The Microwave Orphans "Orange Julius" cassette (Eiffel Trousers Records/1998)

Hey folks here is quick post today with some studio material from the one, the only- The Microwave Orphans! This cassette release Orange Julius was limited to 40 copies and unless I am completely off my rocker it was a preview to the official release of these tracks on the band's split cd with 48 in the Basement Young N Abrasive as the five recordings that appear here are on that said split. If my memory serves me correct these tapes were unveiled at Microwave Orphan's appearance at the Cancer Sucks Festival. Each of one of these tapes were numbered and each came with a orange julius recipe and a "trading card" sticker of a drawing of a band member. Mine came with Computron Rsgmd (aka guitarist/keyboardist Matt Dallow). See the picture below.

I hope everyone has been enjoying the previous Microwave Orphans cassette I posted a short time ago called Precise Microwave Orphans  Order: 17 of the Worst Performances. If you have I am sure you'll also dig Orange Julius. While the live cassette documented all the chaos, and insanity of Microwave Orphans shows Orange Julius captures the beast in the studio a bit more contained but instead really showing off its slick new wave tinged punk rock colors nicely. Personally, I enjoy listening to these tunes on their own sans sharing space with 48 in the Basement. That band outside of a couple of tunes was never really my cup of tea.

The Microwave Orphans Orange Julius track listing
1. Busted Amps and Broken Strings
2. Orange Julius
3. Jenny
4. Brisket
5. Shattered Window

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The Microwave Orphans "Precise Microwave Orphans Order: 17 of the Worst Performances" cassette (Eiffel Trousers Records/1998)

This one was a bit challenging to rip considering how everything was haphazardly sequenced together so I do hope I that charm comes through digitally. Personally I love the presentation of this live tape as it has that old school "bootleg" quality. I have mentioned Microwave Orphans before in various posts I have made about Eiffel Trousers Records, the awesome label run by the MxOx's front man Matt Roren, but this is the first release I have been able to upload of theirs. I am not sure how Matt or the band or anyone else feels about this but personally I feel this is the best way to introduce folks to what The Microwave Orphans were all about. Their more proper releases while chock full of excellent pop punk/new wave tunes I never felt those releases were successful in conveying to listeners anywhere the same off the cuff, zany experience that were the band's live shows. Recordings in a studio just can't capture that. Their songs weren't math rock it was just simple fun punk but every time you saw them it was a different experience. I mean the only constant was that Matt would usually strip down to his tight whiteys...I must've seen them play the same ten songs for about a year straight and I never once minded because it was so much fun.

Musically speaking The Microwave Orphans played a mixture of pop punk 'ala Vandals and Nofx mixed with stuff like Devo, The Dead Milkmen and Modern Lovers (bands they all covered too!) crossed with the unpredictable stage antics of the Butthole Surfers.  Precise Microwave Orphans Order: 17 of the Worst Performances chronicles various live performances many from former Long Island DIY show spots long gone from the years 1997-1998 and the title is rather misleading. Yes, there is chaos and tom foolery in abundance but I think this tape does an outstanding job of documenting one of the most entertaining live bands Long Island has ever had.

The Microwave Orphans issued several tapes and few cds all under the Eiffel Trousers Records label as well as bunch of compilation appearances. Since their break up Matt Roren went on to sing for The Reprecussions as well as Lord Humongous in addition to his own solo project The Matt Roren Karaoke Experience which relived some the off the wall, humorous entertainment that fans came to expect with The Microwave Orphans. The original bassist of Yes Sensei, Paul Como played in the band. Come to think of it Andre Bermudez (also a Yes Sensei alumni as well as Space Robot Scientists and Freaks From the Apocalypse) held down low end for the band for a spell. There were many members over the years in the band that it almost gives Guided By Voices a run for their money.

The Microwave Orphans Precise Microwave Orphans Order: 17 of the Worst Performances  track listing
1. intro
2. Happy Girl (Massapequa Bowl 5/23/97)
3. Hornswaggled (Dr Shay's 11/1/97)
4. Artie (Rocky Point VFW 1/26/97)
5. Backpack (Dr Shay's 5/18/97)
6. Amy's On Crack (Dr Shay's 10/19/97)
7. The Beach Song (Dead Milkmen) (?? 7/14/97)
8. I Wanna Be a Homo Sexual (Screeching Weasel) (Dr Shay's 4/13/97)
9. Talkshows and Broken Hearts (Matt's Living Room 7/19/97)
10. Artie (Gille's Backyard 6/14/97)
11. Railroad Love (Rock Lobster 4/4/98)
12. Jenny (Fabulous Jacks 4/5/98)
13. Imperial March/Busted Amps and Broken Strings (Massapequa Bowl 5/31/98)
14. Da Crack Haus Jam-Da Funk/Gimme Gimme Gimme (Black Flag)/Theme to a Spy Movie That Doesn't Exist/Vegan sXe Warrior (Crack Haus 7/3/98)
15. Freedom of Choice (Devo) (Josh's Basement 7/4/98)
16. Night of the Living Dead (Da Funky Fish 7/5/98)
17. The Time Warp (Richard O'Brien) (Mod Center 10/31/98)
18. Brisket (Huntington Knights of Columbus 5/29/98)

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Space Robot Scientists "At Home With Machines CD-R (Eiffel Trouser Records/1999) + Bonus Tracks

In building off my previous post here is a Eiffel Trousers release for you to sink your teeth into. Here is the debut release from Space Robot Scientists, At Home With Machines which was a cd-r release on Eiffel Trousers but I could have sworn that at a few shows where Matt had a merch table set up that I saw a cassette version. Perhaps I am imagining things? Anyhow my first exposure to Space Robot Scientists was a party at Josh's house one night where Microwave Orphans, Clump and Space Robot Scientists all played in late 1998. At the time Space Robot Scientists were a duo that consisted of Andre Bermudez (Freaks From the Apocalypse) on baritone guitar, vocals, and programming as Matt Dallow (Microwave Orphans) on keyboards and vocals. It was one of the first times I had seen a band use a drum machine in a live performance and have it work so well. Their set was awesome- it was weird and spacey, dance inducing, noisy. Everything that I felt was missing from local music at the time. Seriously, if  I heard another pop punk band I was going to go insane. I just watched wide eyed and all through their set but by the time they played the droning "King of Untied Welcomings" as was absolutely hooked. Conventional thinking tells you that anytime drum machines or pre-recorded material is implemented into a band's live act then the band can not be exciting live, and usually I'd probably agree with that statement but Space Robot Scientists are without a doubt the exception to the rule. Bermudez would perform with so much hyper energy and attitude and snarl while Dallow almost motionless 'ala Martin Rev would hammer away on his keyboard creating bizarre, wavy sound after another. Space Robot Scientists wre an absolute treat to see every time not only for the brilliantly unique music but their wonderful live show that went along with it.

At Home With Machines sums up what I love about Space Robot Scientists and what drew me to them that first time I saw them. The songs are smart but have a grooving simplicity that their later work lacked, and that is not to say their later work isn't as brilliant or even more so I think personally I just love the simplistic grooves and how all the sounds wrapped around these throbbing almost video game esque midi beats. At Home With Machines still contains three of my favorite Space Robot Scientists songs which were for whatever reason never re-recorded for any of their other releases and those songs would be the aforementioned "King of Untied Welcomings", "SysX" and "Dabba". Not to mention the song that I would wager to say is the band's signature song, "Sanitize". Sanitize the universe-cha-cha-cha. However, the album does feature three songs that would later be re-recorded- "My Control", "Colin Ferguson" and "Fuck You Doctor", the later of which was lent out to the Eiffel Trousers/DAB Records CD comp Victims of the Modern Age.

At some point the added some point they added Sean Corkery on bass and the band continue to create outstanding synth driven post punk that meshed together influences of Wire, Public Image Limited, Suicide, Gang of Four, Joy Division and Atom & His Package. The material that Space Robot Scientists would create for their 2001 sophomore album We've Got a Time Machine on my own Rok Lok Records would be a bit more distorted and dare I say darker sounding than At Home With Machines. During this period they would do hands down the best cover of Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart" that I have ever heard. To bad they never recorded it. The band would go on to release a third and final cd- 2004's Aggro Disco on Example Such Cloth Hammer Engine (better known as ESCHE). A couple of summers back Space Robot Scientists did a reunion as part of Rok Lok Fest at the Knitting Factory. I was fortunate as from 2004 til last month Bermudez joined me as collaborator in Yes Sensei. He has always been a good friend but I don't think I have ever played with another musician who has influenced me so positively and generally me made a better musician the way Andre has. I'll missing writing music and performing with him. Anyhow before I get too sappy...

As a bonus I have included two bonus tracks a alternate unreleased version of "Sanitize" and the version of "Itinerary" from The Hope Machine CD compilation on Rok Lok Records. Enjoy!

At Home With Machines track listing:
1) My Control
2) Colin Ferguson
3) Dabba
4) SysX
5) White Trash Town
6) I'm Straight
7) Fuck You Doctor
8) Sanitize
9) King of Untied Welcomings
10) The Day the World Turned Day Glo

Bonus Tracks
1) Sanitize (alternate version)
2) Itinerary (Hope Machine version)

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Remember-If It's On Eiffel, It's out of this world!!!

That was the little tag line that was included in The Mutes Brothers Isn't It Neat Being Unique?cassette on Eiffel Trousers Records (which I shall be uploading in the near future) but this flyer posted is for what was essentially a Eiffel Trousers Records showcase as all of the bands save for The Peawees had releases on the label. As I wrote  previously Eiffel Trousers Records was a label that was run by Microwave Orphans front man Matt Roren and existed in the late 90s. The label hosted a varied discography that included bands such as his own Microwave Orphans as well as the Space Robot Scientist. Ska/surf/pop of Freaks from the Apocalypse. Melodic pop punk of Supermatchboxx, Embarrassing Wrecks, Whoopie Cushion, Milton, Clump, and 48 in the Basement,  4 track weirdness of Caroline's Pneumatic Drapery, Tork & Co., indie rock of Book Store, On the Might of Princes,The Mutes Brothers, and Potbelly Bandits. They were a label that primarily released cassettes but over the years cds were issued as well. ETR did an excellent job of documenting what was going on that time and made sure to have fun while doing it. 


 And the site of this show is from The Massepequa Bowl- a venue that I saw several excellent shows at most notably the last Striped Basstards show which was tons of fun but insanely packed and hot as hell. Anyhow, it wasn't too out of the ordinary in the late 90s to see shows with The Microwave Orphans, Freaks From the Apocalypse and 48 in the Basement playing together in fact it was quite regular but what makes this show special is that it featured a rare live performance from ETR's resident experimental/lo fi/weirdo/psych rock out fit Caroline's Pneumatic Drapery who to my ears only existed on cassette as well as The Peawees a band from Italy who had just around the time of this show released their album on another local record label Motherbox Records. And while the Peawees' wannabe Ramones styled punk rock didn't do much for me I was pretty blown away that a band from Italy was putting a record out on a Long Island label and would actually come to Long Island and PLAY. I was still relatively young so it definitely had a "wow" factor to me.

Something about this flier always struck me and I had it hanging in my various bedrooms for years. It was a real sharp looking flier that stood out from the usual photocopy fare. I am not sure if this comes through at all but this flier was printed on reflective card stock. Nice!

One last thing... I shall get back to regular posts soon. This week I joined the unemployed club so most of my time recently has been spent looking for a new job and trying to figure out ways to conjure up cash (i.e Ebay) so I can survive in the space in between jobs. Thanks for reading everyone and once again your support/feedback is greatly appreciated.