You hear a lot of talk about
"old school" and "new school" these days. Rappers talk
about being "old school". The Classic Sports Network
asks, "are you old school?" NBA players talk about being
"new school" NBA. Well try this on for size; I'm so old
school I still call Allan Agguire, the lead singer of the
Scaterd Few, Romald Domkus. Now that's old
school!. For the uninformed Scaterd Few burst on the
scene in the early 90's with their first major label
release, "Sin Disease"; a 33 minute shred fest that
burned with the intensity of a napalm bomb.
Then there's that scripture
about the tongue being a fire.... Allan Agguire called
himself Romald Domkus at the time, and with his wild
looking dreads, puffy eyelids, and brazen onstage
persona, coupled with his loose cannon off the cuff
comments in interviews, he kept his self in hot water
with the public and the press most of the time. After a
year or two of controversy, followed by the release of
the fine and underappreciated indie JAWBONEOFANASS, the
Few seemingly dropped off the planet.
Some years later however, Romald
reemerged as Allan, his given name, and went about trying
to clean up his image and clarify some of what went on
while in the Few. Allan's SPYGLASS BLUE project was then
released and so we figured that this would be the vehicle
he would use as an outlet for his immense talent and
passion. Well, we were half right. SPYGLASS still exists,
but the FEW have returned. And well worth the wait, I
might add.
GRANDMOTHER'S SPACESHIP is an
eerie, shredding study of the falsehood and alienation
that has been spawned in this cyber age of information
overload. SPACESHIP expands on all of the musical
influences that have shown up on previous SF albums; the
psychedelica, the shred, the punk, the reaggae,the
Beatles, Terry Taylor, the psalmist David.... As well
there is a generous helping of Chili-Pepperish
funk-o-metal. Agguire, who has always been an
exceptional, if at times obtuse, lyrcist, has done some
of his finest work to date on this release. "Arbitrator"
is especially good lyrically, artfully describing and
capturing the mystery and majesty of the Creator. Though
obviously and blatantly christian, the lyrics are never
cliche or sappy, and are an example of how when
spiritually is allowed to weave seamlessly through art,
without sloganeering or catering to a specific
demographic, beautiful results can ensue.
So put on your headphones, crank
up the volume, and prepare to take a ride through
cyberspace on GRANDMOTHER'S SPACESHIP. This a definite
treat for the Few faithful.
