Another goodie that I recently received from Noise Pollution Records was the new CD by another cool band from Louisville, KY named VRKTM. . They were initially formed by Jason Lowenstein from Sebadoh along with Jason Hayden and Dave Bird, who both played with Will Oldham, in 2000. Initially they were called Verktum but after a shitload of lineup changes, they decided to remove the vowels from thier name.
Makes total sense doesn't it?
As for the music...its some seriously wacky shit. There's a twin guitar attack thing going on here but not in the classical sense. VRKTM prefer to play with no distortion and the best word I could possibly use to describe the sound is noodly.
Lyrically, VRKTM is pretty out there as well. I have been listening to this CD for about two weeks and I'll be damned if I can explain what the fuck vocalist Darren Rappa is talking about.
I hear some math rock in all of this which isn't suprising. The shadow of Slint hangs heavy in these here parts. In a moment of clarity during the song Common Blood, I heard some Dinosaur Jr. Most of all, with the clean guitars and the offbeat lyrics, I hear the Louisville sound. Which is weird because 2 months ago, I didn't know there was a Louisville sound. Unbeknownst to me, I have become a connosieur.
So if ya got a couple of bucks, check out Excess/Defect by VRKTM. Better yet, go see them if they come to a town near you. They have a myspace here where you can read up on them.
VRKTM - Excess / Defect
The Sphere Of Action
Subway Style
Sword And Fire
Vivian Girls
Intemperance
Florida Son
Skull Mountain
Slay
Black Jasmine
Damage Control
Memory Foam Pillow
Common Blood
Epicure Detest
Oh....and I just got a ton of old Your Food stuff in the mail as well, so expect more Louisville posts in the near future. I've also noticed other Lousiville treasures popping up on the blogosphere since my review of Bold Beginnings....which is a good thing. Like the mighty Malfeitor once said, its time to muthafukkin' reprazent!