Sun City Girls: classic or dud?

as per tylerw's post from March, FB friend posted this, thought it sounded p interesting

Phx/Tempe record collectors. Eastside Records has ... Alan Bishop's map collection from his Wide World of Maps years. 2 bucks a map, naked cash. Those maps are conveniently buried under some rubble near cash register.

not gonna make that London show on Friday but I am going to see Senyawa, who are supporting, the day before. high recommendation

Was that Torch of The Mystics reissue last year a one off or are there other releases coming?
I only have a couple of their cds and would like more if they're as good.

Rick has said a few times recently that he'd love to get the 80s Placebo trilogy (and Dawn of the Devi etc) reissued, but there's nothing official yet.

yeah those seem like the most obvious candidates to me, Djinn Funnel is another personal favorite that is tough to find

JUst looking at prices of cds on Amazon. So hope there is something coming.
Have found loads on Spotify which i hadn't really looked at before.
Still wondering what determines what turns up on there after seeing which artists have loads of lps up.

https://www.strandedrecords.com/collections/twenty-one-eighty-two-recording-company/products/sun-city-girls-live-at-the-sky-church-september-3rd-2004-lp-dvd

Thanks for the heads up, I should pick that up.

Thought the revive would be about the fact that AB and RB recently played two nights as a duo at Zebulon in LA. I'm unsure how many times they've played together since the demise of SCG, but it can't have been often.

Didn't they play a bunch as Brothers Unconnected?

Yeah, that's how last week's shows were billed, I didn't know they'd done it previously.

Yeah it was a tour maybe a year or so after charlie died. Saw the nyc one. It was great. They sold a brothers unconnected CDR at it which I haven’t spun in awhile.

Anyone know what the live set was like around this time? Tempted to buy this, especially with the added bonus of the DVD.

no predictability whatsoever afaik - I saw them that same year at Berbati's in Portland and it was almost solid gnarly improv madness. Charlie attacked the crowd with a whip. this set sounds interesting for sure.

Yeah there was never a time when it would have been possible to say what their “live set was like at the time”

—they moved around behind a gauze scrim for the whole show while a prerecording played
—they told redneck jokes
—they performed a bunch of what would become 330,003 Crossdressers
—they did a set of gnarly trio improv

It's out today: https://www.forcedexposure.com/Catalog/sun-city-girls-live-at-the-sky-church-september-3rd-2004-lp-dvd/KHZ.1002LP.html
Forced Exposure has it for $18.70, in stock - LP+DVD, whattadeal
While you're at it, get "Dawn of the Devi" too ($15.73 from Forced Exposure...I'm not a shill I swear)

so.... where would one start if they were curious about this band?

probably https://suncitygirls.bandcamp.com/album/torch-of-the-mystics

thanks, will do

Their final album is really amazing as well:

https://suncitygirls.bandcamp.com/album/funeral-mariachi

This is quite good entry point - https://suncitygirls.bandcamp.com/album/330003-crossdressers-from-beyond-the-rig-veda-2

This too - https://suncitygirls.bandcamp.com/album/dantes-disneyland-inferno

Both of these pretty much cover the range of the SCG universe, or as near to it as might be possible.

I'll second Torch of the Mystics, that was my entry point and worked really well.

agree with all of the above recommendations

with the beach boys cover (summer dream amherst 2004)

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

also check it out, comrade marc masters has uploaded the whole amherst 2004 show

this one too! great stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbAOHq579lw

but yeah, Torch of the Mystics is thee one really.

The one that is in print, at least. Or was.
Examining this band through their first album and their last album is pretty rewarding.
First album long oop, unfortunately.

Torch
330,003
And the singles comp that includes borungku si derita eye mohini etc

Thank you for the recommendations - very initial impressions: fascinating + a lot less Ween/Zappa than I had somehow expected.

The first singles comp, You're Never Alone With a Cigarette, is a nice companion to Torch.

I wish they'd hurry up and re-release the first three.

OK I thought about it walking the dog and here’s my recommendation for a ten album scg chronological swoop:

Grotto of Miracles
Torch of the Mystics
Bright Surroundings Dark Beginnings
Live From Planet Boomerang
Eye Mohini: The Singles Vol. 3
330,003 Crossdressers from Beyond the Rig Veda
Libyan Dream (carnival folklore resurrection series)
Sumatran Electric Chair (carnival folklore resurrection series)
Hi Asia Lo Pacific (carnival folklore resurrection series)
Flute and Mask
Fine, eleven it is: throw in Funeral Mariachi to close

wow! thank you! I'm not ready for the freakout parts of the live videos yet though. Also, some of the less conventional moments on the albums suddenly made me go "what was that 'my pal footfoot' band called again?" but then they shift into a way more complicated thing during the same song - very fascinating

I approve of Jon's recommendationsand might also throw in Severed Finger With A Wedding Ring, also from the CFR series