Black Monk Time
(Light In The Attic) Used 2xLP $25.00 (Out-of-stock)
“One of the things that makes ‘Monk Time’ one of the all-time great album openers is how completely it distills the band and its music,” explains Pitchfork, “The stomping, repetitive bass and drum groove, the splatter of fuzz guitar, the six-string electric banjo hammering out percussive chords, the flailing vocals and loud organ outbursts exemplify the band’s confrontational, rhythm-based sound. This is not flower power — it’s rage inspired by senselessness and tempered with humor. Gary Burger’s demented vocal runs through their withering critique of war, sealing it with a curt dismissal of James Bond, who at the time was the biggest movie hero in the world. It not only decries violence, but the glorification and fetishization of violence, and Larry Clark’s brutal organ interjection is waved off with a couplet that swiftly co-opts critics of the band’s new, chaotic sound…. As doggedly out-there as they could be, the Monks did possess some pop sense — this music, unique and strange as it is, is entirely approachable, and the band’s final recordings, made after Polygram panicked and told them to produce more commercial material, are deranged pop songs that the band genuinely seems to have fun with. “I Can’t Get Over You” is like a cartoon version of pop music, with weird falsetto harmonies and a big, rubbery bassline, while “He Went Down to the Sea” has a tribal Beach Boys quality, with its hard drumming, harmonies and glockenspiel. These and a few others are added to Light in the Attic’s reissue of the album, as they were to Infinite Zero’s 1994 edition.” 2009 reissue,180g vinyl, gatefold jacket, lyrics, liner notes. Sealed
The Early Years 1064-1965
(Light In The Attic) Used 2xLP $25.00
The band’s early demos (the same tracks Five Upstart Americans [Omplatten 1999]), made as they felt their way toward the sound of Black Monk Time, along with a 45 from 1964 when they were still the Torquays. Even this early in their evolution, the band’s vision had already crystalized. “The recording is structured something like a musical mass,” notes Pitchfork, “with little churchy organ interludes from Larry Clark and a bit of banter from Gary Burger…. To hear them honing their rhythmic attack is gratifying —their sound was no accident.” 2009 reissue, 180g vinyl, gatefold jacket, lyrics, liner notes. Sealed