SIXTEEN
POWER POP SONGS FROM MARTY REV, FOUNDING MEMBER OF SUICIDE AND NOTORIOUS
NYC EAST SIDE PUNK ROCKER.
Suicide
(Marty Rev and Alan Vega) were primal Americana, pure electricity, neon-lit
minimalists lurking at the outer edges of New York art rock nexus. They
used the disturbing buzz and hum of early electronics to co-opt the ecstatic
throb of rockabilly and the low moan of country blues turned into urban
narratives that were tragic at best, and usually mind-numbing nihilistic.
They took people by surprise.
Suicide
was there in the beginning - the loft scene of the late '60s / early '70s!
Their first flyer poster "Punk Music by Suicide" was plastered all over
the East Side of New York City several years before punk happened.
They
were booed in NY and booted off the stage in Brussels. "To get that music
through was almost like stepping into a boxing ring getting ready to fight.
People would be leaping up on stage and I'd be playing with one hand and
trying to protect myself with the other. People felt confronted because
we took them by surprise." - Martin Rev, 1995
The
surprise continues. When you listen to Martin Rev's new "See Me Ridin'"
think: David Lynch, Buddy Holly, Chet Baker, Phil Spector, Bubble Gum
Rock, Teen Rock, Pop Rock, Power Pop, Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits, Mr. Rogers,
Dr. Suess, Retro-Nuevo, Guided By Voices, Sebadoh, Legendary Pink Dots!
"Sixteen
short but tasty songs...that use a formula of almost lounge-like singing
over a spare background of cheap Casino keyboards and cheesy drum machines
that blend together to form some outstanding minimalist pop music. It
takes a few listens to get past the overt sweetness that immediately hits
you, but once the songs sink in, not unlike listening to the Magnetic
Fields, you begin to recognize that Rev may just have something here."
- Endangered Species
"Martin
Rev is way more new wave than the Rentals can ever hope to be. He was
on fire in Suicide and he's still smoldering." - Great God Pan
"The
instrumental half of influential techno-industrial duo Suicide is a Talmudic
scholar and a soundscape sculptor whose shimmering, shattering wall of
Stockhausen-meets-Chuck Berry electronic keybs anticipated the likes of
NIN and Ministry. Think Phil Spector conducting the Star Wars Cantina
Band. Far Out." - Hits
"Rev
sings with a voice that sounds like it's inhaling a different type of
air than we are- not helium, but something that definitely gets the vocal
cords vibrating at unusual frequencies, so he sounds like he should be
eight inches tall and blue." - More Than Music
