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There's
a famous rock and roll legend of questionable origin that
goes something like this: one day in early 1967, during the
recording of what was to be Gene Vincent's self titled album,
Gene and most of his band were shanghaied on some interstate
with car trouble, and failed to notify the studio that they
would not be able to make the recording date. |
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An enigmatic young band called The Seeds happened to be in
town, and seized the opportunity. The band entered the studio
in Gene's place, and before the engineers and studio hacks
knew what had happened, the tape was rolling and The Seeds
had effectively commandeered the session. The band left with
a reel of music that has been described by the ludicrously
few who've heard it as 'obscenely great' rock and roll.
This
story, along with the now well-worn tale of Jandek's note-for-note
cover of Between The Buttons, might be the only things to
adequately prepare you for Second Attention, the new album
by Wooden Wand & The Sky High Band.
Recorded
live and on vintage equipment in San Francisco, California,
Second Attention is a declaration of righteous swagger. The
pan-coastal band - representing California, the Midwest, The
South and New York City - spent two weeks holed up in a modified
two story house with nothing but three reels of tape, a bunch
of instruments and copious amounts of drugs and booze.
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This
album is the result of that time. Possessed with the heart
and soul of Neils both Hagerty and Young, Wooden Wand leads
the band - featuring members of Skygreen Leopards, The Vanishing
Voice and Davenport - through eleven rollicking tunes that
recall such cracked masterpieces as Tonight's The Night
and Mendocino. Wand has become somewhat well known in certain
circles for his surreal lyrical imagery, an uppity blend
as informed by Robyn Hitchcock as by the Zimmer Man himself,
and on Second Attention, he spares no detail, whether discussing
the pitfalls of the American idealist, sneakily tossing
in references to Alexander Jodorowsky films, or weighing
in on Stanley Burroughs' controversial guide to fasting,
The Master Cleanser. But to what do we owe this newfound
barbarism, this unhinged performance that has no precedent
on any of Wand's previous sides? Is it the rubber-legged
and starry eyed band that's to blame for leading our fearless
narrator into the dark rock and roll abyss? Or perhaps it
was the surroundings themselves that caused the mostly urbane
Wand to rebel against the distinctly beauteous and pastoral?
Maybe the whole godforsaken gang just spent too much time
listening to - and possible misinterpreting - Songs of Love
and Hate?
No
matter. There is beauty in the periphery but more in the
small details. Second Attention is where East truly meets
West. Where the shimmer suddenly gets grimmer. Sunshine
meets grease. It will likely be remembered as the album
that remains after any and all 'movements' inevitably move
on.
Or,
perhaps more to the point - to paraphrase the late, great
Townes Van Zandt - don't let the sunshine fool ya, motherfucker.
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