The combination of reading the Sonic Youth chapter of the excellent Our Band Could Be Your Life and listening to a bunch of No Wave comps reignited my interest in Glenn Branca. Unfortunately, Branca's name is just as likely to show up in the same sentence with "pretentious" as it is to appear with "Sonic Youth" or "No Wave." While I disagree with the pretentious tag, I can understand how minimalist electric guitar symphonies can wear on a listener (including myself). It says something that allmusic.com calls his songs "works" and not "albums." This is what makes Theoretical Girls the perfect entry point for those looking beyond the fringes of early Sonic Youth and into the admittedly intimidating waters of No Wave and artists such as Glenn Branca. Made up of an avant-garde all-star team of sorts, Branca is not the primary songwriter of Theoretical Girls, yet his trademark guitar work is all over this collection of recordings. Hence, the result is Branca's atonal, harsh guitar tones (echoes of which can be heard throughout the Sonic Youth catalog, and any band with Steve Albini in the lineup, among many other less distinguished artists) packaged inside of sub-4 minute songs. No wonder they were recommended to me when I asked for Branca albums "with balls"…as arty and dissonant as this album is, it's not far removed from punk rock. And while Theoretical Girls aren't my favorite no wave band (that title is for my upcoming Contortions post), they definitely serve as a great link between avant-garde composers and noisier, artier rock.zShare - "Computer Dating"
Buy it here.
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