The Red Crayola - "The Parable of Arable Land"

Today's little bit of genius comes courtesy of one Mayo Thompson and his band of merry mayhem-makers (Jesus, is alliteration pedestrian or what?) known as the Red Crayola. Actually, thanks to a lawsuit by the makers of Crayons, they're known as the Red Krayola nowadays. In any case, the file available for download is their debut album, The Parable of Arable Land. If you've never heard this band before, their first record is a good place to start not just for the obvious chronological reasons, but because if this appeals to you you're probably insane enough to want to seek out their later work, most of which isn't nearly as noisy but is oftentimes even more difficult to listen to.

Behind the music: Houston, Texas, 1966. A young guitar player and singer by the name of Mayo Thompson forms the band as a trio, with a view to creating expansive rock music that defies convention at every turn. The group often improvises entire performances, figuring that riding the wave of energy that accompanies the "Eureka!" moment is more valuable than plugging away at a bunch of polished pop tunes. And besides, they can't but half-play their instruments, so remembering who was doing what during which song is difficult at best.

The trio plays a gig at a shopping mall-- of all places for this group's story to really begin, right in the heart of heartland commerce is not what you'd expect; but then again, the Red Crayola would make a career out of turning expectation on its head... Anyhow, they play a gig at a shopping mall, where a rep from International Artists catches a few tunes and figures he'd like to add them to the label's burgeoning roster of Texas psychedelic bands. The logic here went something like this: "Wow! These guys can hardly play their damned instruments and yet they're still attracting and entertaining a crowd. Imagine what'll happen when they actually learn to play! They'll be huge!" The band, however, had other ideas.

The group arrived at the studio with a small mob of people carrying all manner of instrumentation, from kazoos to zylaphones to timbales. A reportoire of songs had been half-prepared, with a view to tightening them up as tape was rolling. In between numbers, the army of followers would provide a bed of noise from which the songs would emerge, giving the whole recording a freakish energy and unique atmosphere.

Sure enough, the plan worked and what you will hear on The Parable of Arable Land is a handful of really great songs, with "free-form freakout" sections providing segues. It should be annoying (and to some people, it probably is), but I'll be damned if it doesn't make me love this record even harder. With should-have-been-classic-songs like "Hurricane Fighter Plane" and "War Sucks", it may be the case that the Red Crayola shot themselves in their collective foot by including the noisy bits. But as the rest of the band's history would demonstrate, band leader Mayo Thompson isn't particularly interested in the workings of the mainstream musical marketplace.

Historical footnote worth mentioning: International Artist labelmates The 13th Floor Elevators' Roky Erickson makes an appearance here. Mostly, he's credited with providing nothing specific, but I've read that he alternately played organ parts as well as the harmonica that appears infrequently.

Get this damn file, and try to keep your head from exploding!