The Weird Weeds
Hold Me (Digitalis)
Somehow, the Weird Weeds are catchy. As disjointed and abrupt as their songs are, there’s a common thread through their elegiac melodies. The local threesome employs an interesting dynamic of calculated sound vs. noise. Noirish opener “Paratrooper Seed” leads into the jagged drumming of Nick Hennies (who recently played with Jandek) and there’s feral interplay between guitarists Sandy Ewen and Kurt Newman on “Fifty Dollars.” The brooding cacophony of “Castor Plants” ends as abruptly as it began. Ewen’s guitar creates a Kubrickesque scratching on “Holy Train Wrecks,” as well as a high-pitched scream to end the song. “Bachelor Party” is rife with squeals of guitar and what sounds like footsteps over Hennies’ soft vocals (“What room are they in?” he asks to no one in particular). Closer “Ribs & Wrinkles” is a continuous sprinkle of guitar and percussion, which leads to the final declaration of Hold Me: “I can play you like a xylophone.” Thus is the give and take for Weird Weeds: build it up and tear it down – down the rabbit hole.
This article appears in January 27 • 2006.