THE STYRENES
It's Still Artastic (ROIR)
Reviewed by John Sekerka

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Completists rejoice, for the resurrection folks at ROIR have added ten more tracks to the swank Styrenes comp released a decade past. The extra material, vibrant live stuff recorded in the nineties, gives a nice closure to the Styrenes story, which started way back in '74. Paul Marotta and Jamie Klimek came together to form a unique musical vision which infuriated as many people as it influenced. Intricate, adventurous and antagonistic, the music was equally reviled and despised. Players who passed through the revolving Styrenes door would go on to play with Pere Ubu and the Lounge Lizards, while Marotta and Klimek continued to tinker away in Cleveland obscurity. The oddball nature of the first singles, ranging from Captain Beefheart style mayhem to quirky pop with plaintive vocals, just caused a lot of confusion. Highly influential stuff usually suffers this fate. It's only in the latter recordings, where the sonic dynamic by a Marotta-led version shows there is, and probably was, a lot of kick-ass to the band as well.

© 2002 - John Sekerka