23rd March 2010

Audio with 2 notes

Karen Cooper Complex - Jerkin Pretty
Shinjuku Birdwalk

“We refer to it as ‘Analog Music from a Lost World’ — previously unreleased post-punk experimental rock from 1981, unlike anything else recorded before or after.”

I’ve read interviews with musicians who seem not to even care about what else is happening in their own field.  I’ve asked guys what they were listening to the most in recent months, and had them tell me they don’t really listen to music.  What the fuck, right?  I think it’s always a lot more interesting to hear from people who give a shit about music. When I listen to this record, I think I’m hearing them.

In the Free Music Archive page for Karen Cooper Complex (where you can/should download their whole album, by the way), band member Bill Altice said that several members of the group had been DJs at a local indie radio station. Karen Cooper Complex is exactly the kind of group that you would hope would have come out of that environment. It’s challenging music made by a collection of people who know what the fuck they’re talking about when it comes to records.

The track above, “Jerkin Pretty,” is a reworking of the Pretty Things’ “Buzz the Jerk,” one of my favorite cuts from their fantastic record Get the Picture? “Jerkin Pretty” crackles with the same raw energy as the Pretty Things song, but holds its own unique feel and straight weirdness.  What more could you want?

A whole record?

Tagged: honkers and squeakersjurassic park