Buzz Kill:
STAR, PlMP Treasure Trail CD (Boner, PO Box 2081, Berkeley, CA. 94702-0081) As much as I hate Cd's and the practice of putting bonus track on CD's, this is one piece of vinyl kryptonite that I can endorse. After hearing people telling me about the virtues of the Pain Teens. this is what I was expecting from those descriptions, instead of what the Pain Teens actua1ly deliver. Real fucked dope-skwee/plunk with femme vox and dark lyrical content. Ya got derailing trains like their ode to the Night Stalker ("Richie") & "Meat Grinder" and more delicately ug stuff like "Virginia" which sounds like if you played Opal's "Happy Nightmare, Baby" on MB's busted turntable with the varying RPM rate. Low end is courtesy of Boner head and innovator in time-lapse drugrock (Fang, Duh) T. Flynn. A fucking surprise that actually is keepin' the cobwebs offa my see-dee playah. Like watching sugar congealing onna heating element. <85> (SG)
Flipside:
A four-piece, half female. Female (her name is Elma) bullhorn style lead vocals (in "Richie)really sounds unique! Lots of explosions kept me interested. Low-treble production that works. Overall, a quite enjoyable release. Yup. -Thom
Ink Nineteen
Star Pimp Treasure Trail Boner Sick and demented, perfect for those nights of sitting around, smoking old inner tubes and sippin' on WD40. Very catchy in a sick sort of way. Messed up sampling. conversations with retarded people and this crazy lead guitar that keeps changing in pitch all the time are just some of the bizarre sounds you'll find on here. Very reminiscent of early Butthole Surfers, except with a female singer. Umm, um, good. Boner Records. P.O. Box 2081. Berkeley, CA 94702-0081 -Steve Gump
Option:
STAR PIMP: Treasure Trail From the opening crunch of a heavy metal guitar chord and a bone-chilling Indian war whoop, you know you're in for a wild ride. This is an over-the-top exercise in post-Flipper garage-metal, with its plodding thud and louder-is-better approach to guitar playing (you know - what you lack In tech nique, make up for with volume). In its own' crazy way, the whole mess works brilliantly. The songs are bridged with found sounds, such as a conversation with a senile woman, or looped (or sampled or otherwise treated) bits from Heart or The Girl from Ipanema, damaged beyond recognition. Surprisingly, a couple of the tunes are well-conceived, so that songs like "Sap" and "Virginia" are somewhat memorable. Factor in the balance that a grungy female singer gives a band like this, process some of the vocals beyond gender, and you've cooked up a winner a la Sonic Youth or the Faith Healers. Well, they're not that good - yet. (Boner, Box 2081, Berkeley, CA 94702) - Bob Sled
Rockpool:
Star Pimp's pretty package (cover photo of archetypical preteen girl notebook replete with unicorn and glitter lettering) reveals six sweetly twisted songs (Boner/Tupelo also released a 7" with three of them). This four-piece purveys forceful tunes embossed with disturbing flourishes: snips of a scissor, gunshots, senile conversation and distorted samples that sound like they were taped right off the television. Elma Marcelle's gritty strong soprano is set upon by guitars as weighty and threatening as Big Black at their scariest. Standouts are "Meat Grinder's" scraping slide guitar dementia and "Virginia's warped bluesy fuzz, although Treasure Trail is irresistibly violent psychocandy as a whole. -Robin Eisgrau
Snipehunt:
Surprise smash hit cd of the issue. Liked this better than any other cd I got. Boner honcho guy Tom Flynn plays bass with his friends to my utter delight. Singer lady Elma Marcelle is my "It" Girl. She trills and drones, threatens and moans with equal parts of fierceness and boredom. She has a force of presence that shines through my beat box and makes me wish I could see them play. I knew I was hooked when I found myself humming "Sap" while I was walking through Old Town looking at weird people. This music is twisted and retarded and pretty with solid chunks of guitar weaving and bludgeoning their way through dorko one-two hardcore beats. As a bonus surprise there are fucked-up cut-ups of 'Barracuda', 'Girl from Ipanema' and others between all the songs of this ep. (six songs? LP? I have no idea, these Boner cd ep things are just a tease really.) If you want to talk to me about music the next time I see you in public, it better be about this record or you can just stay the hell away. -K
Your Flesh:
STAR PIMP Treasure Trail EP Let me begin by saying that Star Pimp has two sexy girls in the band and also sports the likes of Tom Flynn on bass. They are very spacy in the sense of Opal, but they do pick it up and get noisy at times. Lots of slide guitar and pounding rhythms. Live, they're one of the best SF bands to see. Maybe they will visit your town soon. [Boner] Troy Brookins