By Jennifer Levesque
For the Valley Advocate
Kaspar Hauser
Live at Zone Art Center, Springfield, MA 4-24-1982
A few months ago I received a CD in the mail from Georgia. I ended up putting it aside for far too long. I already had a lineup of reviews to end the year with and thought, ‘I’ll dive into that once my plate is clear.’ The moment I started listening to Kaspar Hauser’s “Live at Zone Art Center” I was immediately upset for depriving myself of this album.
I was transported back in time to early 1980s in Springfield, and wished I had experienced the music scene here in that timeframe. What can I say, I’m a sucker for a synthesizer in a rock band with that dreamy new wave, goth-ish style. Kaspar Hauser fits right in with the legendary likes of Bauhaus, Joy Division, Talking Heads, The Cure and I feel like this album will slide into my regular listening rotation.
In the fall of 1980, drummer Ted Selke started playing with bassist Tim Power and guitarist Steve Traiger and an unnamed vocalist in a cover band called The Moral Majority. They played a mixture of new wave and ‘60s-style music. When that band fell apart, they decided to go in a different direction.
“Tim, Steve and I decided to break off and try to make some original music, influenced by the post punk sounds we loved — Gang of Four, Remain in Light era Talking Heads, Discipline era King Crimson, etc.,” Selke said, “Steve worshipped Jimi Hendrix but he also loved Adrian Belew and he tried to emulate some of the wild guitar sounds that Adrian was making in King Crimson and Talking Heads. Tim and I loved funky grooves and wanted to make music that was danceable.”
They later met David Wildman who would become their vocalist and control the synthesizer for the band they called Kaspar Hauser.
“We got together and practiced over Christmas break and into early 1982 before playing our first show in March of that year, just one month before the show at ZONE was recorded,” Selke said.
The Zone Art Center gig was only the band’s sixth performance, but you wouldn’t know it from the recording. It sounds like a band that had been established for quite some time, not merely months.
“Mysteries of the Organism” kicks the album off strong and energetic and initiates an instant dancing around. I love the synth in this. They definitely succeeded in making the music danceable like they wanted.
“Bounty” is a sexy sounding tune with some spiraling guitar wails. I like how there is a soft echo after Wildman’s vocals, it adds to that new wave vibe. You can just feel the energy radiating from each member during “Personal Space.” I can picture them on stage, all in their liveliness with everyone in the audience dancing around.
“People on a Crowded Bus” is a jam! The constant repetitive bass beats connecting the song together was my favorite part. Power didn’t miss a beat and kept the rhythm sounding smooth and vibrant the whole time. The guitar solo towards the end was ethereal sounding, dancing above the repetitive bass and drum beats. Such a great song!
I like how the bass started “Decision Time” — this one definitely has that ‘80s synth rock vibe, I’m totally here for it. They end the set with another version of “Personal Space (Reprise).” It’s still energetic but it has a different vibe. I love the fact that they were like ‘yeah we’re playing this song again, but different.’
“We had a lot of songs by then, and we played two sets that night so I was able to be somewhat selective with the tracklist,” Selke remembers of the show, “That’s why there are two versions of ‘Personal Space’; I thought the first version was better but the second version shows that we didn’t feel the need to play songs the exact same way every time.”
They all continued with the band until they graduated from UMass in 1984, then all went on different journeys. Selke moved to Georgia and has been in a collection of bands down there,https://tedselke.com. Wildman now fronts a band named TELL, https://telltheband.com/. Traiger is in a Joy Division tribute band in California, https://www.ceremony81.com/ and Power plays in a band called The Risk Register based in Oxford, Oxfordshire.
You can pick up the vinyl at local record stores including Turn it Up!, Electric Eye Records and Feed Your Head. Or you can purchase the album here as well, https://www.bompstore.com/mesh-art/.
The Demographic
Verse Chorus Curse (Expanded Edition)
Originally independently released in 2011, “Verse Chorus Curse” has recently been remastered and re-released with four additional outtake tracks. Written and performed by Tom Pappalardo and Sturgis Cunningham of The Demographic who are a guitar, drum duo (turned trio) who have been gracing the western Mass. music scene since 2009.
The remastered version of opening track, “The Headliner” sends the listener off to indie rock-ville immediately. This whole album has that pristine 1990s indie rock, with a touch of moody punk feel, in the best way possible. Especially with tracks “Cost/Benefit” and “Post-Encore” — I imagine a concert lineup of Dinosaur Jr. and Pixies playing with The Demographic, perfect fit.
“This Broken Place” starts off soft and melancholic, then turns a little heavy at points with some angst. It’s lyrical poetry with each section of the song a small poem, title included, yet it all comes together, connected. “Broken bones / I’m standing very still because of / Broken bones / You can’t stop to find me here / Anyway / There is no way out of / This stupid place / There is no way out / Of this broken place.” I love this song, I listened to it multiple times in a row.
“Another Big Mistake” has an indie country vibe to this one. And I love the lyrics to this, especially where the song ends, “I screwed the pooch / I shit the bed / Shot myself in the foot / Shoulda aimed for the head / I should’ve stayed in bed instead.”
“Trends & Markets” is one of the outtake tracks. This song is such a powerful tune and I wonder why it was left off the album the first time it was released. I love the guitars in this, mixed with the contradiction of life’s “pleasures”-inspired lyrics, gives it almost an ominous western tone to it. “Therapy for mental health / merch it out and brand yourself … Trial membership ran out / tech support can hear you shout.” I love at the end of the recording you can hear someone in the studio say “I kinda like that.” Then a response with, “Me too.”
You can check out this album, along with more from The Demographic at their bandcamp page, thedemographic.bandcamp.com/.
