East Coast toast

Local label uncorks an audio winner

by John O'Neill

To those who would call into question the supposed lack of a local scene, go no further than Sir Morgan's Cove on Tuesday night. That's where the 15 bands who comprise the fledgling East Coast Audio Entertainment hold their weekly meetings to discuss the ongoing attempt to get Worcester on the national music map. The brainchild of Erick Godin (Chillum, Paco) and Kevin Cross, ECAE was formed (after initially serving as Chillum's own label) with the idea that there is strength in numbers, and hopefully a shot at better national distribution. Local outfits were recruited to fly their independent releases under the ECAE banner; the thinking was that the larger pseudo-label will help attract attention to the city's abundant, and largely ignored, music scene. The group also share advertising costs in music publications and distribute label material at gigs.

"We're trying to get some mass distro," Godin explains. "We aren't a booking agency; but we want to help clubs interested in any of these bands with the proper information."

Though only in the beginning stages, the experiment has been paying off relatively quickly for the groups who have hopped on the bus. Bands who normally wouldn't have crossed paths, never mind share a stage together, are finding out that they appreciate each other's music and, as a byproduct, are building a support system that is growing within the community.

"I've been noticing a lot more unity between the bands," agrees Mike Dell'ovo of Woodgrain Theory. "When you're part of something, it changes the way fans see things, too. They see us belonging to a label. Now our fans support other [ECAE] bands."

East Coast Audio is on the verge of taking the next step with the release of their compilation Some Music By Us . . . For You. Featuring 14 of the 15 bands (with Chillum calling in sick), Some Music crosses a lot of musical terrain, and, though it has some dead weight on board (namely Tremble, whose insipid "We Live To Die" tries to convince us that Neanderthal Man had it better! Maybe these guys think The Flinstones are historically accurate), the release is a strong showing for many of Worcester's finest.

Woodgrain Theory continue to cruise uncharted water with their mix of art-grunge on "Dolls Clearwing Moth," and newcomers God Stands Still offer up a very WAAF-friendly "Disciple." The Pathetics contribute "Drunk Tank," which would make drunk-punk forefathers the Queers proud, while both Shortfuse and All Else Fails ("Embrace the Pain," and "Sense of Urgency" respectively) deliver sonic, hardcore missives that pummel with metal underpinnings. Paco, Wormtown's self-proclaimed Polynesian polka band, give the world the screwball instro "Paraplegic Cat," and 7 Hill Psychos reprise "Front Step" from their Innerpsycho CD. Both Special 79, with the ska-flavored "Rhyme or Reason," and Sticker, with "Sammy the Pimp," show a marked improvement as bands; and Gangsta Bitch Barbie's excellent "Kingpin" could easily translate to bigger commercial things. The same can be said for the easy-rhyming Split, with "Suckerpunch," which rolls along with a funky vibe. Two of the city's more popular live acts, Downchild and Junk Sculpture, are each represented by songs appearing on their respective debut CDs.

It's a formidable coming-out party for the ECAE family, who will officially celebrate the compilation's release with a late-afternoon-till-early-morning festival at Sir Morgan's Cove, Sunday, October 26. All bands featured on the CD will be kicking it live. The CD will be available at the live shows of all ECAE artists, or may be purchased locally at Newbury Comics, Al-Bums, HMV, Tower Records, and Media Play while ECAE searches for wider distribution.

"Getting a distributor will definitely help a band like us to get known in other areas," says Special 79's Kevin Crook. "The whole [East Coast Audio experience] has been positive. We've made a lot of friends, and there's nothing wrong with that."

Post-Fabulous

The Prefab Messiahs' existence may have been brief (1981-'83), but they also had the luck to form at the height of the Wormtown movement, which, unlike some revisionists would have you believe, was the demarcation point from which local music once again became vital and original. Formed at Clark University, this group of neo-Dadaist terrorists began laying out a primitive and eclectic batch of acid-soaked art slop. Now, in the wake of the Wormtown 20th anniversary, you too can own a piece of the mythical Prefabs with the release of their extremely-posthumous release, Devolver.

"Putting out the CD was in the back of my mind for a long time," says bassist, project supervisor, and spiritual leader Trip Thompson. "I figured with the anniversary show that it was now or never, and it would have more meaning."

Remastered from source tapes from studio cuts, live tracks, rehearsals, and from goofing around in their living room, Devolver is a comprehensive look (27 tracks totaling 73 minutes) at one of Wormtown's earliest do-it-yourselfers. "Cousin Artie," "He Was a Donut" and the accompanying "Donut Man" are all surrealist gems. "Don't Go to the Party" flirts with psychedelic pop, while "Bourgeois Sally" and "Winter of Love" recall the straight-ahead garage rock that made Wormtown famous. There's also a fair amount of relatively mindless noodling and a version of the 13th Floor Elevators classic "Your Gonna Miss Me" that features sometime drummer Ringo Casiotone (a Casio keyboard the band actually used to keep the beat at live gigs, much to the delight/dismay of clubgoers). Devolver can be considered either brilliant or stupefying, depending on your outlook. But it is most certainly original and a lot of fun.

"Not too many full-length things came out of Wormtown, so I guess this would be a curiosity," says Thompson of the CD's appeal. "We had a concept from left field and had a fresh take on rock and roll. It started as a lark . . . it may have stayed that way, too."

You can get a copy of Devolver at Al-Bums, Newbury Comics, or by mailing ten bucks to K. Thompson, 220 Belmont St., Watertown 02472.