Released

J.G. Thirlwell had already released two full-length albums and several 12” singles when this 1984 album arrived like a mail bomb. The lyrics were a hysterical collage of pop-culture references, surreal braggadocio, and priapic nihilism delivered in an out-of-breath shout; the music was a riot of tape loops, pounding drums, and borrowed styles from surf rock to manic and deliberately ersatz big-band swing. The most unsettling track, “I’ll Meet You In Poland Baby,” layers a Hitler speech within a constantly shifting mosaic of synths and sirens, as Thirlwell takes Elvis Costello’s concept of “emotional fascism” and runs with it. On “Satan Place” he fuses the Beach Boys, the surf instrumental “Wipeout,” the Trashmen’s “Surfin’ Bird,” and ? and the Mysterians-esque garage-rock organ, swamping the listener’s synapses like a tidal wave striking a building.

Phil Freeman

Suggestions
Mono cover

Mono

The Thing
Crazy People Music cover

Crazy People Music

Branford Marsalis
History Gets Ahead of the Story cover

History Gets Ahead of the Story

Jeff Cosgrove, John Medeski, Jeff Lederer
Northernsong cover

Northernsong

Luke Norris
Bap-Tizum cover

Bap-Tizum

Art Ensemble of Chicago
Fanfare for the Warriors cover

Fanfare for the Warriors

Art Ensemble of Chicago
Off the End cover

Off the End

Brandon Ross
The Bandwagon cover

The Bandwagon

Jason Moran