― Chris Barrus (xibalba), Thursday, 6 February 2003 05:14 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Chris Barrus (xibalba), Thursday, 6 February 2003 05:19 (twenty-one years ago) link
-Matt, taking a break from spackling.
― Matt Maxwell (Matt M.), Thursday, 6 February 2003 05:29 (twenty-one years ago) link
― jack cole (jackcole), Thursday, 6 February 2003 06:25 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Kris (aqueduct), Thursday, 6 February 2003 06:29 (twenty-one years ago) link
A mighty fine band, great guitar work as mentioned by Matt, but what made them so good was Guy Kyser's voice. It sounds like it comes from some other place, from the other side of your nightmares. Insinuates itself into your soul. He could sing a nursery rhyme and it'd sound fucking spooky.
A great band live as well. Only saw them once, towards the end (Ruby Sea tour) at the Joiner's Arms in Southampton, but they were as good as I'd hoped.
― James Ball (James Ball), Thursday, 6 February 2003 09:55 (twenty-one years ago) link
i've read somewhere (online interview i think) that he's gone back to gardening...
great band. most goodies have been mentioned above. also, i really like their version of some velvet morning.
― willem (willem), Thursday, 6 February 2003 11:42 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 6 February 2003 14:49 (twenty-one years ago) link
― jack cole (jackcole), Thursday, 6 February 2003 14:51 (twenty-one years ago) link
James is right, Guy Khyser's voice is a crucial part of the band, as are his lyrics (and i don't say that sort of thing very often).
Shout-out to my homie Kris from alt.music.alternative!
-Matt, needing coffee
― Matt Maxwell (Matt M.), Thursday, 6 February 2003 14:53 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Rockist Scientist, Thursday, 6 February 2003 14:58 (twenty-one years ago) link
a few more brief thoughts on Mummydogs -- the album came out last year on the revived http://www.frontierrecords.com/">Frontier label, which is being distributed by http://www.mordamrecords.com">Mordam. a decent return by Guy -- but after TWR, maybe a little too straight up without some of the interplay TWR was especially good at. still nice vocals from Kyser and his wife and sign of perhaps even better things to come if the Mummydogs continue and Kyser finds his footing better with his new group.
― jack cole (jackcole), Thursday, 6 February 2003 15:39 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Lee G (Lee G), Thursday, 6 February 2003 17:03 (twenty-one years ago) link
― tigerclawskank, Thursday, 6 February 2003 17:07 (twenty-one years ago) link
― evan chronister (evan chronister), Friday, 7 February 2003 07:05 (twenty-one years ago) link
Spoor.
the reissue news is grebt! (though i have most of their stuff on vinyl, it would be fantastic if they included some interesting bonus-stuff)
― willem (willem), Friday, 7 February 2003 10:15 (twenty-one years ago) link
― James Ball (James Ball), Friday, 7 February 2003 11:06 (twenty-one years ago) link
― willem (willem), Friday, 7 February 2003 15:49 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Andrew Blood Thames (Andrew Thames), Tuesday, 21 September 2004 12:26 (nineteen years ago) link
Just re-listening to Moonhead (actually Moonhead...Plus diablo records release), and like above it has been saved from a 'get rid of pile' - damn it's a good record - I just played it back to back with eleventh dream day's 'prairie school freakout' and both rekkids guitars sounds equal desert peyote - real good fun on a Sunday before a ball game.
― BlackIronPrison, Sunday, 5 August 2007 22:02 (sixteen years ago) link
Their former manager ML Compton has been posting tour stories irregularly on his Myspace site:
http://www.myspace.com/melcompton
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 6 August 2007 04:04 (sixteen years ago) link
One of my very favorite bands. I just love the whole package so much. Guy's basalt vocals, the thick twining snake guitars, the natural-history-tinged lyrics, the twang wedded to the dino-hevviness, the "this is a song about waking up with an acid hangover and a boner".
I miss them so. If I were to send someone home with two of their releases to try'n make a fan outta them, it would be Moonhead and the very well-chosen best-of When Worlds Collide.
FISH!!!
― Jon Lewis, Monday, 6 August 2007 14:45 (sixteen years ago) link
I listened to White Heaven first album the other night and Kurihara's super-scorching guitar sound blew me away as usual. Suddenly it reminded of Thin White Rope. The Kyser/ Kunkel interplay was obviously impressive in its Television-inspired detail, but it is the monstrous sound of their guitars that really made TWR. So dark, powerful and impossibly sad. And the way Guy Kyser concocts haunting, spooky natural images like a cowboy Georg Buechner: "Ants are cavemen" is him channeling a delirious Woyzeck-like enthomologist of sorts and sounding at the same time frightening and funny. Best 80's American band, period.
― Marco Damiani, Friday, 1 August 2008 14:34 (fifteen years ago) link
:-) Definitely encourage everyone again to check out ML's blog I linked up there for more TWR stories, among many other things. Need to break out the albums again.
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 1 August 2008 14:45 (fifteen years ago) link
I checked it a couple of times and its fun. Give the albums another try, Ned: the production unfortunately isn't always that good, but the songs are ace. Kyser was a very personal writer. Also no other band in the world is equally in debt with Marty Robbins and Joy Division!
― Marco Damiani, Friday, 1 August 2008 15:00 (fifteen years ago) link
One of my favorite bands of the 80s. So alien, unlike almost anything else, either in their time or out of it. People often mention Television and Paisley Underground contemporaries like the Rain Parade and the Dream Syndicate in describing them, and while that's fair, it doesn't get at how strange they were underneath. Love the snaky, heat shimmer guitar tangles, the super-creepy storytelling and Kyser's wobbly, wierdly affected vocals. They're about the most Halloweeny band I can think of, and the best part is that they manage it without ever resorting to campy spook-show schtick. They rarely sound like they're trying to be scary ("Disney Girl" and the Ruby Sea LP being clear exceptions), but they scare the crap out of me anyway.
'Course, it isn't an accident, either. Most of the lyrics read like ghost stories, and the ones that don't rarely have anything reassuring to say. Creeping you out was obviously a big part of the intent. Still, for all the theatricality, there's never anything forced about it. The vibe of alienation and depersonalization fits with the music and with the subject matter, making it ring true, at least in the sense that it doesn't seem like an act.
Agree that they never really got the production they deserved, but it doesn't bother me much. I like the records the way they are.
― contenderizer, Friday, 1 August 2008 17:58 (fifteen years ago) link
Their version of 'Some Velvet Morning' was fantastico. Fuck - i forgot about the Rope! Saw them live too. Excellent
― Fer Ark, Friday, 1 August 2008 18:45 (fifteen years ago) link
Totally love the "Yoo Doo Right" cover.
gygax! started a thread about it once.
― Steve Shasta, Friday, 1 August 2008 18:53 (fifteen years ago) link
TAKING SIDES: "Yoo Doo Right" by THIN WHITE ROPE vs. "Mother Sky" by TH' FAITH HEALERS vs. "The Sad Skinhead" by TRUMANS WATER vs. "Jenny Ondioline" by STEREOLAB
― Steve Shasta, Friday, 1 August 2008 18:54 (fifteen years ago) link
contenderizer: They always reminded me of Television crossed with Skynyrd.
― If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, Friday, 1 August 2008 21:07 (fifteen years ago) link
Gimme three steps toward the ghost-cow.
― contenderizer, Friday, 1 August 2008 21:09 (fifteen years ago) link
along with thinking fellers, this is one of those bands I'm surprised has/had the cult following they did, they seemed like not such a big deal when around. glad to see shasta still flying the flag for them. what is guy keyser doing now?
― akm, Friday, 1 August 2008 21:24 (fifteen years ago) link
also it dawns on me that I actually know someone who was in this band, which I forgot about.
― akm, Friday, 1 August 2008 21:25 (fifteen years ago) link
see also:
http://www.myspace.com/acmerocketquartet
― nerve_pylon, Friday, 1 August 2008 21:37 (fifteen years ago) link
Moonhead is a classic (listening right now). I also always had a soft spot for The Ruby Sea, which some seem to find a little slick.
― Duke, Saturday, 28 March 2009 16:48 (fifteen years ago) link
Can't believe I never posted on this thread. Still one of my favourite 80s bands. Moonhead is a deathless uber-classic, especially the title track. One of the few bands where I'm *really* bummed out that I never saw them live properly, only in a tent at the Reading festival, and even in that setting they sounded monstrous.
― Dom Cry For Me, Passantino (NickB), Saturday, 28 March 2009 19:38 (fifteen years ago) link
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/5Kb2KgdYA90&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/5Kb2KgdYA90&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
― Duke, Saturday, 28 March 2009 20:04 (fifteen years ago) link
erm... I mean this:
#1 on my "reunite for ATP" list.
― Chris Barrus (Elvis Telecom), Saturday, 28 March 2009 22:02 (fifteen years ago) link
I only ever had The Ruby Sea, but o how I oved it, "Puppet Dog" especially. That one hit me right away, the rest was a grower. I haven't thought about them in years, but this thread is making want to seek out some of their other records.
― 2 ears + 1 ❤ (Pillbox), Saturday, 28 March 2009 22:06 (fifteen years ago) link
Puppet Dog is a great song. One of the best on The Ruby Sea. If you like the Ruby Sea, do seek out Sack Full Of Silver and Moonhead
― Duke, Saturday, 28 March 2009 23:02 (fifteen years ago) link
Moonhead really is a stone classic, but the first album Exploring The Axis is worth seeking out too, especially for the first track 'Down In The Desert' which is fantastic.
― MaresNest, Sunday, 29 March 2009 10:57 (fifteen years ago) link
― akm
now I have no idea who I was talking about. who did I know in this band? I know someone who produced them at one point, at least.
― akm, Sunday, 29 March 2009 15:31 (fifteen years ago) link
― Marco Damiani, Tuesday, 19 May 2009 09:26 (fifteen years ago) link
More people should cover TWR:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4KDvgt3rcQ
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 11 July 2012 03:40 (eleven years ago) link
Damn you Ned for a sec I thought this bump was for a reunion!
― Lewis Apparition (Jon Lewis), Wednesday, 11 July 2012 15:23 (eleven years ago) link
http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/500/38867781/Moonhead%20IMG_9238.jpg
― gonna send him to outer space, to hug another face (NickB), Wednesday, 11 July 2012 15:29 (eleven years ago) link
xpost -- alas
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 11 July 2012 15:36 (eleven years ago) link
i'm surprised they haven't reuinted but maybe i'm not surprised by that after all
― akm, Wednesday, 11 July 2012 21:19 (eleven years ago) link
Maybe we can force them to, via Kickstarter
― Lewis Apparition (Jon Lewis), Wednesday, 11 July 2012 21:29 (eleven years ago) link
Oh they were called the "Rational demos" and Game Theory self-released their early stuff on "Rational Records"
― think the toledo mud hens but for twitter (Drugs A. Money), Sunday, 7 July 2019 09:45 (four years ago) link
ok, +1 point for the Scott Miller theory then after all :-)
― StanM, Sunday, 7 July 2019 09:48 (four years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6_eVB_c81w
― Maresn3st, Wednesday, 20 May 2020 15:07 (four years ago) link
Awesome! Thanks for sharing!
― BlackIronPrison, Wednesday, 20 May 2020 15:14 (four years ago) link
I Think I was at that show.Definitely saw tehm at the venue and assume it would have been that year.
― Stevolende, Wednesday, 20 May 2020 23:02 (four years ago) link
would've been amazing to see them at the boardwalk, great venue! saw both the young gods and fugazi there in 89-ish, perfect sweat-infested box of sound
― Boris the Spreader (NickB), Wednesday, 20 May 2020 23:36 (four years ago) link
Thanks for the heads up!
― StanM, Thursday, 21 May 2020 11:42 (four years ago) link
https://frontierrecords-thinwhiterope.bandcamp.com/album/moonhead-the-ruby-sea-live-in-genttwo songs live at their final show but not included on The One That Got Away. NOTE: Live versions on vinyl only, downloads are studio versions.(I thought it was a remastered TOTGA but alas)
― StanM, Tuesday, 1 December 2020 21:48 (three years ago) link
oh c'mon that's dumb! Why can't I pay money to download the live versions? I'd love to complete that show! Grrr.
― covidsbundlertanze op. 6 (Jon not Jon), Tuesday, 1 December 2020 21:54 (three years ago) link
IKR :-(
― StanM, Tuesday, 1 December 2020 22:32 (three years ago) link
Here's a conversation with Roger Kunkel from last year:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Vuuq13Ytl8
― StanM, Wednesday, 25 May 2022 14:48 (two years ago) link
um, this year. anyway
― StanM, Wednesday, 25 May 2022 15:02 (two years ago) link
Thank you! Just finished it. Any crumbs of insight or ephemera regarding TWR are like gold dust to me. And I never would have noticed this on my own. Any more important live recordings come to light in the last year or two?
― covidsbundlertanze op. 6 (Jon not Jon), Wednesday, 25 May 2022 22:06 (two years ago) link
I'm not in dime myself & aren't aware of anything. Anyone?In the interview above Roger mentions a 4 track recording of the 1988 Olive Pit show (where Guy only wears boots) that someone has and was willing to mix/master, though, I hope they release it.The "The one that got away" remaster that was hinted at one time probably isn't happening, I suppose?
― StanM, Thursday, 26 May 2022 00:23 (two years ago) link
Idk but it’s been awhile since the studio album ones so seems doubtful. I was a bit surprised when the hosts were talking about guy’s body of work and didn’t mention the Mummydogs album
― covidsbundlertanze op. 6 (Jon not Jon), Thursday, 26 May 2022 02:09 (two years ago) link
Roger wasn't in that band though.
― StanM, Thursday, 26 May 2022 09:02 (two years ago) link
XXP - Just had a scan on D1m3 and everything has fallen off the tracker, but I think we got all the good stuff.
― Maresn3st, Thursday, 26 May 2022 12:38 (two years ago) link
I know, there was just a “and then he withdrew except to play some bluegrass sometimes” thingMummydogs wasn’t nearly on TWR’s level of course so it’s not a huge lacuna Xpost thanks mares!
― covidsbundlertanze op. 6 (Jon not Jon), Thursday, 26 May 2022 12:40 (two years ago) link
yeah, thanks for checking, Maresn3st!
― StanM, Thursday, 26 May 2022 12:56 (two years ago) link
yeah, went and checked what was on myself a few hours ago. only thing that appeared was a band called Wand and they had song title parts that triggered the search engine response.
― Stevolende, Thursday, 26 May 2022 13:03 (two years ago) link
Thank you too :-)
― StanM, Thursday, 26 May 2022 13:46 (two years ago) link
FYI for anyone interested in correct information on their recordings: this one "1988-04-02 - Goez Beest, Amsterdam, NL - Sbd" doesn't make sense.
venue = Podium 't Beestcity = Goes (and that is 120 km / 75 miles away from Amsterdam)
― StanM, Friday, 27 May 2022 18:14 (two years ago) link
Here's one I found that wasn't shared here last time around (have been looking for confirmation about the date (or if it's MM/DD or DD/MM?) but can't find that either) - it's one of the most impressive sounding ones yet imho. soundboard.
https://we.tl/t-M2QEIp9q5N
1990-11-09 RKCNDY, Seattle, WA
01. Wire Animals02. The Ruby Sea03. Astronomy04. Eleven05. Puppet Dog06. Some Velvet Morning07. Tina And Glen08. Triangle Song09. Elsie Crashed The Party10. Valley Of The Bones11. Munich Eunuch12. Ants Are Cavemen13. Fish Song14. Roadrunner15. Bartender's Rag16. Hunter's Moon17. Silver Machine
― StanM, Saturday, 28 May 2022 13:12 (two years ago) link
Ooh I definitely don’t have that one
― covidsbundlertanze op. 6 (Jon not Jon), Saturday, 28 May 2022 18:37 (two years ago) link
(I could have fixed the last three tracks' MP3 tags but anyway)
― StanM, Saturday, 28 May 2022 20:39 (two years ago) link
or flac tags, whatever they're called when it's flac
This one is new to me too - thanks!
― Elvis Telecom, Saturday, 28 May 2022 22:44 (two years ago) link
Amazing! Thanks
― Maresn3st, Saturday, 28 May 2022 23:12 (two years ago) link
the only thing is... RKCNDY opened in 1991. Doesn't keep me from enjoying the show but it bothers me.
― StanM, Sunday, 29 May 2022 10:46 (two years ago) link
okay - it was 9 November 1991 (found it on this taper's list - among some other stuff that must be out there (on cassette at least) - https://digilander.libero.it/anti4it/bootlegscdnz.html )
― StanM, Sunday, 29 May 2022 16:28 (two years ago) link
Set list makes more sense with that date
― covidsbundlertanze op. 6 (Jon not Jon), Sunday, 29 May 2022 19:21 (two years ago) link
Thanks for this StanM! Man I love TWR.
― Duke, Sunday, 29 May 2022 21:18 (two years ago) link
I'm just discovering this podcast has interviews with some interesting musicians. I listened to a 3 part thing with Gun Club drummer Terry Graham a few days ago and one with Stuart Moxham yesterdayThis one is with Roger Kunkel, not sure if it was upped here before since its from April last yearhttps://open.spotify.com/episode/3O7WleGyOc1CgJee2IiMdr?si=61e5267c92f24b73
― Stevolende, Wednesday, 15 June 2022 12:57 (two years ago) link
Thanks! while scrolling down to that one (I'm not on spotify) I noticed a lot of other interesting stuff on C86. Suicide with Martin Rev, Green On Red with Dan Stuart (and then a couple of weeks later with Chris Cacavas), Whipping Boy, The Seers,...
― StanM, Wednesday, 15 June 2022 16:09 (two years ago) link
I may have listened to that Martin Rev thing. I know I heard one on Martyn Ware's podcast recently.Can't remember what specifically turned me onto that C86 podcast
― Stevolende, Wednesday, 15 June 2022 16:26 (two years ago) link
I think I was looking for the podcast Almost A Mirror, couldn't remember what it was called so started looking for the small groups scene in Melbourne or whatver the scene was actually called . Wound up with a show with Clare Moore of The Moodists turning up, got around to listening to it and maybe got an announcement about a new episode in the series appearing. But it is a very good series and goes back to 2018 and has some very interesting guests so glad I got to look through it. Don't think it has any more TWR but it does have a couple of Galaxie 500, Robin Crutchfieeld of Pere Ubu, Dark Day etc and a loa dof other interesting looking people who I may get to hear later. I still haven't listened to the last couple of Almost A Mirror episodes cos I keep losing temporary playlists
― Stevolende, Wednesday, 15 June 2022 16:55 (two years ago) link
They are no longer on Bandcamp. Glad I got those remasters while they were available
― Duke, Thursday, 5 January 2023 00:53 (one year ago) link
Ah. I'm mistaken. They're there under Frontier. Just not under TWR. Sorry...
― Duke, Thursday, 5 January 2023 00:55 (one year ago) link
Hey Stan/Jon and everyone, some new recordings gone up on D1m3, one a week before the last gig in Ghent, Wein 1990 & Munich 1988. All sound really solid, room for three more?
― MaresNest, Thursday, 5 January 2023 20:35 (one year ago) link
oooooooooh yes please
― StanM, Thursday, 5 January 2023 20:59 (one year ago) link
Cool, here 'tis - https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/bdtwra5fqn09oi8yn677s/h?dl=0&rlkey=rueyq1ierm4dy3ygxfqdx23wm
― MaresNest, Thursday, 5 January 2023 21:29 (one year ago) link
Thanks indeed!
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 5 January 2023 21:30 (one year ago) link
<3
― StanM, Thursday, 5 January 2023 22:43 (one year ago) link
No worries guys.
For fun, I downloaded that amazing Youtube footage of 'It's OK' from the last gig, matrixed the audio with the live album, pushed it around a bit to add a bit of low end, and made the guitars even more hellacious.
It's in the folder too, if you wanna have a look, just a pity the footage is fairly low quality.
― MaresNest, Thursday, 5 January 2023 23:40 (one year ago) link
<3 thanks so much MN!
― willem, Friday, 6 January 2023 11:13 (one year ago) link
great idea about that clip! thank you again!
― StanM, Friday, 6 January 2023 11:57 (one year ago) link
(Vienna is June 5th 1990 btw - I had uploaded the mp3s earlier but this is an upgrade)
― StanM, Friday, 6 January 2023 13:33 (one year ago) link
So here's an unjustly overlooked TWR obscurity. Quoting Skip King, whose longtime partner-now-husband ML Compton managed them:
While the band were touring in Italy their lead singer, Guy Kyser, was borrowed and utilized as the vocalist on a single track with a band named Avion Travel. The song, "On a Moonlit Night", was to be used as the theme song in the newest Lina Wertmüller film "In Una Notte di Chiaro di Luna" (AKA "Up to Date"). Starring Rutger Hauer, Nastassja Kinski and Lorraine Bracco, and featuring Faye Dunaway and Peter O'Toole, the film was released that year but was a huge flop internationally, and didn't even make it into cinemas in america, at least we don't think it did. To this day we've never seen the movie.Decades later ML was able to get an audio copy of the track, and I found and bought online a region 2 (Europe) DVD of the film. I don't have a multinational DVD player so it has sat on our shelf for very many years. Just now I threw it into my computer's DVD player, for a lark, and I found that I can view it! It's a terrible copy, obviously transferred from a VHS or perhaps filmed secretly in a movie theater with a camera (!!!). but I don't care. It is so eerie to have the DVD start up and immediately hear Guy's voice, the song used in the menu system. Then I started the film and there's the song again at the very beginning. And I fast forwarded to the end of the film and they used the same track during the closing credits. And here is Guy's credit. We didn't even know if Lina and company had credited Guy, until now.I finally saw this credit, 34 years later.Crazy.
Decades later ML was able to get an audio copy of the track, and I found and bought online a region 2 (Europe) DVD of the film. I don't have a multinational DVD player so it has sat on our shelf for very many years. Just now I threw it into my computer's DVD player, for a lark, and I found that I can view it! It's a terrible copy, obviously transferred from a VHS or perhaps filmed secretly in a movie theater with a camera (!!!). but I don't care.
It is so eerie to have the DVD start up and immediately hear Guy's voice, the song used in the menu system. Then I started the film and there's the song again at the very beginning. And I fast forwarded to the end of the film and they used the same track during the closing credits. And here is Guy's credit. We didn't even know if Lina and company had credited Guy, until now.
I finally saw this credit, 34 years later.
Crazy.
And here's the track:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPHqGlOHCtc
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 18 September 2023 19:38 (nine months ago) link