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| Flower Power!! |
I had heard of Flower, but mainly because of Versus, the later band of the Balyut brothers. When I went to the Big Takeover's 30th Anniversary shows in Brooklyn, they were the first band up. Back on stage after disbanding about 30 years ago. I didn't know even one of their songs, but for me they were definitely one of the highlights of the whole festival. The music was pummeling at times, as light as air at other instances, challenging, complicated, creative, diverse, but the beautiful sound from the guitars and the way the whole band meshed together like a big noisy machine.
Jack Rabid, editor in chief of the BTO, thinks they were the best band in NYC in their heyday. I'm not one to argue the point. Think a slightly poppier Sonic Youth, or maybe pre-Thalia Zedek Live Skull. Throw in a little Mission of Burma and Wire, and I think you get the idea. Honestly, I went right out the next week and found myself a copy of Concrete Sky, which contains their entire recorded output, i.e. Hologram Sky & Concrete. Seeing them live, even after a 20 year hiatus was such a visceral thrill for me, such a rush, that I have to admit that hearing them on CD was a little underwhelming for me. And it's not fair at all, because this is great music that I heartily recommend. I guess it's more of a testament to their greatness live. Here it is two years later and I'm finally getting around to this post. I really feel like the post is really 20 years overdue. And since going to those two nights in Brooklyn probably was the main impetus for starting this blog, I guess I owe them some very deserving appreciation.
There are a lot of bands that I enjoy that create great songs with big melodic hook, great harmonies, or songwriters with a great turn of phrase, who are basically singing sublime poetry. But it is always great to hear bands that are original sounding. Flower was Ian James, Bass and Vocals, Andrew Bordwin, Drums, Richard Baluyut, Guitar and Vocals, and Ed. Balyut, Guitar. While I mentioned the twin guitar assault of the Baluyut brothers as an entry point, the whole band is great. Ian James was later in Cell and French, worthy bands definitely worth hearing---there is a website for French where you can buy their music for $5 a disc, or download for free. If you like what you hear, maybe it would be worth dropping a few bucks. A bargain anyway you look at it. (frenchrocks.net).
Listen to some of this and you be the judge. I think these guys were phenomenal. I don't think a band could be much more criminally unappreciated than Flower. A great New York noise band that flew under the radar. Let's hope we can get a few more fans of great music on board.
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