Seeing this band live is frightening. They run around, climb everything in view, throw themselves against walls. On more than one occasion I’ve retreated from the stage for fear of being drop-kicked or trampled or both or worse. There’s also the disconcerting possibility of a consuming conflagration arising from the friction of calloused fingers moving rapidly against Indian rosewood.
Here Crackpot accomplishes the difficult task of translating their energy onto record. They do this not through force, but through playfulness: wayward and lazy guitars, fat and loping rhythm section, meandering and engaged vocals.
At 1:29 the singer laughs at his own silliness and I’m reminded of Dylan’s “All I Really Want To Do.”
At 2:39 the song ascends to its rousing climax and I’m reminded of a drunken Pavement, inebriated to the point of sincerity. [Info]
(I've been told to tell you that this is a very rough mix of a work in progress.)
***
Harris Newman - "The Butcher's Block"
A scenario in which I come off looking good while putting you down, though you may in fact be on to something:
You: Might this woodland glade ramble be Chekhov inspired?
Me: Certainly not. What a strange question.
Also:
Harris Newman is like the Woody Allen of Takoma-style finger-pickers (anxiety seems the dominant emotion in his work). [Info]
Posted by Jordan at April 23, 2005 5:09 AMwho what the hell is crackpot? this stuff is intersting...
Posted by Anonymous at April 23, 2005 7:45 AMi enjoyed both songs muchly, thanks.
Posted by kat at April 23, 2005 2:23 PMWow! Crackpot are great!
"everything you say is wonderful, that is why you are so fuckable" ??? pure gold. Do you know when this album with be released?
Hullo, my name is Chris Burns and I am the founding father of Crackpot.
The two songs found in the "info" link are from our self-titled, debut CD (which is available in all the finer Montreal record shops-- if you do not live in Montreal, but would like to purchase it, e-mail me).
The toon that Jordan wrote about is by the other guitarist, Simon Fazakerley. It's working title is "Applesauce" and, as Jordan pointed out, is a rough mix taken from some recent sessions we did at Little King Studio, engineered by Ryan Mills. We recorded 11 toons, not all of which are necessarily keepers, and I can't be sure what will come of them. Hopefully, there will be another full length CD under Crackpot's belt but, at the moment, we are searching for a new drummer and definetely won't be taking any steps to release anything until the band re-establishes a solid line-up.
If you think you might be interested in auditioning for Crackpot, e-mail me at:
chrispyburns@canoemail.com
Posted by Chris Burns at April 26, 2005 7:16 PMhey crackpot, I like your song. It reminded me of Silkworm, which is the tenuous basis on which I recommend you check them out- if you haven't already.
Posted by zachary at April 28, 2005 2:15 PM
and it will begin playing. All songs are also available to download: just right-click the link and choose 'Save as...'
