Pistolswing

Title: Pistolswing
Artist: Johnboy
Purchased: Given to me by a college paper arts editor in 1994
Verdict: Purged

I got this record, and a stack of other Touch and Go distributed records, from the arts editor of a nameless college newspaper while I was serving as a college rep for a nameless major record label. Okay, it was the Badger Herald and Sony. Don't judge me.

I liked the idea of having a stack of Touch and Go distributed records more than I actually liked playing them. Not that I don't like Touch and Go. In the course of doing this, I have had to ask myself, several times, why I own all these records without having listened to them. It's an embarrassment of riches. I don't listen to them precisely because I can listen to them any time, and the thrill of the bargain is usually greater than the actual record. That's my theory today.

So on to Pistolswing. Perhaps I didn't give this the fair shake it deserved. We were cleaning at the time, so I didn't sit down and soak up the nuance. Not that there was a lot of nuance to soak up. There was a lot of noisy rock, probably some mean vocals, and then Anita would turn on the vacuum cleaner. And that didn't really detract from the experience.

I understand the Trance Syndicate sound. I like it in some cases, like Ed Hall and The Cherubs. I even like The Pain Teens. But this was just boring guitar noise that never really ratcheted up in intensity. Good night, Johnboy.