Oblivians-Soul Food and Popular Favorites

Memphis-based outfit Oblivians are 3 old men who love no-bullshit, no-talent, no-compromise American rock n' roll. And also, titties. Emerging from the ashes of US trash punk pioneers The Compulsive Gamblers, the Oblivians are perhaps best known for providing the most direct, medically unsound hot beef injection of punk rock scuzz, speed, and swagger into a growing world of maladjusted garage revivalists populating our shores in the early 1990's. Definitively abandoning the paisley-drenched retro-nostalgia rock that became popular in the 80's, Oblivians bashed and berated the rockin' soul sounds of American roots rock and R&B into a post-Black Flag world of underground music. Primitive in terms of recording quality, musicianship, and instrumentation (they played with two guitars and a drumset, often rotating during sets), Oblivians daringly (or stupidly) discarded any possible frill capable of detracting from the sonic transmission of the manic assault that is at the heart of what makes rock n' roll music exciting. The vague presence that caused 1950's cultural conservatives to pee themselves over the "sexual ferocity" and "negroid rhythms" of rock music is here brought forth in all its intensity. The backwards-looking orientation of the music is not nostalgic, but rather mimics the gaze of someone digging for buried treasure, unearthing the forgotten thread that pulls the threat of yesteryear into a still-contemporary hazard to all that is order and good taste.

Oblivians also stands out as one of those bands that was a way-point of contact and collaboration between three individuals who are big movers in their own right. After re-forming the Compulsive Gamblers with fellow-Oblivian Jack Yarber, Greg Cartwright went on to found the ass-shaking unit The Reigning Sound while Yarber currently plays in Jack-O and the Tennessee Tearjerkers and, since the fall of the Oblivians around 1998, has played in approximately 50,000 bands including Tav Falco's Panther Burns, Harlan T. Bobo, and The Loose Diamonds. Eric Oblivian perhaps had the greatest impact on the US garage punk scene that his old band catapulted into having an identity distinct from both garage rock and punk as they existed at the time of the Oblivians' formation in '93: he founded Memphis monster Goner Records which rests, along with heavy-hitters like In The Red, Crypt, Sympathy for the Record Industry, and Norton, as one of the most elite American garage punk labels. This was no doubt helped by Eric's discovery of The Reatards, a group of absolutely repugnant, go-nowhere music dorks and drug addicts who took the Oblivians simultaneous dedication to the blues-laden heart of American rock, punk speed and "fuck you" debauchery, and complete sonic chaos fueled by a genius musical ineptitude to the next level of aural battery. Out of this miasma, the late, great Jay Reatard would never have become the paragon of American garage punk and darling of ass-hats like Pitchfork were it not for the early encouragement of Eric Oblivian's Goner label, and there are plenty of other less-known but equally-awesome artists who can definitely say the same.

So, without further ado, please enjoy the first Oblivians LP, Soul Food. And for good measure, here's #2: Popular Favorites

*Fun Fact*
Oblivians had the opportunity to record at Sun Studios (legendary Memphis recording studio responsible for producing acetates for all-time rock n' roll standard-setters like Elvis Presley, Carl Perkens, and Jerry Lee Lewis) for free after the release of their second LP Popular Favorites. Despite enjoying some success at that point, the Sun engineer insisted that, as a rock band, they needed a bassist. So, rather than alter their sound for a dude who, as Jack Oblivian describes it, was "from the ‘70s or whatever," they decided to scrap the whole thing and say "fuck it" to an opportunity that most in their position would gladly eviscerate their own mother for.