The Bassholes "Blue Roots"
I logically assumed that this album would be music by the woman on the cover, however when I flipped it over, it looks like the music is by two guys. I'm going to read the essay by Dick "Blues Boy" Rosenthal after I hear a few songs. Let's press play!
Okay, so I was right. This is not blues, and it's not a woman singing. This is messy sounding rock and roll, as in not polished at all. The vocals are not meant for comprehension and the guitar and drums are way louder than the vocals anyway. The lead singer's voice feels more like another instrument, making it almost feel like instrumental music. I'm loving how there are only two people in this band. It sounds like punk music, but newer, like they listened to a lot of punk as teenagers and then decided to start their own band. The drums are really standing out to me on the first song. I think if I had seen that song played live, I wouldn't be able to take my eyes off the drummer.
The next song, "Nakema" has a little bit of that twangy rock and roll blues sound to it at first, but then goes into a real grunge sounding 90's song. I'm seeing that it says this album was recorded "throughout 1992 in Columbus, Ohio, U.S.A." and I can definitely hear that, but it also has a very unique feel to it because it keeps going back to this more basic blues structure. Again, the vocals feel important for sound only, the lyrics don't seem important. It also says under the info about where this album was recorded "Thanks to nobody." That feels so slackerish and 90s to me! I guess it's kind of funny, but did make me wonder if these guys might be jerks though. Toward the end of the song they get really noisy and it feels pretty impressive since I know there are only two people and two instruments in this band.
"I Can Tell By The Way You Smell," immediately reminded me of "Fell in Love With A Girl," (I linked to the video because I haven't watched it in so long! And thought this was a good reason to.) and now this band sounds a lot like The White Stripes to me! Especially with just two people, it's lost that 90s feeling for me and now I can really hear how The White Stripes must have been influenced by this band. I really liked this song and also appreciated how dirty it sounds compared to "Fell in Love With A Girl" which has a more produced sound.
The next song goes back to a blues/slightly grunge feel, and I'm liking how this band seems to be taking many rock and roll influences and making their own music with just two people. I don't know why I keep coming back to that, but I guess I'm just really impressed by the raw yet pleasing and dirty sound a two person rock band can create. And loud too!
All of these songs are pretty short, most are under or just over three minutes on the first side and even shorter on side two. I think these work as short songs, but I'm not feeling that big of an emotional connection with this music. I do like it, and while I think it would be a good live show, I just can't see myself getting completely lost in this music, although it does feel like the musicians are getting lost in it and having fun.
So, about having fun, let's talk about the cover of this album. It's a sexy photograph of a black woman who appears to be topless (thought the image cuts off at her collar bone). Alex told me to look up the "Whipped Cream and Other Delights" cover and it definitely looks like it's a homage to that, especially the way her finger is on her lip. But knowing that this made up of two white guys, (although further online research lead me to discover that Rich Lillash, is only the drummer on this album and Bim Thomas becomes the new drummer) and then reading the essay on the back, I'm feeling like there's some kind of insider wink-winking going on here, and I'm not sure if I'm getting it as an outsider, and a woman.
I'm not even really sure how to describe this essay. The last sentence compares The Bassholes to the "two-man band style...of the great Columbus corncob bands of the 20's and 30's." Which sounds like kind of serious musical praise, right? Like this band is part of a historic tradition. I can see how this might be a little bit true but also a little bit of a joke, since this band obviously has a ton of influences. But most of the essay is about the workers who would be shucking corn in Columbus and how monotonous and boring it must have been. "Monotony, it is said, is the mother of both music and masturbation." There's a couple other mentions of masturbation, the word "negro," is used, and paired with the cover, I'm kinda like, what am I supposed to be thinking as I read this? It's making me a little uncomfortable, which is okay, but then I feel like I can't get beyond that uncomfortable feeling to what they're trying to do here.
It's interesting, because if I was listening to this album as mp3s, I wouldn't be thinking about any of this stuff! Part of me feels like I'm thinking about it a little too much and that it's distracting me from the music, but the other part of me is fascinated by it, and it's definitely influencing how I listen, trying to see if the songs themselves will add to the mystery of the cover and especially the essay.
Let's move on to side two. This side feels more blues influenced, I think, and the very last song "Love Cry Blues," has a very spooky sound to it. Both the guitar seem to be playing on a spooky sounding loop and the vocals go between talking and almost moaning, with creepy laughter included for effect. This would be a great song to play on Halloween, or for a band to cover on Halloween maybe. This song has a little bit of a surreal feel to it, which is making me think about the essay again. I was also getting a little bit of a surreal feeling picturing the "intense deprivation and homemade hallucinogens" of those living in Columbus, Ohio in the 20's and 30's.
"Love Cry Blues" is listed as the last song on side two, so what I thought was the very final thing on side two is a woman saying "If you want to make it with me, then take off your clothes." But then another song comes on! Feeling very much like an encore. I liked the way I thought it was going to end better.
Alex Says: There was a record store I used to hang out at when I was a teenager called Schoolkids. One of the guys who worked there was named Jim Magas, and he was just a hugely instrumental part in my learning about music. I'm sure it was annoying to have a bunch of gawky 14 and 15-year-old boys crowding your shop asking you to recommend records, but for whatever reason, his patience with us was infinite.
Jim was doubly cool because he was also in this weirdo band called Couch that sounded totally unlike anything I'd ever heard before. Super aggressive and super weird and aesthetically totally out there. Just magical.
My recollection is that he was in to very experimental stuff and just killer garage punk stuff. So he was pointing us toward things like Borbetomagus and Caroliner, but also things like The Gories and The Bassholes. For whatever reason, the first two Bassholes records really took hold with me and my friends and we listened to them all the time. I mean, they're awesome. They sound like punk but so much darker and rootsier and meaner. They have a personality.
Jim Magas went on to be other amazing bands besides Couch, Lake of Dracula and his solo project, Magas. But I'll be forever indebted to him for helping lay the groundwork and get me interested in some real weird shit.
