Gary Wrong Group “Knights of Misery” 12”
The first official release from the Gary Wrong Group, following up the ill-fated “Pollen Christ” 7” on Total Punk and the “Mayhem Troopers” 7” on Bat Shit (and its many wonderful cover variations) credited as simply Gary Wrong. Those singles were mainly one-man recording efforts (with help from Wizzard Sleeve accomplice Benny Devine), but the Group expands things to a quartet including Quintron on drums/organ and a fella named Weird Steve on synths along with Devine and Wrong. Six songs at 45 rpm, with things sounding far more deep via extensive synth squiggling from Steve, acting in a capacity much like LZR does in Human Eye, not laying down rhythms as much as adding sound effects and background noise – and this is in addition to Quintron’s more direct organ lines and Devine doubling on Casio. The dual percussive efforts produce results as well – avoiding the two-drummers-playing-the-same-thing pitfall much of the time, but alternating fills and differing their patterns enough to keep you guessing. “Post Natal Pre Death” is a lockstep march that could easily be the intro to the giant monster attack depicted in the album art, a heavy stomp with extra-dimensional synth. The parenthetical addendum to the title “Reasons To Shive (Ode to Ubu)” rears its head as an effectively repetitive downer-trip into darkness and “Heroin Beach Serpents Attack” repurposes the original for more B-movie scifi-esque mayhem. “St. Theo” is very Quintron-esque, with upbeat organ breaks cutting up the doomy repetition and sorta rapped lyrics. The tail end of this repeats “Pollen Christ” and their “Streets of Iron” cover from the 7”, which I have no beef with since barely anyone got a copy of that 7” anyway, and they seem to have tinkered with them a bit. An impressive concoction from some true Southern-fried weirdos - a bit raunchier and rockier than Wizzard Sleeve, with a Roger Corman budget and aesthetic. Scum stats: 500 copies (all gone!), with insert and fantastic silkscreened cover art that is just begging you to grab some markers and color it in. Intrepid readers should carry on with the Life and Times of Gary Wrong here…(RK)
(Total Punk // wwww.floridasdying.com)
(Jeth-Row // jethrowrecords.blogspot.com)
(Ed: For those not that internet savvy, here is a link to a Gary Wrong interview. This should tide you over for a week until we finish the Aussie issue…)
