Persian Gulf--Changing The Weather ep

I heard about the Philly band Persian Gulf in the Village Voice back in 80's--their music critic Robert Christgau gave them a positive review, so I managed to pick myself up a copy of their Ep Changing The Weather. And I was glad I did. It's quite good. I knew they put out a followup album (The Movie) but never got around to picking it up. Just recently I picked up a copy of this and with a little bit of effort you could do the same. If you google Persian Gulf Changing The Weather then click on the the Witchingstick store on Cafepress, you will find a bunch of things relating to Persian Gulf/Hal Shows. I'm saying this merely because it took me quite a while to find this.

Till Then Won't You Wish Me Luck....

There is not a lot here about the band in the brief liner notes. The band is composed of Hal Shows, Jonathan Adams, and Chas Chase. The music is garagey pop music with intelligent lyrics that contain a bit of a political edge. The most notable song is the sarcastic at time ironic (I'm So Glad I'm) Living In The Free World. He sings about people living in crappy conditions yet still proclaiming how glad they are for everything.

"I spent half my life in school, now I'm sitting here dreaming on a barstool".

Other notables here include Eclipse of The Moon, the folky It's A Good Thing, and Race War. The final song Pieces of Eve is also a very strong track. Basically the brief Ep ends stronger than it begins. Not a bad little album and available at a reasonable price. I was just surprised that I found it.



"Beertown"

But I wanted to end this post with a little bit about Christgau. We was a music critic for decades at the Village Voice who was an important influence on my musical tastes. I would try to never miss one of his monthly consumer guides--I was a rock and roll guy, but it seemed all styles of music were fair game to him.
He would review a lot of the critical flavors of the month and sometimes he would deflate the hype with his pithy reviews.

But he would also review Washington GoGo music by Chuck Brown, African Music, Disco, whatever suited his fancy. And his review were short, often pithy, sometimes so vague that if it was not for his professorial grade giving (A,A-, D), at times I would not be sure whether he liked or disliked a record. I can't say I always agreed with his reviews, and at time he was off the mark, misunderestimating some artists like Sonic Youth, at least in their early days. But I certainly admire his independence and the courage of his convictions. And he sometimes would admit that he didn't get an artist or did not appreciate a particular album when he first heard it.

I definitely would never have heard of the amazing Africa Dances comp on Original Music and then become a huge fan of African Music, and I probably would not be seeking out new and interesting music the way I do without his influence. And I most definitely would have never heard of this pretty good  disc by Persian Gulf. So just giving a brief unmushy thanks to one of my inadvertent musical mentors.