smalltown superjazzz

Todd already tackled Smalltown Supersound, so allow me to discuss the decimating genius that is Smalltown Superjazzz, an incredible free-jazz/noise-rock label straight outta Norway.

I gotta say, right off, that the Two Bands and a Legend record is straight-up, mindblowing ridiculousness. I can’t remember the last time a record bowled me over this hard, this quickly. The record melts noise-rock (think Stooges and Lightning Bolt) with alto-sax squeals that sound positively deathly (think the Contortions). From the opening five seconds of “Who the Fuck,” you know exactly what you are in for: two notes from an upright bass — beat — guitar feedback — beat — a pained scream — beat — and a pounding rock rhythm and you’re in.

The vocals are meaty and growly, barking and forceful, overblown and overwrought, with only a slight hint of tune or pitch. Iggy is definitely an influence. The cover of the Sonics‘ “The Witch,” a Nuggets classic, is perverse. Two solid minutes of string scratching (a possessed cello, I think?) that devolves into a clatter of strings and smacks and then, right out of nowhere, comes that familiar, hard-charged staccato riff, an upright bass slapping along somewhere beneath the caterwaul.

And it even gets better from there! “Tekla Loo” is the best rock song of the century (century = today), false-starting with a silly spoken-word bit before erupting (overused, but yes, erupting) into a thick and meaty riff that dips down into free-jazz paranoia for several minutes before re-emerging, vital and clean. It will blow your mind. I kid you not.

Two Bands and a Legend is definitely my favorite of the Smalltown Superjazzz stuff, but it also sets the template for the rest of the label’s releases. There’s also the Cato Salsa Experience & the Thing with Joe McPhee’s excellent Sounds Like a Sandwhich, a heavy, cover-friendly live record, with versions of “Whole Lotta Love” (strong) and, most impressively, Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ essential breakthrough fuck-off “Art Star,” the sax mimicking Karen O’s little doo-doo-doos. Put this on a mix-tape for a friend and slay them dead. (Side note: the Cato Salsa/Thing/McPhee dudes also make up Two Bands…)

I also have to rep for the Thing, a ridiculously great free-jazz band. Their Action Jazz is very well-titled, I assure you. Elsewhere on the label are records I haven’t gotten to yet (the other stuff has been so good!), but am excited to: Original Silence, which includes Thurston Moore, Jim O’Rourke and members of the Ex, and Mats Gustafsson and Yoshimi, one dude from the Thing and (I’m guessing here) Yoshimi from the Boredoms.

So, in summation: DOWNLOAD THIS!