Strapping Fieldhands - Discus



According to their website (which kindly provides 2 mp3s from each of their other three albums and a detailed bio), Philly, PA's Strapping Fieldhands' "Discus" LP was listed on Spin's "One of the Ten Best Records You've Never Heard" list in 1994. It was released only on vinyl, on the band's own Omphalos Records label, so it's no wonder many folks have never heard it. It features 7 great songs (I counted...) in the style of Syd Barrett and The Television Personalities...and another 10 "experiments" that are consistently interesting if not hype-machine inducing.

Here's a straightforward indie pop singalong:
Side A - Strapping Fieldhands - Boo Hoo Hoo [4 stars mp3]

And here's a song whose opening line is "Divide 114 by 67, you get baloney closet". Somehow it adds up, while souding nice and Neutral Milky in between all the Sydness.

Side A - Strapping Fieldhands - Lonnie Donnegan's Mum's Tea Closet [4 stars mp3]

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice to see Strapping Fieldhands get a little ink (electrons?). Wattle & Daub is their best, I think. I haven't been as enamored with other of their stuff, but that LP has their best song, "The Author In Her Ear," as well as gems like "Ben Franklin Airbath" and "Song of the Mourning Dove." Check it out if you can.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the recommendation...folks can hear mp3s of two of the three songs you mentioned ("The Author In Her Ear" and "Ben Franklin Airbath" at their website. The link's in the post.

G

highdensityheadache said...

yeh surprisingly enough, i heard this one first along w/ other classic records like vampire on titus by GBV, watery domestic pavement and smog's forgotten foundations and julius caesar. HOLY SHIT!! although wattle and daub is AMAZING and i sa them in memphis on that tour, i have to confess that gobs on the midway is my personal fav indeed!! if it even counts since it is a collection? not too mention in the pineys was GREAT as well. damn, you really can't w/ the strapping fieldhands. when i saw them @ the shangri-la shindig they blew my mind, ABSOLUTE BEST!! they played all "the hits" and the frontman got really drunk and fell off the stage at one point (like to see pollard top that shit?!) they were totally underrated among their indie rock contemporaries and were truely original and visionaries to boot. thank you gentlemen