Month: February 2006

Once upon a time there was a lovely little band called th Faith Healers. (Don’t ask about the ‘e’ —it went missing early on.) They were the first band on then-fledgling label too pure (now home to Electrelane, Laika, and Stereolab, among others), and they were cornerstones of the Camden “Lurch” scene. (Don’t ask me to define Lurch. If you’re lucky there’s a Wikipedia entry by now.)

They kicked up a righteous racket —a furious, expressionistic squall. I don’t know that I could tell you what they were “about” any more than I could explain why their gleeful brand of organic motorik stomp—a style that melded a kind-of angular, oddly articulate grunge to the clean, crisp rhythmic mantras of Krautrock— remains so compelling, more than ten years after their untimely breakup. Part of it was due to the fact that the band never once took itself too seriously. Part of it was due to the manic, charismatic energy of singer Roxanne Stephen, whose vocals could switchback from sweet and delicate to full-on shriek and back again.

I think my eardrums have only just now recovered from seeing th Healers, Band of Susans, and God Is My Co-Pilot all in one night, way back when. Which could mean only one thing:

They’re touring again.

That’s right. To support the release of their Peel Sessions, they’re doing a little reunion tour. So far, the schedule is looking something like this:

March 11th Berlin, Germany – West Germany
March 17th – Austin, TX SXSW Ba Da Bing!/Leaf Showcase at Blender Balcony At The Ritz (w/ volcano!, A Hawk and a Hacksaw, Colossal Yes and Beirut)
March 22nd Boston, MA – Pa’s Lounge (w/Bright)
March 27th Brooklyn, NY – Northsix
March 29th New York, NY – Mercury Lounge
March 30th Philadelphia, PA – The Khyber (w/The Nethers, The War On Drugs)

I’ll be at the Boston show. And I sure as hell won’t forget my earplugs this time.

I’m posting one of my favorite tracks of theirs, a marvelous dub edit of the 25-minute long monster “Everything, All at Once, Forever” that closed out their album Imaginary Friend. This track is pretty much unavailable (as far as I know). Enjoy!

th’ Faith Healers Peel Sessions is out now on BaDaBing! The tour starts in March.

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th Faith Healers, “Everything, All at Once, Forever (Dub Edit)” [right-click-save-as, s’il vous plaît]

When I’m having a good day, I often find myself humming this song.

I guess I had a good day today.

Minxus were an odd lot. They never quite gelled as a band —their lone album, Pabulum [Too Pure], had a couple of marvelous songs on it but seemed on the whole a bit thin. But then, live performance was more their arena. Given that the band was led by the impossibly monikered Mod goddess She Rocola (who looked as though she’d just stepped out of Faster Pussycat Kill Kill), you’d hardly expect some sepia-toned aural wallpaper. No, the music of Minxus had the superb whiff of grindhouse sleaze, with Rocola’s brassy vocals riding the mondo trasho tide of squalling guitars and a smoking rhythm section provided by Miss Rocola and Flaming Star Joe Whitney.

Also, I love bands with theme songs. Every band should have one!

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I’m off to Boston to see His Name Is Alive and Low. I’ll be back next week with some surprises. Have a lovely weekend, everyone.

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Minxus, “Minxus” [right-click-save-as, s’il vous plaît]

More info on She Rocola’s whereabouts here: The She Rocola Revue