ARTIST: King Missile
TITLE: They
YEAR RELEASED: 1988
CHART ACTION: None
SINGLES: None
OTHER SONGS YOU MAY KNOW: Leather Clown, Farm
LINEUP: John S. Hall, Dogbowl, Charles Curtis, Steve Dansinger, Kramer, David Licht
WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT: A long, sprawling release that shows the inconsistency of early King Missile, with a sound that’s claustrophobic.
SOME WORDS, PHRASES AND CLAUSES ABOUT THIS RECORD: After a few yuks with their debut album, King Missile’s second album veers into a direction that showcases more of Dogbowl and his music than John S. Hall’s bizarre poetry. It wasn’t a good decision.
Kramer (not THE Kramer, but the owner of the studio and record label) recorded the band like they were all stuck in a closet, with Hall’s vocals not being very clear unless you’re wearing headphones and listening to them. Also, with 22 cuts, the ideas aren’t edited; everything stuck whether worthy or not.
Sure, there’s some great weird songs like “Leather Clown”, “Farm”, and “He Needed”, but this was a mis-step.
NOTES & MINUTIAE: Hall and Dogbowl parted ways after this album, and King Missile’s second phase soon began.
IS THERE A DELUXE VERSION: No
GRADE: C-: I exiled some of it; I may exile more.