Pengo - Alchemy and Bullshit
- Artist: Pengo
- Title: Alchemy and Bullshit
- Format: 2CDR
- Label: Carbon Records
- Price:
$12.00$7.20 (40% sale) - Catalog ID: CR101
a double CDR document of Pengo's migration from a 3-piece out-spazz-noise group to 4-piece drone-psych-noise-rock group. recordings ranging from the 2001 Phi-Tour series, 2002 live and "studio" pieces (including a show with guests Dave Cross of Coffee, Ed Wilcox of Temple Bon Matin and Charles Leport of Hinkley/Finkbeiner/etc), thru pounding live 2003/2004 sets, much in the vein of current configuration. 2 black-bottom cdrs, glossy print insert, sealed in a 6"x8" silkscreened and spray painted chipboard mailer.
Reviews (3):
Volcanic Tongue
Heaviest slab yet served from the gob of this Rochester-based unit, with two beautifully packaged CD-Rs that bridge the gulf between the early American hobbyist art/action goofs that defined the three-piece incarnation to the heavy psychedelic post-Airway gravity that the current world-beating quartet have been shovelling from their guts for the past few years. Recordings run from the 2001 Phi-Tour series through 2002 live and studio pieces (including guest spots from Dave Cross of Coffee and Ed Wilcox of Temple Of Bon Matin) and wild style tear-em-ups from 2003/2004. Pretty much the definitive set from these bozos, all sealed inside a 6”x 8” silkscreened and spray painted chipboard mailer. Recommended. - David Keenan
Patchwork Collective
PENGO MAN.
4 monsters from Rochester have got the art of mind fuckery down to a science. "Alchemy and Bullshit" is a 2 disc retro of sorts that complies their insanely hard to pin down style. I mean, its aloof in the sense that they have moved passed their 3 piece heavy drone unit that dawned the organ heavy "A Nervous Splendor" in 2001, to a 4 piece incarnation they've been working with as of late... This slab really does bring out the raddest sense of complete ambivalence in the most fun way possible. Heavy as shit, Harry Pussy like guitar work, bright eyed hysterical sax spurts, fast paced narcoleptic drumming, and over blown organ work is just the beginning. Similar instrumentation spans throughout both discs, but you're hard pressed to find congruence. The first track of disc one is a seamless jointing of what seems like six of seven live shows. Its all "covers" of a genre catch all. The Stooges, Rush, the Organization, Neil Young, and Negative Approach (if you think they were just mediocre hardcore, go back to bed shit stain). They rip apart the essential elements of each song to the barest, and slap on their own sound. It's repetitive, but totally insane. But its fun see. They take themselves out of the lame self important avenues of typical drone, and basically blend together 142 styles into one snot rocket of GROSS ROCK. Quotin' John Schoen from a Blastitude interview last year, he shows his love for Chilean schlock director Alejandro Jodorowsky. "(Jodorowsky) treads the same fine line between mystic and bullshitter..." That line is never defined with this band. It's psychedelic in the sense that it resists categorization. Released in December of 2005, you can still snag a copy of this at the Carbon Records website. 2 black-bottom CDRs, glossy print insert, sealed in a 6"x8" silkscreened and spray painted chipboard mailer is what you're going to be staring at. Keep it scummy. - Brock Kappers
200LBU
Rochester's Pengo have carved out a truly unique spot for themselves in the past few years. Live, they can sometimes come off like some manic tribal ritual that would of taken place on the Spahn Ranch right before a creepy crawl. Their recorded output can be a confusing though fulfilling stew of found audio, grey noise clouds and ham fisted guitar wrenching that would send any strong blooded struggler for the Geritol in no time. This double disc set, entitled 'Alchemy and Bullshit', is made up of various live recordings done around their hometown a few years back and it showcases the various forms of dementia this unit is capable of. The first disc is a perfect soundtrack for a late night wander through old newspaper clippings and various forms of mildew found behind the toilet. The boys attempt to cover Blue Oyster Cult, Thin Lizzy, Negative Approach and Organization only to end up sounding like pygmies dropped off in the middle of Sunflower City with only a bamboo shoot and a paper thin guitar pick to fend with. The gem of this disc is the closing 'Official Genius' which meanders through much fog and steam to relieve itself in a way only Captain Beefheart or Ansley Dunbar would find fitting. How quaint. The second disc is made up of shorter pieces of subtle mud slapped guitar crap that'll have ya heavin' in no time. Swap a copy of your Hunger Artist 12" to the fine folks at the Carbon label and maybe they'll throw ya one - Tony Rettman