Radial Spangle

RADIAL SPANGLE From Trouser Press Written By Fred Mills Birthday EP UK Beggars Banquet 1993
Ice Cream Headache Beggars Banquet/Atlantic 1993
Raze EP UK Beggars Banquet 1993
Syrup Macrame Beggars Banquet 1994 Some Rock Bands Are Born Of The Rustbelts And Heartlands The Members Of Radial Spangle However Had Either The Misfortune Or The Good Grace Take Your Pick To Be Stuck In Norman Oklahoma. Unlike Fellow Normans The Flaming Lips An Early Influence Radial Spangle Opted Not To Tour Instead Digging In And Writing Songs That Reflected Both An Isolationist Naïveté‚ And A Warped Mind-Expansionist Aesthetic. As With America's Small-Town Homegrown Psychedelic Warriors Of The '60s Geographical Limitations Bred Grand Stylistic Permutations. Mercury Rev's Jonathan Donahue Took A Liking To The Band He Put In A Good Word To His English Label And Radial Spangle — Which Had Never Played Outside Norman — Found Itself With A Recording Contract In 1992 Just Months After Forming. Ice Cream Headache Was Engineered By Rev's David Fridmann But Essentially Self-Produced By The Band Whose Creative Core Consists Of Guitarist Alan Laird And Bassist April Tippens Richard English Ex-Flaming Lips Did The Drumming But Was Replaced Shortly After The Album's Release By Kelsey Kennedy . Imperfect But Entertaining The Record Is Equal Parts Abrasive Assaultive Skronk The Opening "Raze" Features Neo-Metallic Guitar Distorto-Riffing And A Pounding Drum Pattern While "Drip" Owes An Obvious Debt To The Lips Dreamily Atmospheric Pop-Swoon "Canopy And Shoe " "Snow" And Experimental Weirdness A Disjointed Nine-Minute Psychedelic Jam Called "Copper" . One Connecting Feature Throughout Is Laird And Tippens' Quirky Sweet-But-Sour Boy/girl Harmonies. Another Is Laird's Wah-Wah And Effects Box Fetish Which He Rarely Fails To Put On Display Even During The Quieter Songs. After Birthday Which Includes Three Songs From A John Peel Session Including A Ten Minute Spacerock Opus "Sapphire" Laird And Fridmann Again Teamed Up To Produce Syrup Macrame. While Less In-Your-Face The Album Displays A Lighter Touch That Suggests A Songwriting Talent Eager To Branch Out. Each Tune Is Enigmatically Designated As Either "countrysong" Or "citysong " And There Does Seem To Be A Stylistic Division. "Marble" Is Gentle And Pastoral With Shimmery/echoey Guitar Lines And A Contemplative Laird Vocal It's A Countrysong. "Special Love" Is More Spasmodic Serving Up Clipped Dissonant Guitar Notes Over A Martial Beat This Citysong Sounds A Lot Like Wire Or The Fall. Several Lapses In Musical Judgment Mar The Disc's Overall Quality "Busy Hole" Is A Pointless Percussion/vocal Rant While "Patio Furniture" Inexplicably Attempts Country Banjo/singalong Hoedown Shtick. Also The Album Doesn't Employ The Laird/Tippens Harmonies Prominently Enough. Still The Band's Knack For Gorgeous Melodies Is Profound And The Radial Spangle Pop-Psych Sensibility While In Transition Remains Rooted In The Anything-Goes Ideal That Has Always Fueled Small-Town Rockers. After Radial Spangle Ended Laird Formed The Charm Pops And Released A Debut Album In 1998. read less