Mass Movement of the Moth unveils the Maximum Documentation Project

I’m not sure what year it was, probably somewhere around 2005 or 2006, but I finally caught wind of a band of youngsters making music in the suburbs of Washington DC known as Mass Movement of the Moth. By the time I had seen them for the first time, they already had a pretty enthusiastic following in the city and from what I learned had even been on a few tours. They still hadn’t released a full length, but I picked up their self released EP, Finally! and was pretty hooked.

For me, Mass Movement of the Moth dually filled spaces in my sonic life left by the demise of Frodus and The Dismemberment Plan. They were loud and bombastic on the one end. On the other, they were funky and laid down an amazing groove. They had the type of energy you expect out of kids at 19 and 20 just growing into the fact that they are undeniable music wizards. They were onto something, they knew they liked what they were doing, and felt the energy of the audience feeding into them. It was truly an amazing sight to see especially considering they existed in a time when once again, the established acts of DC’s post-punk scene were either distant memories or gone entirely. Mass Movement of the Moth was part of a youth centered movement, who while playing with in the context of an immediate past, had very little to do with it. They made music outside of what their fore bearers did, to a new generation of kids finding DIY and Punk Rock culture.

Within just a few months of each other, Mass Movement of the Moth released a split CD with Richmond, VA’s grunge revivalists Catalyst entitled Two-Thousand and Six Six Six and a fantastic debut album, Outerspace on DC’s Exotic Fever Records. The split with Catalyst captured a very loud, aggressive Mass Movement of the Moth, replete with dual vocals between Bassist Christian Brady and Keyboardist Adam Lake. The breakdowns were spooky, littered with girtty riffage from guitarist Ashly Arnwine and the unruly talented Joey Doubek delivering thunderous drums. Their songs on the split felt like a desert murder mystery show produced in the 70′s. Mass Movement spared no expense in being both aggressive and far out, adding odd time changes, space orgy keyboards and an over all unsettling, but highly pleasant grove.  On “Lightening”, the band gets down right beautiful, with some nice, waverly movements.

Outerspace saw the band at top form. It’s hard to believe that this band of talent only released one album and that they were able to convey so much in that album. Recorded by Jeff Kane, no stranger himself to the suburban wastelands similar to the ones Mass Movement of the Moth came from, Outerspace is filled with a desire to break out and break free from the monotony of houses filled with spies and spooks. It’s a transgressive, futuristic cry from America’s youth, smart enough to know that where they are from and what makes up their suburban neighborhoods is totally fucked, but far too young to do anything in opposition to it. That is, other than shouting at the top of their lungs. Outerspace collects the songs from Mass Movement of the Moth when I got to know them. The screaming and yelling vocals over totally loud and crushing music remains, but in between, the true talents of these young musicians really comes out. Brady’s bass playing, no longer confined just to thumping loudly, is really allowed to take shape in the new space like on songs “Seven” and “Crimps And Ties”. The band also utilized this time to bring out other elements of their song creation including guest vocals, acoustic noodling and new influences. Outerspace was as strong a debut album as any band could have asked for and as it remains the bands finest moment and their unfortunate swan song, future generations of music listeners will just have to embrace it and take it up the mountain.

Mass Movement of the Moth broke up not too long after Outerspace was released. The world saw their debut EP Finally re-recorded and re-released as Finale. The band was working on songs from some compilations at the time they disbanded. Suddenly, Washington DC seemed bleak once more. Around Mass Movement of the Moth were a slew of young bands that seemed to come and go quickly, but they were all filled with excited youth, eager to catch that exciting wave that The Moth was clearly in command of.

For the rest of you, here and now, you can celebrate their entire catalog. Finally launched after a few years of work collecting masters and design, Mass Movement of the Moth have unveiled Maximum Documentation which includes nearly every song they ever released (I believe there is one song missing from an early split). The band is offering their catalog, along with another unreleased batch of demos for free download (although you have the option to donate or purchase remaining physical copies, which I suggest you do). Included on this page is a collection entitled Beyond which features six songs captured from an acoustic performance at American University. This special insight into the band shows the depth these four amazing individuals have.

Today, the band members are spread out on the east coast. Ashley Arnwine is in Philly and last I heard was playing in the awesomely named Birth Noises. Christian Brady is in Richmond and plays in Antlers, a fantastic, mostly instrumental post-rock and soul infused band. Joey Dubek is currently playing bass in Hume who released a very well received EP on Sockets Records late last year. Adam Lake is currently in Richmond as well, eating pizza and generally being the amazing dude that I have always known him to be. Mass Movement of the Moth was a fantastic band, forged full of unencumbered, youthful energy. They managed a modest following in the four or so years they existed. Further, they played in Washington DC in a time where they were needed most. With any luck, the historians of DC’s rich, DIY culture will not overlook this band or the time period in which they existed. They may not have reached the legendary status of the countless bands before them, but they made interesting, intense music in a time when so little of the establishment was paying attention. Their contributions to that history are equally as important, ushering in a new generation of young people to a world in which your friends are your fans and your fans are your friends. Mass Movement of the Moth were intensely DIY, touring the country and making music that was passionate and original. They are missed greatly by this writer, but I am glad this library exists in documentation of the mighty Mass Movement of the Moth.

Episode 20 – The Dawn of the Mixtape

Welcome back to another episode of the KYS podcast mixtape. This week, instead of just giving you a list of shit, I am gonna write about why I selected the song you will hear. Enjoy. Remember, there is no talking from me to create a more pleasant experience.

1. Sea Dragon – Scared of Chaka – from Masonic Youth on eMpTy Records (now deceased). So Scared of Chaka is like the second biggest band to emerge from New Mexico. The biggest is the Shins. But Scared of Chaka was better. Since I live in this city now, it’s only appropriate I played this for you. eMpTy Records stopped putting out releases in 2008 and has this listed as out of print. I got it from the web  cuz I suck at the moment.

2. Number Two – Twig Harper and Daniel Higgs from Clairaudience Fellowship on Thrill Jokey. Daniel Higgs makes weird fucking music these days. This track is just a very cool, meditative jam from one of Dan’s most recent collaborations with Baltimore fellow Twig Harper. Thrill Jokey is pulling no punches releasing shit loads of Higgs projects.

3. Symbiosis – Lungfish – unreleased track. I was having a crisis of faith this week in the snow. It’s cold as fuck. I started on a Dan Higgs kick that you get to endure. I found this song on a blog. I forget where or I would link to it. I also found a bunch of live shows and the 10 East 7″ which has been out of print forever. Dischord needs to re-cut that fucker like now. And release the god damn vaults of Lungfish music yr sitting on. Don’t let the bloggers win.

4. In Majestic Drag – The Skull Defekts – from Peer Amid on Thrill Jockey. So Higgs sang for this Swedish art core group. It’s pretty rocking shit and Higgs as a rock type singer again is a blessing in the world. Though I would rather him and the Fish return, this album is fucking sick. I don’t  think it’s technically out yet, but a friend of mine obtained it in advance and sent me a copy of it. When I get a job I will spend the $17 bucks for it on vinyl. I’m sure Dischord will get it soon too. This album is so damn good though.

5. Live Blogging the Loss of My Virginity – Shat Shorts – from the album Seersucker and Sundresses. You can get this album for free at their bandcamp page. It’s worth checking out. This band is from DC and they sound like they kinda are upset about shit. I never heard them when I lived there and don’t know anything about  them. But this EP is good. I just got it last night. DC is growing up.

6. When Nice People Think Dumb Things, Attack and Vote – Armalite – from their S/T  album on No Idea records. This band has a lot of cool dudes in it. I like this song a lot because it encompasses all the best elements of all the cool dudes previous bands and makes it sound good together. This whole album is pretty good. No Idea are wonderful people.

7. Holy Liquor, Healing Blood – Meditative Sect from their album Lacerations Points available here for free download courtesy of Magic Bullet Records. This is a bit of ambient guitar sounds from Brett Eyestone and some of his friends. Brett does a lot of stuff like this. I like his label a lot, but for some reason I am lazy about getting releases from him. He’s  on par with Plan-It-X in terms of how he operates and what he puts out. Though I can’t get into All American Rejects. But that’s his deal and he does what he wants and I respect the fuck out of him for it.

8. This Potion Knows No Other Man – Mass Movement of the Moth from their split with Sing! Sing! Prison. I grabbed this gem from the new Maximum Documentation site that Mass Movement of the Moth just put up. This song is pretty different for the Moth. I like it a lot. I never heard it before, I don’t think they were playing it much by the time I found out about them and I never did get a copy of this 7″ at the time because I am lame. Now I can feel less lame. Thanks Mmmm Brains!

9. Nephicide – Jogger from This Great Pleasure. I saw a video for this song of Pitchfork and I really liked the video and the song. It’s all Black Metal like and stuff. I was hoping the rest of this album would be like this song. But it’s not and that kinda bums me out. It’s good I guess, but I liked this song a lot. The video is awesome too. Kids dressed in corpse paint terrorizing suburbia. I guess this is making fun of Black Metal? I don’t know. I am kinda of with it, but kinda not. Either way though, this song is really good.

10. Power Spirit – Children from Hard Times Hanging At the End of the World. This is another band I actually caught wind of through Pitchfork (god I am a shameful prick) but I liked their funny video too. Listening to Jogger reminded me of Children. This album is pretty good. It needs bass though, but it’s still some rocking jams.

11. Children’s Story – Tom Waits from Orphans:Brawlers, Bawlers and Bastards (disc 3). This is just a funny little story from Tom, dude. It’s just there to make this mixtape even more fucked up then it already is. Tom is the man. Fuck Off.

12. Skinned – Raw Nerve from their Self Titled LP. Here I am, supporting and promoting blog darlings Youth Attack whose albums you can never buy anywhere unless you pay some asshole on eBay a shit ton of money. I don’t condone this shit at all so steal the fuck out of this on a blog. Raw Nerve are severe man. They cripple the mind and hate the synapses. I wanted to piss you off so I put this epic jam on this sucker to end of the rock and roll nightmare you just endured. I really do hate you.

(42:30)

On Ten Years With Exotic Fever Records

It’s hard to believe that’s it’s been ten years since that unusual summer day when Exotic Fever records first came into my life. I have told this story before, once, to great comedic effect and that’s good. Everyone likes to be funny and so, like an aging comic, doing the College Orientation Circuit on my way down to the bottom, I will quickly rehash that fateful day here, permanently and forever, on the Internets.

I emerged off the red line at Brookland, a stop I had never been to before. I am not sure why I decided to take the metro on this particular day, as a drive would have been quicker, and offered me a more immediate escape had I needed one. But never the less, there I was in a new part of DC, by the train tracks and desperately looking for an address that hardly existed. When I finally stumbled upon the domicile advertised on the flier I had in my pocket (this was the days before cell phones, internets, GPS and all that pesky crap you kids have forced upon crusty fucks like me), I could hardly believe what I had gotten myself into. What lay before me, at the bottom of some  hill was a single structure, a quasi-converted shop garage surrounded by junk.

Timidly, I walked down the hill in search of any familiar face to validate my arrival, the address and the wanting fact that I might still be on planet earth. I quickly found Bonnie Schlegel, guitarist and singer for Bald Rapunzel, the treasure of my adventure for the day. She was unloading a mini-van of her instrument and still managed to give me an energetic and welcoming, hello. We chatted briefly while she unpacked her weighty possessions and at some point, awkwardly I am sure, I left he to her devices. I almost quite literally ran into a lanky man with long hair, well-worn clothes and a lot of tattoo’s. The tattoo’s were unlike I had ever seen and I engaged him on conversation. He stated that he had them done overseas while he was on tour. I asked him what band he was in and he said, “The Spirit Caravan. My names Wino”.

HOLY SHIT. Okay, look I had only ever heard of Wino at this point from Henry Rollins book “Get in the Van” and a dozen interviews with Joe Lally going on and on and on and on about this band called The Obsessed. But I knew, looking into those wise, but road worn and intoxicant ravaged eyes, that I was in the presence of a legend. Wino was nice as shit and talked a good deal about the artist and The Spirit Caravan and Joe Lally, who I had mentioned like a buffoon (I was 23 at the time if we do the math and such as it is my character to be a shy awkward punk kid it was my manner then as well). I’ve met quite a few musicians who are well-respected and legendary to guys that are more famous and more successful than they are. Most of those dudes are pricks. Wino was really humble and nice and actually had a conversation with me that wasn’t one-sided or filled with some false ego. I’ve never run into him since then, but he left a lasting impression on me.

Suddenly, from somewhere in the beyond someone yelled something akin to “Fight” and a group of people rushed towards the shouted voice. Following suit, we emerged down the final hill. At the base, in front of the train tracks that ran directly adjacent to the garage-house, was a patch of mud and two very large men squaring up, both with shit eating grins on their faces. These two hefty boys thus proceeded to engage in the art of Greco-Roman style wrasslin’, in a mud pit, next to train tracks, next to a garage. It was by far the most thing I had ever seen in my entire life and did not, in any way, shape or form reassure me that this was the right place to be. I came to see bands play and then go home.

Eventually, Bald Rapunzel played. They were breathless. To hear Bonnie Schlegel sing is to be blessed by the angels. If you have not had the pleasure, and as she has not played to an audience in ten years I suspect you have not, ensure that you do so. You will not, as they say, regret it. Accompanying Ms. Schlegel is a lady who would effectively change my life many many many times over the next ten years. My dear friend Katy Otto set upon her drum set like a happy child who has found something sinister and wicked and is so pleased by this discovery she can’t help but light up with a smile. It is a face I have seen at least a hundred times and it never feels less than it did on that day. I was taken in completely. And, have not been unleashed since.

After their set, Bonnie set upon me (and I like to pretend in this moment that I was the only person that ever had this happen too, even though I witnessed her do this to about three dozen others after me) with a CD in her hand. Ah yes, my Kryptonite even to this day. With an abundant amount of enthusiasm and smiles of sheer adulation Bonnie gave her pitch. She had started the record label, called Exotic Fever records, it was meant to be sexy and she had put out a CD by her friend Clark’s band the Halo Project and she was going around telling everyone she knew about it and how she was really proud of it and how she loved the music and would I like to buy one. And really, how could I have said no to Bonnie in that moment? She could have told me to go wrestle the two fat guys in the mud by myself and I would have.

It is now ten years since that fateful day and I have had many experiences with Exotic Fever. I helped Katy run the web site for a few years (after much loving help from our friend April) and was privy to new bands, new people and generally give a tiny bit back to DIY music and culture. I became, in a way, a bit of a defacto historian on the label, the remnants of that web site still sleeping on a hard drive in my basement as I type this. I got to participate in a few Exotic Fever fests, playing with so many wonderful people, in no particular order, Pash, Mass Movement of the Moth, Liza Kate, Kathy Cahsel, des_ark, Rachel Jacobs, Sean McArdle and so many more. Two years ago Katy was even kind enough to invite me to play one of these shows at the Black Cat in Washington DC. A small, insignificant moment for some, but for me it was one of those once in a lifetime moments.

As Exotic Fever turns ten, it becomes important to me for a different reason. Regular readers of this FLOG will no doubt recall my memorial to our dear friend Clark Sabine. The same Clark whom I have since learned convinced Bonnie to start Exotic Fever records to put out that CD by the Halo Project. It is in this way that Clark continues to contribute to the world, even though his body and being are no longer with us. People always claim that they are filled with the spirit of those that have passed or that the memory of the dead is still here. I find that shit unnerving, because often it’s not true, the memories are doctored, and the contributions are not tangible. This is not the case with Clark. His spirit is still here, it is very much alive and well, and it courses through Exotic Fever records. He planted that seed in Bonnie Schlegel, who took it and nurtured it and grew it and then handed it over to Katy Otto who has turned over the soil with love and hard work and helped along the way by great people like April Harris, Sara Klemm and Kathy Cahsel and kept that seed alive. And while this sounds like it may all be too much when talking about a label, a label whom I have barely touched on, whose significance has barely been touched upon, it is all true. This is not just a place where commerce is exchanged for product. It’s a place where friends and people and ideas and music gather and are shared into the world. Exotic Fever is a community, the only tangible community I have ever felt apart of. That’s fucking important and that’s what Clark gave to us.

So when I say to the women (and it has been so many great women that I feel selfish grandeur  even mentioning my own small role in all of this) thank you so much for everything you have given me. and thank you for growing Clark’s seed into a mighty tree that has branched out and done so much good, I mean so much more. Exotic Fever, you are beautiful. May you be well and serve the future and be nurtured by it.