BRAIN: Piece of Work, and other tBS stuff

[John A. Swartz]

I'm working on a fairly detailed review of *Piece Of Work* - for now
I'll just chime in on current threads...

> I like it! - more varied and, I think, catchier than anyhting since
> _Eponymous_.  Perhaps because it is varied, and because it's a double so
> there's quite a lot to take in, it's hard come up with pithy comments.  But
> I've already found myself humming "Alpha and Omega" and "Swamp Thing."

I found that I had to drop my pre-conceived notions of what the tBS
"sound" was - my first listen left me scratching my head a little.  Deb
and I have had some discussion on AOL on this - while she (correctly)
asserts that there are echoes previous tBS work throughout the album, I
contend that the emphasis is on "echoes" - I find it stylistically quite
varied, with lots of previously unchartered territory by this band.
But, I'm finding that I'm quite enjoying it.


> Sending my money now for it (sob)... i hate the mail service.  However, I'm
> pleased as punch to know listfellow Brian  and I be on the photo credits.

Lots of nice photos in the liner notes.

> That gig (Rochester) was good one. THey performed a 7 minute+ version of
> Name Your Monster with Albert doin a one cymbal solo in the middle of the
> "dance floor" as the band wailed away.  Of all the tunes in their catalog,
> NYM seems to be the most malleable one out there... its been acoustic,
> electric, horn filled and stretched!

Well, my favorite version is still the balls-to-the-wall version that
they used to use to open their shows.

>
> Also, you realize that "pull the plug" features the one song that hasn;t
> been reissued/rearranged out of the catalog: Frenchette. Yes, a bonafide
> Kollectable! Good song too.

Yes, and hopefully it will be on *Malpractice - Part II*, along with the
acoustic "Lady Of The Harbor", the 1994 Mike Watt version of "Dominance
and Submission" (which features Al and Joe Bouchard prominently), and
other unreleased and live gems (like Pete Bohovesky's one-off Christmas
song back in 1995 on a cold snowy night in Boston - I have the tape if
you need it Al...).


> It's the funkiness (Is that a word? How about funkitude?) that reminds me
> of Eponymous. But PoW is so much "thicker" sounding,

There is a definite "funkitude" on this album - seems especially
emphasized by the bass lines as well as Albert's drumming.  The songs
are definitely "thicker" - there are layers and layers of
instrumentation on many tracks - some quite subtle too.

> Starting off an album with an acapella tune,

My first reaction was kind of a "What the f#$%?" when I heard that -
guess I wanted another *Trepanation* kind of a start (i.e. with "Gimme
Nothin').  But, after listening to this song a few times, I decided that
it was much more appropriate at the beginning of the album, than
sandwiched somewhere in the middle.  One of Deb's finest vocal moments
on the album, I might add.

> I think Al's drums are "turned-up" on PoW too. They're much more obvious
> than on Trep. or even BoH. And that's the way I like it. The rhythm on Bad
> Hair Day and Prince Albert are a lot of fun to groove to.

I think you are right.  I may have even commented on *Trepanation* that
the guitars were so up-front that the drums and bass (probably
especially the bass) needed to be louder.  It was less the case on *Box
Of Hammers*, and now on *Piece Of Work* the drums and the bass seem even
more prominent.

>
> >But I've already found myself humming "Alpha and Omega" and "Swamp Thing."

Love "Swamp Thing" - probably my favorite PoW track.

> I've had the melody to More Than Truth in my head lately. Now there's a
> radio-friendly tune in a mid-'80s vein.

Yes, but I think "Confession #9" could get radio airplay in the 90s.

> PoW is definately my favorite Surgeons album.

I'm not sure tBS will ever top *Trepanation* for me, but I do really
like PoW.

John