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Food for Thought
Food for Thought in Bloomington, MN
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Gray Matter
's debut album actually originally surfaced on a different label, but the
Dischord
connection was there from the start, with
Don Zientara
engineering and
Ian Mackaye
helping to co-produce. Guitarist
Mark Haggerty
and drummer
Dante Ferrando
had already made noise with
Iron Cross
in the early '80s, and with guitarist/singer
Jeff Turner
and
Steve Niles
on bass to fill out the lineup, the result was enjoyable, edgy D.C.
hardcore
.
Turner
's singing, gentler than many of his contemporaries but not by any stretch "
emo
" as classically defined via
Rites of Spring
, nicely balanced out his and
Haggerty
's riffing. What's especially nice about
Food for Thought
is how it is catchy without being, say, yet another
Ramones
knockoff -- it's not so much classic
pop
as quietly anthemic
punk
, a bit like what
Dag Nasty
would also try doing around the same time. Check out the tempo-changing surge of
"Oscars Eye,"
building up to one miniature explosion after another, or the hilarious commercial sample into the darkly rampaging music of
"Caffeine Blues."
There's an ear for
new wave
/U.K.
post-punk
here and there in the crisp arrangements, not quite
Gang of Four
or
Joy Division
per se but bearing signs that
took some cues here and there. If
Ferrando
's drums sometimes sound a touch hollow (perhaps the unavoidable result of
's mid-'80s aesthetic), the sense of depth in the recording is quite striking otherwise, guitars suddenly echoing away or coming through with a full-bodied roar. The most inspired touch comes at the end -- tackling one of
the Beatles
' most outre songs,
rips through
"I Am the Walrus"
with high-speed elan, even recreating some of the chaotic found-sound chaos at the end in its own way. It's a bravura performance and a fine way to wrap up. ~ Ned Raggett
's debut album actually originally surfaced on a different label, but the
Dischord
connection was there from the start, with
Don Zientara
engineering and
Ian Mackaye
helping to co-produce. Guitarist
Mark Haggerty
and drummer
Dante Ferrando
had already made noise with
Iron Cross
in the early '80s, and with guitarist/singer
Jeff Turner
and
Steve Niles
on bass to fill out the lineup, the result was enjoyable, edgy D.C.
hardcore
.
Turner
's singing, gentler than many of his contemporaries but not by any stretch "
emo
" as classically defined via
Rites of Spring
, nicely balanced out his and
Haggerty
's riffing. What's especially nice about
Food for Thought
is how it is catchy without being, say, yet another
Ramones
knockoff -- it's not so much classic
pop
as quietly anthemic
punk
, a bit like what
Dag Nasty
would also try doing around the same time. Check out the tempo-changing surge of
"Oscars Eye,"
building up to one miniature explosion after another, or the hilarious commercial sample into the darkly rampaging music of
"Caffeine Blues."
There's an ear for
new wave
/U.K.
post-punk
here and there in the crisp arrangements, not quite
Gang of Four
or
Joy Division
per se but bearing signs that
took some cues here and there. If
Ferrando
's drums sometimes sound a touch hollow (perhaps the unavoidable result of
's mid-'80s aesthetic), the sense of depth in the recording is quite striking otherwise, guitars suddenly echoing away or coming through with a full-bodied roar. The most inspired touch comes at the end -- tackling one of
the Beatles
' most outre songs,
rips through
"I Am the Walrus"
with high-speed elan, even recreating some of the chaotic found-sound chaos at the end in its own way. It's a bravura performance and a fine way to wrap up. ~ Ned Raggett
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