Just last week I was ecstatic to find out that I had a compilation from Mojo [bought from the local library] called “Death Disco” that was thick with Post-Punk tracks; many of which did not otherwise reside in the Record Cell. Without a doubt, the one cut on it that probably made me buy it four years ago was The Bush Tetras electric jolt of Post-Punk Funk “Too Many Creeps.” I’ve had a desire to have Bush Tetras music in my home now for 41 years. So this was a very pleasant re-discovery.

Then I stumbled upon the news on the Trouser Press Forum that in about a month, there will be a new Bush Tetras compilation from the magnificently named Wharf Cat Records called “Rhythm + Paranoia: The Best of Bush Tetras” that has my name all over it. This looks to make the “Boom In The Night” CD that ROIR released [ulp] 26 years ago look as long in tooth as it actually is. According to Discogs, “Boom In The Night” has been on my want list for eight years now. And is none too affordable. There is one US copy at $28.50.

Bush Tetras: Boom In The Night – US – CD [1995]

1. Cowboys In Africa
2. Things That Go Boom In The Night
3. You Can’t Be Funky
4. Snakes Crawl
5. Rituals
6. Moonlite
7. You Taste Like The Tropics
8. Das Ah Riot
9. Too Many Creeps
10. Dum Dum
11. Stand Up And Fight
12. Who’s Gonna Pay
13. It’s So Weird
14. Funky (Instrumental)

The taut “Too Many Creeps” was one of the songs that was plastered liberally in the playlists of WPRK-FM by the time I was listening heavily in the 1981 time period. This was bristling, urgent Post-Punk Funk/Disco that indicated the band were influenced by Gang Of Four, who had emerged in 1978 to those who were paying close attention. They definitely had the same spartan, angular, minimalist Funk vibe that threw the confrontational lyrics into sharp relief. I’d say that Bush Tetras had the advantage for being mostly female.

This gave them an edge that Gang of Four could only approach from their left wing academia roots. Meanwhile, the deadpan Cynthia Sley invested “Too Many Creeps” with a lived in contempt that suggested what she experienced as a woman every day that cut across all demarcations of class structure. It only helped that bassist Laura Kennedy was laying down a truly spectacular bass that dominated the track; leaving guitarist Pat Place room for her slashes of strident, angular guitar that acted like aural pepper spray. Meanwhile, drummer Dee Pop kept us all moving on the dance floor. This single could have only been released on 99 Records.

The new BSOG comes in both flavors: The expected 3xLP DLX BSOG and a 2xCD package for us granddads. Here’s the contents of each configuration. 30 tracks on 2xCD and 29 on the LP [with track 30 as a DL]. Both packages have a DL only bonus track in “Cutting Floor.”

Here are the tracks:

1. Too Many Creeps
2. Snakes Crawl
3. You Taste Like the Tropics
4. Punch Drunk
5. Cold Turkey [Live in London]
6. Things That Go Boom in the Night
7. Das Ah Riot
8. Cowboys in Africa
9. Rituals
10. You Can’t Be Funky
11. Moonlite
12. Dum Dum
13. Stand Up and Fight
14. Page 18
15. Color Green
16. Mr. Lovesong [Alternate Version]
17. World
18. Motörhead
19. Pretty Thing
20. You Don’t Know Me
21. Heart Attack
22. Ocean
23. Nails
24. True Blue
25. Red Heavy
26. Out Again
27. There Is a Hum
28. Seven Years
29. Sucker Is Born
30. Run Run Run [Live in San Francisco]
31. Cutting Floor

LP Format

• 3x 180g LPs
• rigid lift-off box with lift ribbon
• 46 page LP sized book with essays/photos
• DL card with bonus track

CD Format

• 2xCDs
• 4-panel digipak
• 40 page booklet

DEE POP: 1956-2021

The release is out on November 12th and on last Saturday night, the band had a launch event at Howl Arts in the Lower East Side of NYC. Quite terribly, that was the same day that  drummer Dee Pop died. Prompting the band to continue the event as his memorial. I totally get that. The drummer, born Dimitri Papadopoulos, had played with Bush Tetras since their formation in 1979 and was the band’s “archival” member. There’s one in every band. Without Dee’s inclinations, I doubt that the new collection would be as well appointed as it is. Pop also played with Michael Karoli, Richard Lloyd, The Gun Club, Jayne County among others, with a foot also in the NYC Jazz realm. He had also formed his own mega-eclectic combo the aptly named Radio I-Ching.

If you’re like me with only a track on a compilation to your name, then the new collection looks to be the thing to have. The side that you gravitate to may depend on price. The LP box is $98.98 and the 2xCD is $29.98 so I know my target. Pre-sales are at the Wharf Cat Records website but also at the band’s Bandcamp page which you can reach by hitting that button below. For our friends in the UK, don’t balk at shipping costs as Rough Trade Records will be carrying the box, and rightly so! And finally, our thoughts go out to Dimitri’s bandmates and family during this difficult time.

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