Release Update: ILLBEONTHEFÖNETOYOU ON CD
This past spring we were privileged to re-introduce I’LLBEONTHEFÖNETOYOU, a four-song LP of minimal, deadpan “scary-weirdness” originally released by CIA in 1983. The brain child of 6 Houston artists (Clay Bowman, Ralf Ero, Harlan Kimbrough, Harry Leverette, Penny Smith and Gary Yokie), it’s a time capsule from the city’s early 80’s underground art and music scenes.
This review sums it up:
“They come from the land of burning chile and demented millionaires. They spell ‘phone’ with an ‘f' and an umlaut, and have titles like “The Man With a Tree Growing Out of His Head" and "She Served Them No Food." Their press release calls them "crypto-pop," a term that suits the likes of the Residents and Pere Ubu. Given all this, what would you expect? That's what you get: weird, surreal music-scary, quiet, and sometimes hilarious. Their most outstanding features are their creeping, sinewy synthesizer and their percussion, which often pitter patters like dripping liquid or running feet. Their vocals range from a shoe-in for David Byrne to a once-removed Peter Lorre. Their songs are comic nightmares with anti-conformist themes: "He takes off his hat/And says thank you provokes squeals of delight and peals of laughter/Oh look it's the man with a tree growing out of his head/And he repeats himself/Act in accordance with the command/don't think of opposing there is no discussion." A must at 4am with the lights out.
--Richard Singer, Lost Music Network’s Independent Music Magazine
The ‘S’ Issue, September/October ’83
Some of the original 12” mini LPs are still floating through the stacks of enduring record stores, and if you find one, grab it! But if you don’t feel like looking for years, they are OUT NOW IN CD ON BANDCAMP. Get yourself one while they last!
Drawing by Carolyn Rose
