having already bought it on discount at Academy Records a few months back; as I always say, anything I can do to lighten the sack of a gift-bearing ex-prez, I’ll gladly do. But I betcha, extra weight or no, our badass forefathers would be keen to check these goofs, cuz the Frustrations are twitchy Cleveland-style punk with some overtly psychedelic elements – wordless, echo-heavy chorus on the A, for example – that edge ’em towards early Flaming Lips (circa Oh My Gawd!!) turf, a turf too rarely trod by today’s noisemakers. A manly, xylophone-laced Devo cover (“Freedom of Choice”) and a paranoid horror-show stomper (“Evil Twin”), all of which feature barely-controlled guitar vroom, seal the deal. No sir, my ears wouldn’t kick these guys outta bed, not now and not never.
2 comments:
But wait -- why is the ghost of Tom Jeff doing the gift-doling? It should be Abe or George, since they're the ones with birthdays in this general vicinity? Is it simply that Jefferson gets your vote for most likely to play Saint Nick?
A good question! Of the Greats, I guess he just seems most like the giving type; Washington is too cold and distant, and Lincoln would frighten small children. So Jefferson it must be... I'm flirting with a tasteless joke about his prez-sleigh being pulled by FDR's wheelchair, but I won't pursue that.
Post a Comment