Thelonious Monster Mash Note
Who drank so much that the Replacements avoided him? Who did so much smack that Shane McGowan thought he needed help? Who has completed a new solo CD that will hopefully see release this year? The answer to all of these questions is Bob Forrest, singer for Thelonious Monster and the Bicycle Thief.There are good Thelonious Monster records and bad ones, and there seems to be an inverse ratio of quality to distribution. In other words, the major label Monster records are easier to find but not as good as 2004's California Clam Chowder or the first Thelonious Monster LP, Baby... You're Bumming My Life Out in a Supreme Fashion. I also recommend Bob's other band, the Bicycle Thief, which made one album, You Come and Go Like a Pop Song(which has been released twice, with different covers and tracks). Epitaph released Baby... on vinyl in 1986, and the Epitaph site says it is "coming soon" on CD (there are two mp3's available there). There was a Japanese CD, but it is out of print. Some of Bob's lyrics are extremely misogynistic and self-pitying, but he is also capable of painful honesty and self-deprecation.
"Try" is guaranteed to restore a smile to your face when you are bummed out in a supreme fashion. The lyrics are classic, and Dix Denney (ex-Weirdos) tears it up on the solo. KK Barrett from the Screamers also played guitar in this original lineup of Thelonious Monster. James Chance played on the album(and so did James White!) I used to try to sing like Bob Forrest in the car. I did a great cover of the Young Rascals' "Good Lovin'" in my Bob voice.
Thelonious Monster: Try from Baby... You're Bumming My Life Out in a Supreme Fashion
Thelonious Monster: Walk on Water from Next Saturday Afternoon
Bob's also done some spoken word and film stuff, which you can look at here. Bob's Myspace page features him singing an acoustic version of Guns & Roses' "Paradise City".
4 Comments:
Wow! I'm at the top of a blogroll/linklist. That's a first.
Oh, and Tom Verlaine is a frickin' genius.
We bloggers at the end of the alphabet need to stick together. I was happy to see the return of When Apes Rule the Earth (mark III?)
Thelonius Monster are one of those bands that just passed me by. I still remember their album artwork though —must be a byproduct of reading too much Option.
Right on about T.Monster. Beautiful Mess is pure crap, Stormy Weather probably the best, but all pale compared to the truly inspired Bicycle Thief album.
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