OFF: Last Days of May

[Doug Pearson]

On Tue, 25 Apr 2000 15:56:00 -0400, Grakkl (FAA) K Henderson
<henderson.120 at OSU.EDU> wrote:
>I was browsing today in Used Kids (as I do every week about this time)

Great store!  Say "hi" to Mike Rep (the guy with long-ish grey hair) for me
if he's at the counter ... once when visiting friends of mine, they all
recorded a weird version of "Spirit of the Age" that was semi-dedicated to
me (the same day, they recorded a version of the Twinkeyz' "Aliens In Our
Midst" dedicated to our mutual friend Karl who did the CD reissue of the
Twinkeyz and, more recently, Debris).

>saw a disc by a band called 'Last Days of May.'  I read the little advert
>blurb on the outside of the disc, which was sufficiently nebulous to not
>give me much of an idea of what the band was like.  All I could gather is
>that they were an instrumental 'power trio.'  And this was their second
release.

I haven't heard this one yet, but I posted about their first album a few
months after it came out.    I dunno if I'd use the term "power trio" to
describe them, although they are a heavy guitar/bass/drums band.  Their
music is far more psychedelic and exploratory than any typical heavy rock
band.  Lots of out-there jamming and long tracks, at least on the first
album, which I liked very much.

>Was just wondering whether the band's name was obviously a BOC reference, or
>whether Last Days of May is a commonly known phrase for some other reason.
>Was also wondering if they iz any good.

Last Days Of May guitarist Karl Precoda (ex-Dream Syndicate, whose lineup,
yes, briefly included Tommy Zvoncheck ... I believe Karl and Tommy quit at
the same time, and ex-Droogs) wrote the song "Wings of Mercury" that was
performed by BOC live during the late 80s (Dream Syndicate were managed by
Sandy Pearlman for a while, which explains things).

>P.S.  Can anyone tell me what Pere Ubu album(s) I might like?  I really like
>the band Speaker/Cranker (a possible SD2K entry) which inclues PU-guitarist
>Jim Jones (actually on synth in S/C), and thought I'd try them out.

Definitely begin at the beginning!  Get the 'Terminal Tower' collection
that includes their seminal first two singles (including "Final Solution",
with its' "rave-up" outro that was "borrowed" from "Space Is Deep") and
their first actual album, 'The Modern Dance'.  Pere Ubu were probably the
most advanced band in America at that time (c.76/77), and I would highly
recommend their stuff to Hawkwind fans (as long as you can tolerate a
singer with a "weird" voice).

Jim Jones is an extremely cool musician who has played in a *lot* of great
bands from Cleveland, including the VU/Floyd-influenced Mirrors (who were
covering "Ejection" within weeks of the release of 'Captain Lockheed'), the
jazzier Styrenes (who Mirrors mutated into), the Easter Monkeys (a truly
sick heavy/poetic postpunk outfit), and others.  I haven't heard
Speaker/Cranker yet, so I'll have to check that out.  Funny how all those
ex-Pere Ubu guys are turning into synth players (drummer Anton Fier,
probably most famous for his Golden Palaminos "supersession"-type band, is,
like me, one of the owners of the Wiard modular synthesizer designed by
Grant Richter of F/i).

        -Doug
         ceres at sirius.com