Bob Drake: 13 Songs And A Thing (CD on Rer Megacorp)

Band: Bob Drake
Label: Rer Megacorp
Title: 13 Songs And A Thing

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Band:Bob Drake
Title:13 Songs And A Thing
Reviewed By:Andrew Carver
Date Published:03/08/2003

Label:Rer Megacorp
Format:CD
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Often, when record labels send out a CD for review, it’s accompanied by a tipsheet where the label attempts to give a little history of the act and describe the music in question for the staff of whatever publication the CD is headed out to.

Sometimes, the said tipsheet makes one wonder if the writer ever listened to the band. Sometimes they’re ridiculously overblown. Sometimes they’re completely incomprehensible. Sometimes (rarely) they’re actually accurate (you people at Camera Obscura — you tryna’ put me out of a job?!?). And then there’s ReR.

I pity the writer at ReR Megacorp. I mean, imagine going into work and being told you have to make up a concise description of Ground Zero, Slapp Happy, or Faust ... any mortal would swiftly be driven insane.

Which brings us to Bob Drake. “Bonnie Prince Billy meets Beefheart via the Beatles.” That’s it — the poor bastard’s finally snapped. (Alliteration is usually the first sign).

But you can’t blame the writer. Personally, I’d say Drake’s music sounds like a chicken being chased by an SUV (I think the chicken escapes in the end). A guitar being thrown down a staircase, the first five seconds of David Bowie’s 'Diamond Dogs' an explosion in a flamenco dancer school, Tom Waits on a bender, a hoedown gone horribly wrong, an emergency phone call to the plumber, videogame saxophone, sleepy dragonfly, radio freakout ...

There’s some frenetically plucked strings in parts, pots’n’pans percussion, some briskly strummed guitar, then some ominous, heavy chords (Drake does ominous very, very well). Things tend to speed up, then slow down, and fade out at unusual moments.

So I wouldn’t say it’s “Bonnie Prince Billy meets Beefheart via the Beatles” — more like 'Times Ain’t Like They Used To Be' locked in an embrace with Mr. Bungle, plus bits of Finland’s Circle. Or something. Recommended to those who have bought other ReR releases, particularly Ground Zero and Faust, and anyone fond of oddness in general.

Track Listing:

01) Chase
02) Foam II
03) Abandoned Thermal Estalishment Blues
04) Rtuuf
05) Ten For A Dime
06) Move The King
07) In Case The Insulator Fails
08) Griffin
09) Pechan And Willy
10) Spicules
11) Plinth Shriveller
12) Building With Bones
13) And The Sun
14) Foam I

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Bizarre guitar rock from American singer-songwriter and solo artist, Bob Drake

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13 Songs And A Thing - CD
Bizarre guitar rock from American singer-songwriter and solo artist, Bob Drake

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