LP - Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments - Straight To Video
BACK IN STOCK!!!!
"It seems inconceivable now, but back in ’91, foreseeing the impact
of Nirvana’s Nevermind on America’s underground music scene, or the
subsequent feeding frenzy, was virtually impossible. Overzealous
major-label A&R reps stalked this nation’s bars ’n’ basements for
the next few years like ravenous chickens in pursuit of an elusive
grasshopper they couldn’t see but knew existed. It had to! Many alt-rock
Orthopterida were snared, none of whose stridulations seemed to
resonate in a manner deemed by the greedy as a prerequisite for
sure-fire bankability, and thus the hunt continued. By 1995 an
enterprising yardbird strutting his stuff for the Onion label (a
division of Rick Rubin’s American Records) had pecked his way down the
trail to Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments. And before you could say
“Coq au Vin,” a deal was struck and their sneeringly great debut LP,
Bait & Switch was (ostensibly) available for mainstream consumption
from Caribou, Maine, to San Ysidro, California. How well it sold is a
quandary to explore on a day far rainier than this, but it was chock
full of the band’s best numbers (at the time), an inexplicable Electric
Eels cover, and a scabrous stab at the Rock & Hall Of Fame, which,
predictably, garnered the most widespread attention. Whatever, something
must’ve been working, ’cause unlike their label peers (V-3 and Stiffs
Inc.), TJSA turned in a follow-up long player, Straight To Video, and it
was a hummer.
But Onion had other ideas, foremost of which was a quick vamoose
into the ether of non-existence. The label shuttered its doors, and in
one fell swoop, the band was paid for, then handed back, their effort.
And so ended TJSA’s brush in the bigs. Undaunted, they began the search
for its next home, calling on labels such as Treble Kicker, Vinyl
Communications, and Roadrunner, only to be ignored time and again. A
pall of uncertainty loomed, with the fate of band’s finest effort
hanging in the balance, when suddenly, local label Anyway Records —
flush from the proceeds of winning an Ohio State pie-eating contest —
stepped forward to grant Straight To Video the mortality it so richly
deserved (“mortality” being code for “CD only”). Fanfare was zero. Not
even a press release. However, the distribution was solid enough, but to
a person, every fan of Straight To Video would tell you it was meant
for the grandeur of vinyl, not the cheap vacancy of a compact disc. As
sophomore efforts go, the numbers that this is better than (J. Geils
Band’s The Morning After, for sure) far outweigh those it is not (Born
In A Barn is a tough one to top). Ron House’s lyrics peak with his
inimitable wit and wisdom, his delivery as rich as Chinese takeout for
Sunday dinner. Guitarist Bob Petric tempers those pummeling, EVH-like
power chords with soaring, uncanny Schenker-esque fluidity while the
rhythm section of bassist Craig Dunson and drummer Ted Hattemer rudder
this fucker with such precision, the best thing you can say about ’em is
you almost don’t even know they’re there.
It’s taken almost 20 years for justice to find its mark, but Kellie
Morgan’s Straight To Video, THE LABEL, has made it possible for Straight
To Video, THE RECORD. So, to quoteth the bard (aka Ron House), “When
the entertainment ends, that’s when the fun begins.” So whaddaya say?
Let’s get this party started! –Tom Lax (Ambatofinandrahana, Madagascar,
2015)" - Straight To Video Records
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