OK, tell me all about Wussy

Ursa Major is my fave EDD, but they have no outright duds...though, iirc, Xgau was decidedly not a fan.

(Also seek out Janet Beveridge Bean's collaboration with Green's Jeff Lescher, Jesus Built A Ship To Sing A Song To -- all Gram Parsons covers, with the hands-down definitive "Hot Burrito #1.")

Marcus was very big on Eleventh Dream Day. I bought Lived to Tell but don't remember much.

Tell me more: I've never really spent much time with EDD-appears all I have is their cover of Ocean on a VU comp. I saw some sort of reunion show a few years back and don't remember female vocals either.
are they in the Wussy/Fleetwood Mac camp lyrically?

Hmm. Not really, though there is a bit of tension (the guitarist and drummer used to be married). The lyrics are a bit more abstract and poetic, while the music is often a manic mix of Crazy Horse, the Feelies, whatever it is that Yo La Tengo does and high octane garage rock.

Famous origin story: they were signed to Atlantic by Bettina Richards, and their shitty treatment on said label is what prompted her to found Thrill Jockey. More recently, EDD (on Thrill Jockey) has sort of hovered between their guitar roots and a slightly post-rocky bent, though you would never confuse them for anything but rock.

Some good EDD performance and interview footage here from a 1990 Dutch TV special, with fellow Chicagoans Green -- both bands were much bigger in Holland than in the US.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b34CdwgOAvY

Music video! Janet's pretty dolled up:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFsGYnGNjN0

I suppose Dream Syndicate is another touchstone for them.

Other EDD related origin story: the bass player from EDD and the drummer from Precious Wax Drippings while both bands were on tour together hatched an idea to form a dubby-influenced band with them as the drum/bass axis and later on they formed Tortoise.

Also EDD is totally awesome and their most recent record "Riot Now!" is great

Oh weird, I had no idea there was a Tortoise/Precious Wax Drippings connection!

Yeah, Johnny Machine aka John Herndon.

Saw them Saturday night, which filled in some gaps in my appreciation. I already liked them well enough, and liked Attica a lot, but I didn't really get what a great, noisy guitar band they are. The three guitars (on most songs) give them great depth and layers of sound. Terrific show.

There's a new Magic Words LP out there for download. (I'm not quite a professional shill for Wussy, not yet--just one of the top-ranking amateurs, as Guy Woodhouse would say.)

http://wussy.bandcamp.com/album/the-day-we-ran-away-magic-words-demos

Having trouble w the link, but it's prob some firefox shit---meanwhile, is Magic Words a Wussy side project?

I hadn't thought of comparison w EDD, but can see it. Haven't kept up, but their early sound made me think of traveling back to Jefferson Airplane's San Franciso, then to Jack London's, and (mainly) north to the Klondike, the Yukon: way up on a lunar mountain range, with searchlight (or at least flashlight)guitars, all-weather drums, and sometimes a helluva view (but layers of storm-sounds too).

(xpost) I think it was Lisa Walker's band before Wussy.

looks like there is some sort of new record store day thing too:
http://wussy.ella.net/projects/public-domain-vol-1/

Video for "Halloween."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjopi16hNkM

19m
Shamelessly sensitive melo("music")drama as increasingly cosmic noise rock folk, always true to the tune & words/plot https://wussy.bandcamp.com/album/public-domain-volume-i
https://f1.bcbits.com/img/a3075847013_16.jpg

Listening now... this is not an acoustic album as they've done in the past -- it's the full-on Wussy alt.drone applied to traditional songs.

Finally got around to burning the Magic Words record that came out earlier this year (The Day We Ran Away). Fantastic. The versions (earlier? later?) of Wussy songs are usually so different they're barely recognizable, and there are at least a couple of excellent (what I think are) new songs.

New album "Forever Sounds" out in March.

"...exploring such themes as hauntings, false prophets, aliens and The Big Lebowski" (not too excited about that last part)

http://wussy.bandcamp.com/album/forever-sounds

https://soundcloud.com/wussy_official/dropping-houses-shake-itdamnably-2016

song rules, they're playing NYC twice in march, love this band

What's the deal with the debut, "Funeral Dress"? It's way out of print, any plans for a reissue?

Another fantastic song. This band is so great.

And they're finally starting to get more attention. I can't think of a band that deserves success more than them.

x-post

The MP3 album is available on Amazon. Not sure about the physical CD.

The Big Lebowski song is actually outstanding (and I was nervous about it too before I heard it).

Where did you hear it?

I know a guy who's reviewing it. I tried to get a copy but no dice. That was one of the two songs I heard, at least I'm reasonably sure it was one of them, since it had lines taken directly from the film in the lyrics (Walter's funeral speech).

Saw the trio show tonight, which was excellent despite some fits and starts.
When it all clicks and Chuck & Lisa sing together it's just mesmerizing, like a darker, Midwestern X or Fleetwood Mac.
They also went super obscure and played the Twinkeyz 'Aliens In Our Midst'.

The guitars are just huge on this one.

This is my second Wussy album, and it sounds less varied and certainly a lot slower and more abrasive than Attica. Most notably, nothing here shimmers like "North Sea Girls." Not saying I don't like it, I just need some more time with it.

It's definitely a departure from their other records. Chuck's songs are better here, where Lisa dominated Attica.

"she killed hundreds" and "my parade" are the early standouts (besides "dropping houses"). i'm seeing them tonight in the 5-piece configuration, interested in seeing how the new songs work live.

Video for "She's Killed Hundreds"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4jUTWKy35Q

New album's good but not blowing me away.

i think the production is kinda murky and not in an atmospheric way. live it was much more blistering and raucous. they covered "ceremony" too.

I'm still not sold on the whole thing--the Lebowski song is a slog--but the closing four-song stretch is fantastic. Love how they follow (imho) the album's best rocker ("Sidewalk Sale") with three rather textured ballads.

Great sound, but the songs aren't as strong as usual. Still an excellent record.

They did a nice cover of New Order's "Ceremony" for RSD:

https://soundcloud.com/damnably/wussy-ceremony-rsd-7

A track of theirs came up in my Discover Weekly this week and I am digging it. Have to admit I wondered for a bit if the female vocalist was Karen O.

Song i listened to even referenced my current screen name.

My new favorite band, based on Funeral Dress and my other other meanderings through the catalog.

Has anyone who's never read Robert Christgau ever been into Wussy?

I heard about this one guy who lives in North Dakota who fits this description. But that's it.

― clemenza, Saturday, August 30, 2014 3:55 AM (1 year ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i'm into wussy because of chuck cleaver, and i'm into chuck cleaver because of the afghan whigs (covering the ass ponys)

not that the rest of them, particularly lisa walker, aren't awesome. anyway, christgau is not involved

― mookieproof, Saturday, August 30, 2014 4:12 AM (1 year ago)

But yeah, "Bug" is problematic. Is it named after the Dinosaur, Jr. album?

My new favorite band

me too

Finally listened to Forever Sounds, which earns its name--which, if they didn't consciously make from Forever Changes and Pet Sounds, might as well have, cos it's that kind of vibrant sonic monument, made of Grade-A Collector's Guide Catnip---but so far can't hear why xgau says it's more the sound than the songs; to me it's the sound of songs, of detail curving in through the wide windscreen strata of perspective (doesn't seem all that overdubby though, even on headphones: think they could get a lot of the same effect on stage, or recording live in the studio).
Title also related to the mythopoeic power and ambition and hope and compulsive urge in their surge, x fatalistic or morbid themes: they're off to see thee wizard, even though we're all gonna die sometyme--so: folk music, and big loud catchiness too; sounds like they still like the Who as well as Richard and Linda maybe even more compatibly than ever, and this is what we get after Attica! and Public Domain Vol. 1(harmonium and piano from the splintered parlor show up on intro of last track, even).
This pulled me in right away, which isn't absolutely necessary but always favored.
Lisa and Hungry Chuck: Mom 'n' Pop ov Dragons (Midwestern loose meat sandwich ones, of course).

"all gonna die someday" if we haven't already, with at least one song about (calling himself)a ghost(because he can be or call himself whatever he wants to) glimpsed already.

that post's a little too off the deep end for me but i think i agree with the sentiment, that there is something special about this album :)

(doesn't seem all that overdubby though, even on headphones: think they could get a lot of the same effect on stage, or recording live in the studio).

this is definitely true. it just sounds like a guitar indie rock band, just a really really good and exquisitley recorded one \o/

I also agree with this, from a p4k review: "there remains something resolutely midwestern in the delivery" which I think you are getting at with Lisa and Hungry Chuck: Mom 'n' Pop ov Dragons (Midwestern loose meat sandwich ones, of course).

dropping horses -> she's killed hundreds is the best one-two punch album opener of the year

So with this band are we supposed to assume every perceived reference to something else is really there, for instance that the fire-starting "cigarette alone" of "Beautiful" is the same one smoked on the steps by the fireworks-noticing Joe Doe in "4th of July"?

Uh, John Doe. Don't know who Joe Doe is or how he got in there.

Yes, you track down every word referred to by every word of every song. We don't, but you do. Get workin'.