― Chris Ott, Thursday, 21 November 2002 20:47 (twenty-one years ago) link
i think rick's guitar is too low on the original mix and lacked that "sparkly chime" that is the pride of all telecaster owners. I also think the rhythm section got kinda muddy in the original mix, compare minute 6 of "luau" for example: the bass and bassdrum are more jumpy and live sounding in the remaster.
"Production", gygax? I assumed you were named after Pitchblende rather than the inventor of Dungeons And Dragons.
maybe? @_@ it's one of my favorite records.
Rick slays in every line on the S/T - Yank Crime is overlong in every sense, and he's not as explosive with the deliveries. Obv. a matter of taste.
I totally disagree, "rome plows"/"new math" vox (esp. deliveries) are to my ears well beyond anything on the s/t.
― gygax!, Thursday, 21 November 2002 21:03 (twenty-one years ago) link
Very similar to what Matador did to S&E - lots more low-end on the kick and tons more midrange. It's not like they're turning it into a Korn record, but my fondness for the muddier, truly-indie mid-90s sound is probably distorting my take on things. If they'd had access to better technology, etc.
Bottom line: "Bullet Train To Vega$" is the best song released under the Jehu banner?
― Chris Ott, Thursday, 21 November 2002 21:08 (twenty-one years ago) link
my favorite song is "new math"... this is subject to change though.
― gygax!, Thursday, 21 November 2002 21:13 (twenty-one years ago) link
How about a huge Truman's water retrospective set?
― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Wednesday, 15 January 2003 13:29 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 15 January 2003 14:37 (twenty-one years ago) link
― donut bitch (donut), Wednesday, 15 January 2003 18:56 (twenty-one years ago) link
is it from the of thick tum, soar..., or godspeed era?
― gygax!, Wednesday, 15 January 2003 19:13 (twenty-one years ago) link
The Peel sessions disc is essential though.. it contians three sessions.. One session with Glen, Kevin, Kirk, and Eli from 1993. Second one with Glen, Kevin, Kirk, Eli, and Mike from 1994. Then Kevin B., Kirk, and Kevin C. from late 1994. So I guess "Spasm Smash", post "Punchline", and "Milktrain" eras respectively I guess.
They all sound friggin' amazing.... I still see that disc occasionally go used for $3.. keep lookin'!
― donut bitch (donut), Wednesday, 15 January 2003 19:42 (twenty-one years ago) link
i work with a guy who sang lead in eli(jah)'s pre-/post-TW band cactopus... i saw them in santa barbara in the early 90s and even 10 years later recognized him. very strange indeedy.
i miss glen's rocking days. i saw him at a berkeley church in september.
― gygax!, Wednesday, 15 January 2003 19:56 (twenty-one years ago) link
― donut bitch (donut), Wednesday, 15 January 2003 21:14 (twenty-one years ago) link
When I read this I couldn't help but think "isn't everything that Trumans Water has done pretty much an oddity?"
― Nick Mirov (nick), Wednesday, 15 January 2003 21:54 (twenty-one years ago) link
― donut bitch (donut), Wednesday, 15 January 2003 22:15 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Wednesday, 15 January 2003 22:21 (twenty-one years ago) link
― gygax!, Wednesday, 15 January 2003 22:42 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Wednesday, 15 January 2003 22:47 (twenty-one years ago) link
speaking of t-shirts... swami has drive like jehu shirts (scroll down) with the "artwork" from the first lp (printed on american apparel brand t-shirts). emo guilt has run its course, it's time to get down and boogie.
― gygax! (gygax!), Wednesday, 10 December 2003 02:36 (twenty years ago) link
― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Wednesday, 10 December 2003 02:40 (twenty years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 10 December 2003 02:42 (twenty years ago) link
― gygax! (gygax!), Wednesday, 10 December 2003 02:44 (twenty years ago) link
― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Wednesday, 10 December 2003 02:44 (twenty years ago) link
that's what my friend Ned (not Raggett) says about my inability to appreciate Yngwie Malmsteen.
― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Wednesday, 10 December 2003 02:46 (twenty years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 10 December 2003 02:47 (twenty years ago) link
― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Wednesday, 10 December 2003 02:49 (twenty years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 10 December 2003 02:50 (twenty years ago) link
― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Wednesday, 10 December 2003 02:51 (twenty years ago) link
― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Wednesday, 10 December 2003 02:52 (twenty years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 10 December 2003 02:56 (twenty years ago) link
― Ian Johnson (orion), Wednesday, 10 December 2003 07:01 (twenty years ago) link
― latebloomer (latebloomer), Wednesday, 10 December 2003 18:26 (twenty years ago) link
― gygax! (gygax!), Friday, 25 June 2004 02:40 (nineteen years ago) link
― AdamL :') (nordicskilla), Friday, 25 June 2004 03:57 (nineteen years ago) link
― People love Gravity and Ebullition! (ex machina), Friday, 25 June 2004 04:22 (nineteen years ago) link
been listening to yank a lot as of lately....wanted to revive this
― gman, Thursday, 27 March 2008 05:26 (sixteen years ago) link
Been listening to them a lot lately myself.
― Herman G. Neuname, Thursday, 27 March 2008 19:20 (sixteen years ago) link
Seems a little unfocused to me compared to the songwriting on Hot Snakes records, but I've only listened a few times.
― libcrypt, Thursday, 27 March 2008 19:27 (sixteen years ago) link
this shit goes hard
― Ma$e-en-scène (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 6 August 2015 19:03 (eight years ago) link
kind of annoyed they're playing here next month but as part of the dreaded riot fest
― tylerw, Thursday, 6 August 2015 19:06 (eight years ago) link
I'm sure the festival circuit means they are getting paid better but it does seem a little odd they are skipping a club tour to play to sub-100 people crowds (according to reports) at Coachella et al.
Fun fact: I have never really listened to this band! Which is weird cuz some people I'm close to would consider them to be a life-changer.
I don't hate them or anything, I've just never gotten around to them.
― chr1sb3singer, Thursday, 6 August 2015 19:41 (eight years ago) link
ha yeah, i'd say they might be slightly overrated by now (inevitable when you're a band lauded mostly on the merits of just one album). but they are definitely great. glad they are getting a payday via the festival circuit...
― tylerw, Thursday, 6 August 2015 19:51 (eight years ago) link
Impossible to overrate imo.
― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Thursday, 6 August 2015 20:55 (eight years ago) link
do u compute
― mookieproof, Thursday, 6 December 2018 01:36 (five years ago) link
amazing album
― global tetrahedron, Saturday, 23 May 2020 19:15 (three years ago) link
Hah hello global, nice to see you here (was wondering why this got bumped). This is one of my favorite records of all time and at least one ideal version of how two guitars playing together should work. I spent years chasing down more music that "sounded like Yank Crime" and there is no other music that hits the highs of this album in exactly this way (in my opinion). It truly is amazing and was an extremely formative discovery for me (as was seeing them live on that tour a week after buying the record).
This is actually an interesting story in a way, as I imagine that this type of thing doesn't happen to often for people under a certain age, or more to the point hasn't happened, due to the way music travels and gets discovered now. Essentially I was in a heavy phase of trying to fill gaps in my music knowledge as well as find new shit to listen to in 1993-94, and going to school in central Maine made that a bit challenging. One of the things I did to help was buy Option magazine, which no longer exists but at the time was an amazing resource as they published like 200 record reviews an issue (maybe an exaggeration, but it was a lot regardless). I had gone with some friends to live in Boulder, Colorado for the summer, and the recent issue of Option had a little blurb about "Yank Crime" that essentially said it was the best guitar album of the year. That was really all it took for me to go to the good record store in town and see if they had it. They did, so I bought it unheard and while I was leaving the dude working let me know that they were playing next week right up the street from me. So, I went home, got high, and immediately put the record on. The first track of course wastes no time on ripped the top of my head off. I wasn't sure what I was hearing, and honestly it was a version of sensory overload mixed with thrilled delight that I have not experience many times in my life. I had trouble taking it all in but I definitely remember feeling like I had walked into a new world or something (remember, I was high). But yeah, I just kept playing it over and over trying to make sense of it and absorb it all. I also determined that I better go see them live because I couldn't really fathom how they were gonna pull some of it off. But of course they did. One of the funnier aspects was that the music (to me) seemed so aggressive and over the top, and I had limited experience going to like hardcore/punk show, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I imagined that I was going to stick out and kinda be the obvious "square" there, but of course the audience was made up of like super-nerdy but cool heads. It was amazing and truly changed my life. The other bands on the bill were Superchunk and Polvo but unfortunately Polvo's van had some kind of issue and didn't make it. I still regret that to this day as I became a super-fan very shortly thereafter. Fuck I love "Yank Crime."
― grandavis, Saturday, 23 May 2020 21:17 (three years ago) link
But yeah, that read about a record in a magazine and head to a record store to find it and get a tip about a show is all stuff that still happens I am sure, but there was no getting online to find out more or going to a torrent site or Youtube or whatever to get some samples of what they sound like. Also, I spent roughly 5 years asking anyone I met if they like Drive Like Jehu/Yank Crime, and did not find a one other than the few friends I was able to convert. Five years! Hard to believe now but things traveled differently then.
― grandavis, Saturday, 23 May 2020 21:20 (three years ago) link
I couldn't really fathom how they got their jobs at underwriters lab
― mookieproof, Saturday, 23 May 2020 21:29 (three years ago) link
Along with Spiderland, one of the only "post-hardcore" albums that truly matters imo. A perfect 10.
I've still somehow never heard the s/t album
― Paul Ponzi, Saturday, 23 May 2020 22:00 (three years ago) link
I like s/t better but then again I heard it first
― reggae mike love (polyphonic), Saturday, 23 May 2020 22:18 (three years ago) link
i agree there are no albums that do exactly what yank crime does. i remember exactly where i was the first time i heard do you compute and i was like oh, yeah, this is what i want all guitar music to sound like.
― call all destroyer, Saturday, 23 May 2020 23:06 (three years ago) link
It's all about "Luau" for me. Have we ever polled this album?
― Paul Ponzi, Sunday, 24 May 2020 00:03 (three years ago) link
The old Hot Snakes website was dope. Original Rick art all over it.
― circa1916, Monday, 25 May 2020 20:58 (three years ago) link
Why do you think they revisited the song, re-recorded it, and placed it last on the album?
I have no idea, but both versions do serve as proper band-bookends... kinda like Slint with "Rhoda"?
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Monday, 25 May 2020 21:01 (three years ago) link
Interesting point in re the book-ending, as well as the analogue to Slint. It has been way too long since I have listened to "Rhoda," I really love that second version.
― grandavis, Monday, 25 May 2020 22:04 (three years ago) link
I was only kidding about the cover art, of course I love it. All of Rick's. Around the time of the Obits when he had a heart scare, I emailed him to see about buying a painting, but never heard back.
I do distinctly remember hotsnakes.com though! What a treat it was to click there.
― the burrito that defined a generation, Monday, 25 May 2020 23:41 (three years ago) link
30 years old today, reminded of this nice touch that Rick hand drew the katakana for the Japanese obi:
https://i.imgur.com/QB5G4Og.jpeg
― citation needed (Steve Shasta), Tuesday, 26 March 2024 17:05 (three days ago) link
^Love that
― JRN, Tuesday, 26 March 2024 17:27 (three days ago) link