Sun City Girls: classic or dud?

Most Girls fans will tell you to start with "Torch of the Mystics" 1988?), mainly because it is their most accessible, and it's also (I think) the easiest one to find these days. If you like Thinking Fellers Union Local 282, Trumans Water, Climax Golden Twins, Amon Duul II circa Phallus Dei, Yeti, Tanz Der Lemminge, early Butthole Surfers, et al, this record will feel at home.

"Horse Cock Phepner" (1987), if you don't mind vulgar, is up there too, though that one is harder to find.

Others can vary, depending on what you mind and don't mind..."BRight Surroundings Dark Beginnings" is great if you don't mind swarthy 20+ minute epics. "Valentines From Matahari" is good, if you don't mind walkman recording quality. "Land of the Rising Sun" is an OK live document feat. members of Boredoms. "Box of Chameleons" is a 3CD set containing almost 150 short songs of the biggest dog's breakfast ever made. "Dante's Disneyland Inferno" is a sort of Residents-cum- Mansonesque musical/spoken word play of sorts. "330,003 Crossdressers Across the Rig Veda" is a more perverse direct stab at their Far East influences. I've been told to stay away from "Jack's Creek". Those are just a small fraction of what's out there.

And they still surprise. Just days before the WTC, 2/3rd of the Sun City Girls went on a Seattle public access show to "jam" with a strange religious public access luminary called the Reverend Bruce Howard. The man has the most complex theology that boils down to the simplest tag tine: "god is love". Bruce Howard took the axe, while Alan Bishop and Charlie Goucher filled in as the rhythm section. It was one big 30 minute retarded blues song.

Anyway, there it is. Also worth checking out is the Climax Golden Twins -- especially the latest red polka dotted record.

As for the rest of their catalog...the Placebo albums are all quite amazing in there own ways. Their S/T 1st album is probably their most varied. There's a bit of everything on it, the hilarious scat- jazz "Uncle Jim" speil...triumphant semi-improv free rock plunderings...mental spoken word spook-outs...utterly beautiful acoustic instrumental shuffles....bleak 4th dimension horn blasts....ambience...and absurd babble-rapping. "My Painted Tomb" and "Rapping Head" are two gems that come to mind. Grotto of Miracles is more focused, and probably more akin to Torch. "Different Kind of Whore" & "Damcar" are the most memorable tunes. Horse Cock Phepner definitely ups the ante, and clues you in as to the insane genius and warped perspective of the Girls. Hearing "Nancy Reagan" alone, is enough to get the picture...although their take on the Fugs' "CIA Man" really gets it into high gear. Often misinterperated as a "political" album, I would consider it more like 1987 Americana, being refracted through the SCG's tweaked prism. And songs like "it's underneath the house" and "passenger seat people" have no political points at all. And although this album owes an obvious debt to The Fugs/Zappa/Deviants trip, it surpasses them all in the process, due to the SCG's sheer intensity, wit and diversity. Probably their 2nd best release.

The list goes down from their.....my love for Box of Chameleons grows with each listen. 3cds, 128 tracks, talk about the gift that keeps on giving. The trick is not to dimiss a single track, be patient. 30,003 Crossdressers...is definitely up there to, but it's a bit of an overindulgence. "Kickin' the Dragon" is essential SCG listening. Libyan Dream is a spottier, less magnificent Torch, but great none the less. Bright Surroundings is brilliant as well, especially venerable song....love the Pink Floyd format, 3 fucking long songs. The 7"s are all good to, just as diverse as the full-lengths. "Eye Mohini" is probably my favorite.

Basically....you're gonna have to take a few stabs in the dark to figure out which SCG style suits you, just be thankful they give you so many chances.

http://www.suncitygirls.com/

The sellouts! I'm just kidding. New mailorder-only double CD of their WFMU show available on the site. Damn, it's hard to keep up with these guys.

whats the verdict?

I know absolutely nothing else about the Sun City Girls, but for that alone, CLASSIC!!

Man if only there were actually a radio station that sounded like this life would be that much more worth living.

easily the most distasteful station ID of all time (bad bad 9/11 joke) followed by a batman theme song cover = rAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAad.

i say they're classic, and my flave-o-rite is "The Handsome Stranger" double CD.

"Napoleon & Josephine" 7" if you can...

neung phak s/t is a listen too man. played that for a bunch of line cooks and work. they lost their shit. "TUI TUI TUI TUI TUI TUI" strangled canary action.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000001BER/sr=1-1/qid=1137727725/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-0869921-5030203?%5Fencoding=UTF8

but not $100 on CD good.

this is so ferocious

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHnZcXRUUdo

down a youtube rabbit hole tonight

Yeah, it is! And I kinda wish there was more live SCG footage like that on Youtube, but it's such a mixed bag (like the band themselves, of course)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iziRRfFuqY

hell yeah, thanks

http://www.youtube.com/embed/bblW8PnkGGg

hey i need help finding a specific SCG that i have forgotten the name of. it's a slow, minimal song that is not in english - sounds like a southeast asian language in my memory but i could be wrong. it's just guitar and singing, and in the chorus, it has multiple singing in unison. sounds like it could be a cover or a traditional song instead of a SCG original. i have no idea what album it's from. any ideas?

probably one of the singles like "Borungku Si Derita"?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5bmVf2xP7U

yes that's it! that was so fast! thanks.

Original recording is also v beautiful

what is the original recording

this i suppose? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=th0yvyz3X_s

Yeah!

<3 ilm sometimes!

SCG seem to have created a Youtube account, where they're putting up a lot of the 80s cassettes and other stuff that's been OOP forever

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnQi2zVoylHxokBZwLLQzlQ

from Richard Bishop's FB page:

"Juggernaut - an unreleased 1994 Ukrainian "art film" by Mark Roman Bodnar and Kyrill Kazemirovitch Protsenko has just been posted to youtube. (Run time: 28 min.) Soundtrack by Sun City Girls. No sub titles. The film is dark, totally bleak, oddly edited, and the timing is, sadly, perfect."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVYiaqUQOYM

CARNIVAL FOLKLORE RESURRECTION !!! BIG SALE HAPPENING IN SEATTLE ON MARCH 11th and 12th - - The Bishop Brothers are going through storage units and clearing out things to sell. Alan and Richard will be hanging out and holding court for both days. Sale items will include: Musical instruments of all types, miscellaneous Sun City Girls stage & Studio weirdness, t-shirts, clothes, retro Film posters and lobby cards, Artwork, bizarre handicrafts, Records, Maps, practical things many people could use (including you), oddities, and who knows what else? We’re still going through boxes. If you’re anywhere near Seattle this coming weekend, you should probably go to this! PLEASE SHARE WITH YOUR FRIENDS IN THE PACIFIC NW.

WHERE: in Seattle at INDIAN SUMMER Vintage (Back Room) 534 Summit Ave E (Capitol Hill).

WHEN: Saturday March 11th 11:00 am - 6:00 pm, and Sunday March 12th 11:00 am - 5:00 pm.

CASH ONLY

new band!

Just Announced: CLANDESTINE QUARTET (Alan Bishop, Richard Bishop, Chris Corsano, Michael Flower) will be performing a live set of new material on September 15th in London. Full details and ticket link on the event page.

"Sun City Girls, was one of the most fiercely independent, challenging and totally unpredictable bands to have operated outside of the mainstream. Sun City Girls embraced and subverted styles and tropes from various genres and cultures, creating a blend of deranged surf, Eastern-but-not-Eastern free improvisation, stateless folk, avant-mysticism and whatever else you want to call it.

Sun City Girls disbanded in 2007, following the death of drummer Charles Gocher. The Sun City name could never be revived without the mad versatile genius of Gocher, a ‘high priest of the outside’ – a line from Alan Bishop’s touching tribute to Gocher in Perfect Sound Forever. The Bishops have only infrequently performed together since, notably on the Brothers Unconnected tour, instead focusing on their personal endeavours: Richard, on free rock outfit Rangda, and solo work under his Sir Richard Bishop guise; Alan, on his project Alvarius B, alongside bands The Invisible Hands, and Dwarfs of East Agouza. And of course, there’s Sublime Frequencies, the label that Alan co-owns with Hisham Mayet, a label that resists any form of cultural gatekeeping, releasing artists and music not represented in any music magazine’s false idea of a ‘canon’.

So how do they go about playing together in a band again, without the deft hand of Charlie Gocher? They’ve enlisted drummer Chris Corsano, an extraordinary percussionist and improvisor, a member of Rangda (with Richard Bishop and Ben Chasny), and known for his work with saxophonist Paul Flaherty. Corsano has performed with Jim O’Rourke, Joe McPhee, Bill Nace (Vampire Belt), Jandek, Bjork, and countless others. They’re also joined by Mick Flower – who has regularly performed with Corsano as Flower-Corsano, and is best known as a member of ecstatic drone ensemble Vibracathedral Orchestra.

Together, they’re hiding away for a week in a studio to write a completely new set of material. And what will it sound like? Who knows. Perhaps the Bishops have found kindred spirits in the form of Flower-Corsano. Or perhaps they’ve just found two new figures to spar with. Whatever the case, this is an unmissable opportunity to witness a performance from the unparalleled brothers of avant-everything".

Holy crap. I'm in!

Well, not in the sense of going to London for the concert, but short of that.

as per tylerw's post from March, FB friend posted this, thought it sounded p interesting

Phx/Tempe record collectors. Eastside Records has ... Alan Bishop's map collection from his Wide World of Maps years. 2 bucks a map, naked cash. Those maps are conveniently buried under some rubble near cash register.

not gonna make that London show on Friday but I am going to see Senyawa, who are supporting, the day before. high recommendation

Was that Torch of The Mystics reissue last year a one off or are there other releases coming?
I only have a couple of their cds and would like more if they're as good.

Rick has said a few times recently that he'd love to get the 80s Placebo trilogy (and Dawn of the Devi etc) reissued, but there's nothing official yet.

yeah those seem like the most obvious candidates to me, Djinn Funnel is another personal favorite that is tough to find

JUst looking at prices of cds on Amazon. So hope there is something coming.
Have found loads on Spotify which i hadn't really looked at before.
Still wondering what determines what turns up on there after seeing which artists have loads of lps up.

https://www.strandedrecords.com/collections/twenty-one-eighty-two-recording-company/products/sun-city-girls-live-at-the-sky-church-september-3rd-2004-lp-dvd

Thanks for the heads up, I should pick that up.

Thought the revive would be about the fact that AB and RB recently played two nights as a duo at Zebulon in LA. I'm unsure how many times they've played together since the demise of SCG, but it can't have been often.

Didn't they play a bunch as Brothers Unconnected?

Yeah, that's how last week's shows were billed, I didn't know they'd done it previously.

Yeah it was a tour maybe a year or so after charlie died. Saw the nyc one. It was great. They sold a brothers unconnected CDR at it which I haven’t spun in awhile.

Anyone know what the live set was like around this time? Tempted to buy this, especially with the added bonus of the DVD.

no predictability whatsoever afaik - I saw them that same year at Berbati's in Portland and it was almost solid gnarly improv madness. Charlie attacked the crowd with a whip. this set sounds interesting for sure.

Yeah there was never a time when it would have been possible to say what their “live set was like at the time”

—they moved around behind a gauze scrim for the whole show while a prerecording played
—they told redneck jokes
—they performed a bunch of what would become 330,003 Crossdressers
—they did a set of gnarly trio improv

It's out today: https://www.forcedexposure.com/Catalog/sun-city-girls-live-at-the-sky-church-september-3rd-2004-lp-dvd/KHZ.1002LP.html
Forced Exposure has it for $18.70, in stock - LP+DVD, whattadeal
While you're at it, get "Dawn of the Devi" too ($15.73 from Forced Exposure...I'm not a shill I swear)

so.... where would one start if they were curious about this band?

probably https://suncitygirls.bandcamp.com/album/torch-of-the-mystics

thanks, will do

Their final album is really amazing as well:

https://suncitygirls.bandcamp.com/album/funeral-mariachi

This is quite good entry point - https://suncitygirls.bandcamp.com/album/330003-crossdressers-from-beyond-the-rig-veda-2

This too - https://suncitygirls.bandcamp.com/album/dantes-disneyland-inferno

Both of these pretty much cover the range of the SCG universe, or as near to it as might be possible.

I'll second Torch of the Mystics, that was my entry point and worked really well.

agree with all of the above recommendations

with the beach boys cover (summer dream amherst 2004)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFWbyuvPImk

also check it out, comrade marc masters has uploaded the whole amherst 2004 show

this one too! great stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbAOHq579lw

but yeah, Torch of the Mystics is thee one really.

The one that is in print, at least. Or was.
Examining this band through their first album and their last album is pretty rewarding.
First album long oop, unfortunately.

Torch
330,003
And the singles comp that includes borungku si derita eye mohini etc

Thank you for the recommendations - very initial impressions: fascinating + a lot less Ween/Zappa than I had somehow expected.

The first singles comp, You're Never Alone With a Cigarette, is a nice companion to Torch.

I wish they'd hurry up and re-release the first three.

OK I thought about it walking the dog and here’s my recommendation for a ten album scg chronological swoop:

Grotto of Miracles
Torch of the Mystics
Bright Surroundings Dark Beginnings
Live From Planet Boomerang
Eye Mohini: The Singles Vol. 3
330,003 Crossdressers from Beyond the Rig Veda
Libyan Dream (carnival folklore resurrection series)
Sumatran Electric Chair (carnival folklore resurrection series)
Hi Asia Lo Pacific (carnival folklore resurrection series)
Flute and Mask
Fine, eleven it is: throw in Funeral Mariachi to close

wow! thank you! I'm not ready for the freakout parts of the live videos yet though. Also, some of the less conventional moments on the albums suddenly made me go "what was that 'my pal footfoot' band called again?" but then they shift into a way more complicated thing during the same song - very fascinating

I approve of Jon's recommendationsand might also throw in Severed Finger With A Wedding Ring, also from the CFR series