Tracklist/ faves A1. All is Sought in Progress A2. Caveman A3. Ballad of Little Richard A4. The King Will Never Die A5. Skull and Cross A6. Bastard Baby Boy A7. No Song A8. Always A9. Favorite Day A10. My T.V. is Broke A11. The French B1. I Can Never Say B2. Billy and the Comets B3. Black Spring B4. Treasure Island B5. Fuck the Law B6. St. Vitus Dance B7. In the Woods B8. Theme B.A.L.L.
Before I even begin to address the actual music contained on this here record, let’s begin with the sleeve. Not many other places could you find two fairly inconspicuous phalluses next to women’s shoes, sharing the stage with ballerinas and a very tiny photo of JFK. What they all have in common? No idea, but clearly this is some kind of artistic statement. On something. If nothing else, it draws you in, and judging from the included press release, they tried to really catch some gatekeeper’s attention. (By the way, the press release was the only reason I knew how to stylize the title of this record; the cover makes it seem like the band name is Ball Period.)
All that notwithstanding- though in all honestly, that’s exactly why I bought this LP- the music is actually a quality left-field garage rock release. The instrumentation isn’t taken for granted, these songs were definitely written with purpose. Occasionally, that purpose was political. “The King Will Never Die” is about the passing of Elvis, but mentions Nixon inexplicably. Perhaps there is a parallel being drawn between political monarchs and the influential rock n roll King of the sixties. Several tracks also reference putting an end to war, which seems more closely related to Nixon than anything else.
Assuming they sent this to important music directors, supervisors, label executives, and whomever else, it is obvious then that the band had plans to burst into the indie music scene, but I don’t know if they succeeded. Success in 1987 didn’t look the same as it does today- I can’t look up how many tastemaker Hype Machine blogs posted their music or see how many views their videos get on YouTube. But whether they “made it” or not, I’m happy to have this memento from their career. Period.
Sawdust & Gin 