from the LP The Word & the Flesh, Restless Records, 1990The weather peoples are predicting (hoping?) that the mountains around here will see between 1 – 2 feet of snow in the next 36 hours, which always seems to happen one last time in May before Jack Frost officially leaves the building; thankfully, this year I waited to get our sprinklers going, so I don’t have to be concerned with freezing pipes or anything like that. I know you all care so much about my menial chores---ahem. So, it is with this coming behemoth of a storm in mind that I post a maelstrom of layered & distorted strings by the oft-overlooked NYC crew, Band of Susans, one of the closer musical approximations to a genuine blizzard that you can find. Losing former guitarist Paige Hamilton (as he went on to form Helmet) right as they were gaining ground could have been disastrous, but instead the Susans used it as an opportunity to deepen their sound and fine-tune their attack, coming up with a joyous clatter that falls somewhere between early-mid Sonic Youth (ala Sister) & My Bloody Valentine, metronomic rhythm section and UFO guitars soaring all around.
