The Vitreous Humor Self Titled E.P. crank! 1995

The Vitreous Humor Self Titled E.P. crank! 1995 CAT# crc003

Man, this came out so long ago.  In fact, nearly 20 years ago.  I wasn't even done with high school at that point.  I love this EP, everything about it.  Been listening to it since I first heard on 105.9 The Lazer nearly 20 years ago.  I know every song by heart, so much so, that if a tune pops up on my iPod it feels strange when the next track doesn't follow.

Not going to front though, the vinyl sounds like crap.  Pretty sure crank! just took CD master and put on vinyl; the high ends distort and it sounds muddy.  CD is superior, but that's usually the case with 90's vinyl.  Kind of hoping there's some sort of 20 year anniversary remaster edition in the works.  However, if you go to the band's Facebook page, it appears the band is trying to regain their masters and do something to that effect, but are having a difficult time doing so.  Apparently, crank! is reluctant to give up the rights.  I would be too, but c'mon, there's not a huge market here, let the band do something with their songs.  Or, if you're so confident the masters are worth bags of money, put something out...the band and the label both benefit.  If it ever happens, I'd really like some sort of retrospective like the Posthumous release, but done up on vinyl.

About this release and band, years ago, when I was working at a grocery store in Lawrence, KS, my co-workers and I were assigned to check out the Community Mercantile.  Oddly, the co-workers I went with were both really into music (actually, they were part of a band called the Ample Branches) and I spotted Danny Pound doing work.  Jokingly, but half-serious, I told my co-workers that "grocery bagging guitar player" (Regrets reference which went over their heads) is the best musician in Lawrence.  They questioned it, but sure enough, I had a copy of this CD in my car to prove it.  Played some tunes for them, obvious choices, "She Eats Her Esses" and "Looper".  Sadly the first response was not jaw-dropping in awe, but was, "Sounds a lot like Archers of Loaf, but better than I thought."

This incident happened approximately 5 years ago.  And, DAMN if my co-worker wasn't right about the Archers sound.  I love Archers of Loaf, but I'd never put into the context of Vitreous Humor.  For me, Vitreous Humor came first.  Groups like Vitreous Humor, Boys Life, Kill Creek, and Shiner being played locally on the radio were a gateway to your Superchunks, Archers of Loafs, and Sunny Day Real Estates of the world.  I had literally spent most my adult life thinking Vitreous Humor was the most original thing to come out of Topeka and Lawrence, Kansas...ever.  I thought the world of this band and everything Danny Pound did later.  But, in one statement I began to question it.

About a day later I came to the conclusion (senses) that despite the obvious North Carolina influence, no one squawks like Danny Pound.  Archers weren't this unabashed and out of tune, they weren't as random, and never as emo as Vitreous Humor.  Vitreous Humor is amazing and I'm holding to it.

Looper

Boys Life/Christie Front Drive Split 10" Crank! 1995

Boys Life/Christie Front Drive Split 10" Crank! 1995 CAT# CRC005

Another KC Crank! release, this one featuring emo sweethearts, Christie Front Drive, who are from Denver...and great, but makes little or no sense to discuss their tunes here.

The B-Side to this EP features early works by Kansas City's Boys Life.  Both Christie Front Drive and Boys Life went to Omaha for the tracks to be recorded and were produced by AJ and Mike Moogis.  Midwestern emo scene in it's early days as the Moogis brothers would go onto to do things with their hometown label, Saddle Creek, namely, Cursive and Bright Eyes.  Boys Life would set influence, Christie Front Drive's work would go onto to help define the scene (see the song "Valentine" on this EP).

This early stuff by Boys Life is a bit more melodic than the stuff they'd later do on their full length.  Still chaotic, just not as outright DC as the debut became.  "Sight Unseen" is incredible.  The song "Homecoming" shows the band noodling around with out of tune guitars and time shifts, it's not perfected here like it would be later and it loses the listener in the end.  "Two Wheeled Train" is a bit slow and spends too much time figuring out what it should do.  The band's ideas are here, they just needed Mark Trombino to focus them on their best attributes which he was able to do on the debut LP.

Another KC tidbit, the sleeve is screen printed and designed as a fold able jacket.  It was done by Hammer Press in Kansas City, which was a former college roommate of the guys from Giants Chair.

Sight Unseen

Vitreous Humor S/T 7" Geerhed Records 1993

Vitreous Humor S/T 7" Geerhed Records 1993 No CAT#

Well, this may be the last I bring up Jeff Matlow.  However, I can't make promises, despite not being a Kansan or Kansas Citian, the guy did a ton for local scene with his record label.  His first label, Geerhed Records, was a joint effort between himself and a friend, soon after this release, the friend would bow out and Jeff Matlow would rename the label, Crank!  As such, this 7" is the inaugural Crank! release and the first from Vitreous Humor.

It came out in 1993, I wasn't anywhere near cool enough to know that a hip, underground scene was brewing in Lawrence, KS and Kansas City.  I couldn't even drive in 1993.  Wouldn't be for another year or two until I started getting in tune with this stuff.

Truth be told, I'm not even sure Vitreous Humor knew they were hip yet, either.  They sound young on this release.  Further, when Matlow discovered them he initially wanted sign them to a major label.  The songs, "Harbor" and "Stay Tuned for the Holidays" actually sound a bit more controlled than the band's later efforts.  Kind of grungy, Danny Pound sounds likes he's trying to sound professional, the guitars get some twang and don't stray too far off, it's all kind of boring.  And while, "Bu-dah" is a silly throw away, its far more representative of what the band would become.  The other tracks sound like major label try out material.

Harbor

Uncrush Was Ever Being So Born To Calamity? 7" crank! A Record Company 1997

Uncrush Was Ever Being So Born To Calamity? 7" crank! A Record Company 1997 CAT# crc010

Yeah, so who titles their 7" singles anything other than the songs that appear?  The songs that appear on this 7" are 'The Moron the Merrier' backed with 'There's a Roof in the Leak'.  Yet another KC band that was picked up by crank! in the 90's.  I'm not sure why the label picked these guys up, but I don't really want to talk about the music, I'd rather tell a long winded hipster douchbag story.

At the end of highschool and beginning of college I got involved as much as possible with music.  I was at the Community College right after highschool and most my friends were in Lawrence and I was bored.  I began writing for eZines and working street teams for indie rock labels.  Street Teams were kids that the labels supplied free promo material to so the kids could pass it out at shows and record stores.  Stickers, fliers, buttons, that type of swag.  Sometimes, but not very often, the label would get you onto the guest lists of shows and such.  Plus, they'd give you free albums.  I sparked up an inter-net conversation with Jeff Matlow way back when and he allowed me do work for crank!

Honestly, crank! was one of the best labels to do it for.  Jeff Matlow was uber-connected and the label could get me into just about any show.  Plus, he did stuff for the major labels due to his previous connections.  For example, when Jimmy Eat World's Clarity came out on Capital, someone asked crank! to promote it's "emo-ness".  I got like 20 free copies of the CD two months before it came out to hand out to record stores and other cool places.  For like a month and half, I was the coolest .emo kid in Kansas City, all the kids were asking me for burned copies and such.  I got to review it right away for a zine, it was solid.  So, all in all, my opinion of Jeff Matlow was that he was a cool guy.

So, I got this box of free crap and I was ready to go to work.  I took a bunch of .crank! swag to a show at the Bottleneck.  I can't remember who was playing, Farewell Bend, maybe?  I'm thinking somebody local or with local ties but, I can't remember.  Anyway, I'm handing it out between bands, during songs, etc.  A tall drunk guy comes up to me and asks, "What have you got?"  I reply, "crank! Records stuff, stickers, you want one?  They put out Vitreous Humor and Boys Life."  He says to me, "I know who they are, they put out my record."  I reply, "What?" (It was loud).  "They put out my record, I'm in Uncrush."  So, I'm surprised and I'm like, "Oh cool, I like your 7" I have it at home, you probably don't need these then, do you?"  "Yeah, yeah, I do, that fucker ripped me off, he owes me money."  At that point, things were getting awkward, I replied simply, "Oh."  He then grabs everything I had in my hand and demands the rest.  I'm not a wimp or anything, but he's tall and I'm like 5' 5" on a good day, plus he was drunk.  I gave him everything else I had.  He stormed off, went out the back door to presumably toss the stuff or put it in his car and I thought he was gone.

He wasn't. I remember at the end of the night, the bouncers had to physically put the guy to the ground.  He tried to take a beer outside of Bottleneck at last call.  He was more drunk than before and I assumed, the wrongdoing by crank!, brought forth by my stickers, was to blame.  He was not about to hand over the drink to the bouncers.  He said absurd things like, "Fuckers, I played at your bar a month ago."  "It's cool, I know the owner."  "Hey man, I know the band."  All things you'd expect from a drunk guy that didn't want to give up his beer.  Finally, they threw him to the ground and called his friends over.  I'm just glad the cops weren't brought in, it was getting physical.

The next time I had the chance to get into an email conversation with crank! I asked about the event.  The drunk guy was a member of Uncrush, that was confirmed the night of the show.  And, truthfully, I believed the guy.  He was obviously pissed about something and maybe crank! was just like other labels; evil.  Jeff Matlow quickly sent me his side of the story.  Obviously, he painted himself as the good guy.  He fronted Uncrush money.  The reason they thought they never got royalties is because the record never sold and the money owed was never made back.  Matlow claimed he actually lost money on the release.  Well of course that's what he would say.  He's a businessman, I was a kid who could drag his name through the mud on web boards and eZines.  Of course, so could the singer of Uncrush, but whatever, I felt I needed a third party to explain.

Coincidentally, I had a friend who was in touch, knew both parties and explained the situation.  I'm not going to name names, that'd be shitty.  Story goes, upon the release of this 7", Uncrush and another Kansas City band embarked on a tour from the Midwest to California.  Usual indie-rock tour at the time, mostly self booked, a few shows supplied by the label, but a lot of house shows and a lot of miles in a van.  Uncrush enjoyed the tour.  Every show they played, they put the money made towards gas to get to the next place and the rest went to beer and partying.  They did this all the way from Kansas City to California.  This practice would be fine had they booked shows on the way back, but they didn't.  After the shows in California, the plan was to go straight back to KC.  So, when Uncrush got to California and met with Jeff Matlow, they didn't have enough money to get home.  The label gave them the money to get home, a fairly substantial amount I'm told.  I mean that's a hell of drive from California to KC in a crappy van.  The money was just given to the band, no questions asked.  The band got home.

My friend had no reason to make up the story or validate Matlow's version.  He was friends with Uncrush.  In fact, he prefaced his story by telling me he didn't really like Jeff, his opinion being that he was kind of douchebag jock, not really the kind of guy you'd expect to be running an indie rock label.  I believed his story.  However, to Uncrush's credit, I assume there had to be some reason to be sour.  For one, the only other thing crank! did with the band was put them on a compilation album.  Second, no one really knows any of the conversations that took place between the label and band.  Could have been some half-truths like, the 7" was selling great and they were led to believe they'd get more than they got from it.  Could have been told the label would be releasing further material from the band and it never came to fruition.  The truth probably lies somewhere between all three accounts.

As for the 7", it showed faint signs of promise.  The A-side, 'The Moron the Merrier' is chaotic and sloppy, oddly enough, it feels drunk.  The strained vocals make it endearing and add to the loose sound.  It's menacing and loud, but at the same time, manages to mix in some jangly guitars and melody.  As a three piece, they can push out a lot of sound when they want to.  Bad news, on the B-Side they had no desire to repeat the formula.  'There's a Roof in the Leak' is as pointless as the title.  It just mills around and never ends.  It does sound drunk, but with no energy.  Like what happens at 3:00 AM about 30 minutes after going to Taco Bell, it's uncomfortable and lasts way too long.

The Moron the Merrier
Nap from the Don't Forget to Breathe comp.

Boys Life S/T Crank! A Record Company 1995

Boy Life S/T Crank! A Record Company 1995 CAT #CRC004

First, the mid-90's was an amazing time for KC & Lawrence's music scenes and it was an amazing time for indie rock.  However, it was an awful time for vinyl.  If a band was on a "true" indie in the 90's that was other than say, Matador, they were lucky if the album was mastered for vinyl.  Rather, and likely to save money, the CD master was slapped onto vinyl in effort to be cost effective and still give the indie-rockers what they wanted at shows.  Crank! was no exception, this pressing suffers problems and I remember the CD version sounding much more crisp.  Just saying.

Moving onto the album, in highschool, this was as cool as a Fugazi record.  I mean these guys were relentless.  Out of tune guitars blazing, their early days were frenzied attacks on song structure.  And, they were in or near my hometown, that was exciting.

The band was picked up by the Crank! label after founder, Jeff Matlow, put out the first Vitreous Humor 7".  Matlow was familiar with the local scene after signing the Manhattan band, Truck Stop Love, to the Scotti Brothers label as an A&R guy.  When Scotti Brothers refused to sign Vitreous Humor on the account that they already had a band from Kansas, Matlow quit and decided to go it alone.  Along the way, he picked up some other locals.  He signed Boys Life and another Kansas City band, Uncrush.  His label brought a ton of  attention to the area.  And, when Crank! released Mineral's Power of Failing, suddenly, Viterous Humor and Boys Life became associated with the developing emo scene.

The record isn't emo.  It's post-hardcore.  Similar to Jawbreaker, Quicksand, and Fugazi.  It was recorded by Mark Trombino from Drive Like Jehu and it shows.  Trombino didn't let the band hold back, it goes from a restrained whisper to an all out assault.  The LP does suffer a bit of same-ness, in that, after a while, you get it, they're going to whisper, scream, guitar feedback, end.  It's a bit formulaic.  However, the out of tune guitars and occasional out of key yelps keep it interesting.  Second, working with Trombino allowed the band to explore their genre and develop as a band.  The song 'Temporary' which was first recorded for a split 7" with Vitrous Humor (previously discussed) is slowed down here, showing the band was focused on sound and texture and not just old punk rock tricks.  And sure, they borrow from Drive Like Jehu, but this is Kansas City, we had no fucking clue who that band was until we heard this.

Golf Hill Drive
Lister

The Regrets New Directions Results Beat Boasts 1997

The Regrets New Directions Results Beat Boasts Crank! A Record Company 1997 CAT #80206

The Regrets were 3/4 of Vitreous Humor and put out this one album.  Which is a shame, because I think Danny Pound was onto something when he came up with this Talking Heads meets organic boogie rock hybrid.

Vitreous Humor was a teenage reaction to indie-rock.  It was a group of kids discovering a genre for the first time, in their case the 90's scene from North Carolina and some Fugazi thrown in for good measure.  The Regrets were an adult reaction to the discovery of groups like R.E.M. and the Talking Heads.  It's also a nod to things not having to be loud and angry to be good.  Further, soul and dance music can work for everybody.

New Directions is post-modern.  It's a collection of influences stirred into the pot with Danny Pound free-forming lyrics over a loose beat.  His rants go from juvenile ("Play with yourself until you thought you might faint") to absurd streams of conscious.

It was recorded by Bob Weston and you get the sense that he just the guys bang out tunes.  It very easily could have sounded slick and polished, like the band Cake.  Instead, its loose and jittery.  Everything left in the mix.  Great album.

Reunion Gig
Inflated Passions

Boys Life/Vitreous Humor Split 7" 1994

Vitreous Humor/Boy's Life Split 7"
Why Are You So Mean to Me? b/w Temporary
crank! A Record Company
CAT #CRC002 1994

This is Kansas City/Lawrence scene mid-90s on one disc.  It's fantastic and I cut my hipster teeth on this stuff sneaking into shows.  In fact, the last show I had to sneak into before turning 21 was the final Regrets/Vitreous Humor show in Lawrence, KS at the Replay.  It was awesome and I couldn't even drink (at the risk of being caught).

There's so much to say about these two bands, how important they are to Kansas, KCMO, music, the foundations of what would become "emo" a few years later.  But, I'll save it for later releases.

The Boy's Life track "Temporary" is a speed up version of the same song that would appear on their debut LP.  It's a nice side, but I prefer the album version when the band had developed it's sound completely.

The Vitreous Humor side is a f'n hit.  In fact, Nada Surf tried to do just that with it when they covered it as a single.  The song, which is about smoking pot and getting caught, is perfect.  It explodes sonically in Pixie like dynamics.  The lyrics, albeit a little juvenile, are true and from the heart, "You tell mom I'll break your neck, she's already a nervous wreck, I don't smoke it everyday, it doesn't hurt me anyway."  It's so Midwestern-teenager it makes me sick.

Vitreous Humor
Nada Surf ...Yawn...