The Alleged Chrome, Plaid, Self-Titled, Chart-Smashing, Semi-Inclusive, Shared Reality Format Debut Release...
Released: 1993 (CS)
Long Beach, CA
Recorded at: Headway Studios
Engineered by: Darrel Williams
Produced by: Joker Pickle’s Reaction
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The Alleged Chrome, Plaid, Self-Titled, Chart-Smashing, Semi-Inclusive, Shared Reality Format Debut Release...
Released: 1993 (CS)
Long Beach, CA
Recorded at: Headway Studios
Engineered by: Darrel Williams
Produced by: Joker Pickle’s Reaction
Personnel:
Song List:
The greatest thing to come out of the early 90's Long Beach underground. Maybe Reel Big Fish got signed (so what, they're mediocre at best) and Suburban Rhythm were more well known, but these guys were the coolest and most orignal. They had an amazing bad luck streak of shows getting shut down by the LBPD 2 or 3 songs into their set, and it was still better than most bands for an hour. Noah played a variety of things including a MIDI sax, Kevin had all kinds of little toys and percussion, and usually changed outfits between songs to become the characters he sang about, and Thomax would whip up a bizarre dance here or there in some strange costume.
To hear these guys on tape is to not get even a third of what was really going on with all the theatrics, props, and Bob's trash-can lid gong. Darrel went through the LBCC recording department a few years ahead of me, and he knows what he's doing, but this recording is a bit flat, and the mix sounds like a demo, when these guys really could have put together a real album of interesting noises. Ultimately, this is a pretty good demo tape, and it's all that remains of this fresh and wholly original group, but it pales beside the handful of shows I've seen, including a notorious "final" show at the Orpheum, which culminated in a performance of Rock And Roll Saturday Night, a song totally satirizing the hair-metal scene that was so popular and despised, with an additional 8 to 20 guitarists on stage (estimates vary depending whom you ask, and the night was pretty fuzzy) making a noise you wouldn't believe.
Since their demise, I did some recording with Paul, Bob and Vance under the name Texas Tunnel that I think went unfinished. Paul and Bob have gone on to form Fuselage with one of the ex-WASH guitarists. Kevin had up a site with photos and MP3s, but it's gone now.
