from the EP Will Wallow & Roam After the Ruin, Boneless Records, 1980I’ve always been consumed with people’s biographies, the origins of what they become & what that evolution looked like along the way, because although it’s fair to believe that one can certainly untie many of the more perilous tendrils of a confined socialization, I ultimately feel that we can’t escape our pasts; assumptions about reality, whether accurate or not, become real in their own consequences. I suppose that’s why I’ve always been drawn to the earliest creations of artists I like, and even those I am just getting acquainted with, because there is typically an overarching element of clarity in the construction, unencumbered by expectations or obligation, free to be free. Before he shortened the name & changed musical direction, Giant Sandworms was noted indie musician Howe Gelb’s first major band, and this blazing EP was their debut on wax; although he formed the group in Arizona, it was not Gelb’s home---he moved there with his dad from semi-rural Pennsylvania after they lost everything to a flood when Gelb was only 15 years old, the turmoil of which is perhaps best expressed (intentionally or otherwise) in this EP’s title, and the title of his next band’s first album, Valley of Rain. These recordings are the sounds of a young artist trying to find his voice, borrowing heavily from David Byrne & Bryan Ferry (you should hear him cover Roxy’s “Mother of Pearl”, freaking seamless), but already quirky & difficult to pin down; Gelb has often expressed embarrassment over his delivery here, but I love it. Musically it’s bursting at the seams, pure post-punk ampage with a little glam rock sheen, but most of all: FUN.
