The KCMU reaction to this 1990 album by New York punks Alice Donut is, as often happens in college-radio-land, quite varied, from "their best yet" to "a step back." For what it's worth, the historical record, as far as my quick survey has revealed, seems to lean toward the opinion that Mule, the band's third LP, is one of the best albums of their on-and-off 30-year career.
But none of that really matters. I don't know how any of us is supposed to know what to think of this record without having heard from Bill H. Bill, if you're out there, please settle this question that's been haunting the KCMU/KEXP stacks for over 25 years: what do you think of this?
"1.1, 1.5, 2.6 are all worth playing and are far beyond anything this band had previously done.""Hey Bill H - what do you think of this?"
"I don't know about Bill, but one listen didn't impress me as much as the last one. There was a sense of meaning + emotion about the last LP. Mule seems to bask more in more straightforward rudeness w/out much thought. OK, but a step back."
"Whiny, nasal vocals. [From a punk band? In 1990? Shocking!] Pretty mediocre, especially for Alternative Tentacles."
Sometimes I really wish I could jump in a time machine and visit the Seattle of yesteryear. Not because the traffic was better, and there were fewer condos, and people argued on album covers instead of the Internet, but because I really wish I could witness firsthand the version of this city - and …
Every so often (OK, fairly regularly) I pull out a record with a name that seems vaguely familiar only to realize that I am way out of my depth. Peter Hammill has a long, storied, and critically acclaimed career that is pretty much the reason they invented things like Wikipedia and Allmusic.com. I …
