The
current revival of post-punk music and its many offshoots has brought scores of
quality reissues of albums that music fans thought they'd never hear on CD. It
has also prompted many musicians to dig through their old tapes for unreleased
material. Among them is Jeffrey Lohn, one-quarter of the noisy
-
NEIL STRAUSS
trucker
magazine – winter 2003
I
postulated elsewhere in this issue that no wavers get all the chicks (see review
of the sick lipstick). Using this
hypothesis, I can thus assume that glenn branca’s late-70s no wave combo got
even more laid than me after the surgery. They
probably rained cum on the lower east side.
They probably were granted entrance to everything that was arty and had a
vagina. Even though this
retrospective is occasionally marred by musical ineptitude, I’m assuming
it’s intentional. In any case,
this is an important document of previously unreleased gems that deserves to be
heard. Plus, these guys got all the
NYC hipster tail back in the day, so there’s that too.
-
Daniel
stylus
magazine – dec-jan 2003
while
glenn branca may often receive much of the attention/credit for the output of
the theoretical girls (his name, along with arto Lindsay and james chance, are
no wave landmarks), the visionary behind the band was composer Jeffrey lohn.
Classically trained and oriented, lohn’s imagination was captured by
the nyc punk/new wave explosion of the late ‘70s.
using his soho loft as ground zero, he, along with branca, Wharton tiers,
and Margaret dewys, laboured to couple the utilitarian nature of rock ‘n’
roll with the more challenging concepts of avant-garde noise and classical
composition. Having done so, the
theoretical girls exist as one of the seminal units of the nyc underground. However,
regardless of how much of an impact the TG had on the emerging No Wave scene,
these recordings (aside from the eponymous track) remained stored away and
unheard for over 20 years. something
about that fact seems criminal as a good percentage of what lohn and co.
recorded checks out as (seemingly) un-haute musical experimentation for the
sheer excitement and joy of it. Indeed,
many of the 19 songs on the disc strain to exemplify the raw energy of punk
rock, yet also demonstrate a decidedly overwhelming urge to break from the
retardo three (or perhaps only one) chord garage hem and haw.
Also a nice aside; there is a healthy dose of primal repetition worthy of
any early ‘70s kraut improvisational wildness without any of the dope haze or
long hair detractions.
-
criz
spaceman
Repellent
zine – winter 2003
Theoretically there was/are this group Theoretical
Girls xcept one was a real grrrl, theoretically. So goes a story.
Theoretically there was a composer called Jeffrey Lohn and theoretically
from 1978 until 1981 he had this scheme to take Television and the Ramones and
theoretically (this is the music theory-ey bit now) bridge them with modern
composition. Right. Theoretically he got Glen Branca to play guitars
(and he played very theoretically) and Wharton Tiers played drums, and Margaret
Dewys theoretically played some bass and keyboards and things. Theoretically
this is how No Wave started to come about, and ... ok! honestly, its been a long
day and I thought ... fine ...
The tragic end here (theoretically... hah!) was that Theoretical Girls never
released a record, save the Lohn/Branca penned single U.S. Mille, rendering the
group as an art rock myth. Skinny references to Theoretical Girls pop up
in Sonic Youth reviews and the scattered coverage of Glen Branca¹s career, but
no one has heard Theoretical Girls in ages. And that¹s a damn fine reason
to issue some archived mess.
The fourteen songs here (spanned over 19 tracks) contain some of the most
spastic assertions of urban/nonurban material/immaterial noise and take full
liberty with cliché and process. Part of the joke always rings ha-ha-ha,
but when Lohn starts chantingcounting over and over in "Theoretical
Girls" while Branca, Dewys, and Tiers pound on a horrible assembly line of
electric fury the intensity of it all just creates a (d)haze.
Tracks such as "Loving in the Red" and "Computer Dating" are
comprised of some of the most xtreme bubblegum of the time; incorporating Branca¹s
rhythmic and symphonic guitar playing and moving well beyond the accepted
methods of pop music to provide rock and roll with a much needed kick up the
ass. And then some. "U.S. Millie" and others like "No
More Sex" truly do define No Wave, refusing all reference points while
pitching up such high levels of drama without taking up heirs, thus retaining
emotional immediacy.
Theoretical Girls no method of composition and performance takes in all the left
over bits of life and renews their charge. In theirs songs, in their
approach, youve got asphalt, baseball, pretty flowers, ham sandwich, bastard on
the phone too loud, paycheck, no sleep, perfect cosmo, screenkiss, and crack.
In a word: EXPERIENCE. And the electric din raizes the fields of
your mind to sew the seeds of modern music.
In retrospect, you know those glasses that give better than 20-20 vision, plenty
of music has grown to succeed the clear-cutting. From Sugarcubes and
Sonic Youth, Ride, Goodspeed! You Black Emperor and on, the memory of these late
70¹s recordings persevere. That isn¹t to argue that Theoretical
Record provides a pleasant listen by any means. The historical-ness of
it all shatters the completed project-ness expected of an album (for better or
worse). However, these songs (and this group) are/were an awesome muse, an
achievement glorious in spirit. Theoretically, that is revolution.
- Ben Baumes
careless
talk costs lives – nov/dec 2002
The
greatest no wave song you haven’t heard goes like this: “1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4,
1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4…” and so on, the four words shouted repeatedly over jagged
guitars – some mighty fucking orchestral hum resonating through speakers –
until the song’s end.
It’s
called “theoretical girls (live version)” and was taped in 1978, or
thereabouts. Until this year, and
this 19-track compilation, the recording had never seen the light of day;
indeed, during their brief career between 1978-1981, NYC’s theoretical girls
only ever released one single, the electric piano-led, jerkily frantic, “US
millie” (like DNA and early Devo, only more fetishistic).
Yet, on this evidence, theoretical girls were a brilliant, innovative
art-punk band – the equals of better-known peers such as
Theoretical
girls played literate, nervy rock music: indeed, the music’s full-on assault
seems almost at odds with the intricated jazz rhythms threading surreptitiously
through songs like “polytonal”. In places, you can even hear traces of early
sonic youth…hardly surprising when you consider the connection.
Theoretical
girls were the brainchild of Jeffrey lohn – writer, plumber and host of
all-night
Ignore
the historical context, though. This
is a great record, albeit one with a slighty dated, very recognizable, early
eighties sound – one recently resurrected by the new breed of new york bands
like liars, the strokes, and yeah yeah yeahs.
Stops and starts and stutters and staccato bursts of pure noise help feed
the frenzy: guitars and keyboards are shaken then battered into submission.
Theoretical girls were really lohn’s creation, though: he wrote all
music, lyrics and instrumental parts on this album.
(irritatingly, the only B-side ever recorded, branca’s “you got
me”, isn’t included.)
Whatever.
Anyone excited by the rediscovery of late seventies innovators such as
Kleenex (last years’s double compilation of kill rock stars), this heat and
cabaret Voltaire, should check out theoretical girls.
At the very least, they have a great fucking name.
Jeffrey
lohn talks to
“the
output of theoretical girls was roughly 25 percent songs – 75 percent by me,
25 percent by glenn branca. This cd
was meant to be released about 15 years ago – the master had been made and was
ready to go – when glenn suddenly refused permission for his songs.
So rather than release it with just my material on, I cancelled the
project. The reason it’s come out
now, is that a few years later glenn released his songs anyway, and when current
producer dan selzer went looking for “
“it
was for real, that’s for sure. It
was very honest, and it comes from a very strong and loving connection to many
kinds of music. At the time
theoretical girls started, I’d left the music world and was doing conceptual
art in
“’US
Mille’ was definitely a result of that mixture: punk rock and Stravinsky come
together without pretension. I hate
any idea of pretence.”
time
out
During its 1977-79 lifespan, the NYC no-wave quartet theoretical girls issued only one self-released single, 1978’s “US Millie”/”You Got Me.” Written by future guitar-ensemble composer glenn branca, “you got me” foreshadows the brooding note clusters and tumbling percussion that would distinguish both his subsequent symphonies and such downtown ‘80s noise rockers as sonic youth, swans and live skull. The quirky A side, devised by the band’s more prolific, classically trained frontman Jeffrey lohn, seems lighthearted by comparison; propelled by a whimsical goose-step beat, it fuses obliquely satirical lyrics with gleaming minimalism and an electric-piano glissando that could herald the evening news.
Winsome
and humorous, the almost-catchy “U.S. Millie” is a major aberration when
compared to the rest of the theoretical
record, a much-needed retrospective that compiles Lohn’s crucial
contributions to the group. Many of
the album’s 19 pieces sound even more revolutionary, influential and full
realized that branca’s T-Girls work (collected on his atavistic cd songs ‘77-’79). The
sustained, resonant crescendos and rolling tom-toms of “computer dating” and
“contrary motion” presciently juxtapose consonant whirrs against steely,
discordant shudders. But the
wide-ranging disc also unearths a heap of memorably anxious art pop, id-fuled
tantrums, and wound-up, left-field punk that’s accessible enough to rewire the
mind of the average velvets, pere ubu or talking
heads 77 fan.
The
new acute label deserves substantial credit for finally publicizing lohn’s
achievements (he went on to compose scores for dance shows, then focused on a
career in the visual arts). Theoretical
Girls, which also included producer-to-be Wharton tiers on drums and avant-garde
luminary Margaret deWyss on keyboards and bass, warrant a far more illustrious
fate than being remembered as a footnote in branca’s career.
Compared to many of their better-documented contemporaries, they
reportedly packed the era’s underground venues, this cd makes it easy to see
why.
-
Spin
– December 2002
- will hermes
San
Francisco Weekly –
With
the success of the Strokes, Interpol, and other
The
19 cuts on Theoretical Girls, culled from live and studio sessions
between 1978 and 1981, reveal the swirl and drone that would define the next two
decades of indie rock. The very first song, "Theoretical Girls," kicks
off in a blur of punkish vigor and irony: Pummeling guitars and drums churn as
Lohn repeatedly yells out, "One, two, three, four!," counting down to
a song that never really starts. There's a seismic restlessness to the
repetition, and Branca's guitar and Margaret De Wys' keyboard gradually bend the
song's single chord to its breaking point. "Lovin in the Red" hints at
the approach of bands like Sonic Youth and Mission of Burma even more
explicitly, exploring cacophonic maelstroms of sound. At times, the album makes
for an almost uncanny listening experience, its many links and references moving
backward as well as forward. There are echoes of Jello Biafra's warble in Lohn's
quavering vocals and dadaist lyrics, as well as the Velvet Underground's cool
detachment in every ringing power chord. And the stomping garage rock of the
Monks, a crew of American servicemen stationed in
Recent
reissues of early material from Branca, Teenage Jesus & the Jerks, and
others have filled in part of
-
Philip Sherburne
Xlr8r
– November 2002
In
the late 70s, performers like suicide, DNA, and Lydia lunch went off like a pipe
bomb in the artists’ lofts and dive bars of new york’s lower east side,
showering crowds with fractured classical minimalism, improvisational noise and
sneering, searing punk. Among the no
wave were the theoretical girls, which featured guitar-symphony composer glenn
branca and drummer/engineer Wharton tiers (future mentor and producer,
respectively, for sonic youth). Theoretical
record sets out to set the record straight, with previously unreleased
live/rehearsal reels focusing on co-founder Jeffrey lohn.
Picking up on the staccato see-saw of the velvet underground, then moving
towards Philip glass and steve reich, theoretical girls used guitar as pummeling
percussion. But lohn’s
compositions seemed at times more open to bucking the strictest structures for a
catchier, though still blistering, deconstructive assault on pop.
As companion to branca’s songs ’77-’79, this one’s an archival essential.
-
tony ware
The
big takeover
- #51
After
24 years in relative obscurity, NYC no-wave group theoretical girls is finally
getting their due. Having released
only one song during their short, four-year existence (“
-
josh
gabriel
Sunday times
THE NEW YORK no-wave movement of the late 1970s encouraged a cross-pollination
between rock and jazz that changed everything. Today, Sonic Youth are its most
famous adherents. Glenn Branca, whose massed choirs of electric guitars deafened
a generation, was an early influence on the band, and features alongside
Margaret De Wys and Wharton Tiers in Jeffrey Lohn¹s Theoretical Girls, the
musical equivalent of those conceptual artists who can¹t actually paint. The
quartet¹s defiantly nonadept nonrock appears here on CD for the first time,
deploying a determinedly limited palette of piston rhythms, droning guitars and
scattershot sounds. US Millie is an uncharacteristic moment of clarity,
suggesting the egghead pop of Talking Heads, while Nato conceals the blueprints
of 20 years of alt-rock in its single-chord splurge.
-
stewart lee **
kerrang!
– November 2002
"Their
influence is everywhere. You can hear it in the white-noise wipe-out of Sonic
Youth, the raw treatment of Jack White's precious blues and The Strokes'
rhythmic tension and release. Over the NYC band's three-year career, Theoretical
Girls welded the remnants of new wave and early punk with free jazz, classical
piano and rock 'n' roll, unbeknownst to the mainstream.
This
razor sharp record kicks off as Jeffrey Lohn and assorted band members take
turns to scream '1,2,3,4' over breakneck-speed guitars; meanwhile the
military-style drumming, keyboard syncopation and stream-of-consciousness vocals
of 'US Millie' are as fresh as the first day they were spat out in '78.
Ultimately too avant-garde for fame or melody, Theoretical Girls cut-and-paste
punk is a thrilling history lesson for fans of tatty-sneakered idols."
3/5
Camilla Pia
The
wire – november 2002
Glenn
branca is the best known member of this
This
historically fascinating collection opens with the group’s self-titled anthem,
a sustained build-up of pre-ejaculatory tension that somehow manages to evoke
both the ramones and Philip glass. The
great talent of theoretical girls is their ability to maintain a whiplash pace,
with further momentum supplied by their chanting, shouted vocals and
systems-pulse organ jangles. Obviously,
there’s terry riley and john cale in here, while a sideways glance will catch
DNA and the contortions, particularly on the intermittent slabs of blizzard
noise during “contrary motion”. Lohn’s
bullish, one-note organ dominates “lovin’ in the red”, coupled with
branca’s twanging guitar. “
It’s
amusing to hear such aggressively advanced music topped by primitivist, guttural
shouts – at their most basic when lohn barks “no more sex” over and
over on “no more sex”, or with the overwrought screaming of “chicita
bonita”, “polytonal” sounds like it’s constantly on the verge of
breaking up, the players gradually becoming entangled as they head nowhere.
The studio take of the title tune is much smoother, and the second
version of “lovin in the red” has a savagely choppy edge, suspending its
riff on a high wire. This album
certainly has its moments, but it’s as a historical curiosity that it will
attract the most interest, particularly since sonic youth was only a busted A
string away.
-
martin Longley
the
wire – November 2002 – part of the “no wave primer”
guitarist
glenn branca also moved to nyc in the mid 70s to pursue theatre, but was
attracted by the CBGB’s/Max’s
-
alan licht
Uncut
– October 2002
Brilliant
retrospective of the no-wave quartet that featured composer
Jeffrey Lohn and guitarist Glenn Branca. The distorted vocals and muscular
basslines emphasize their love of pure noise whilst the nineteen tracks
range from glorious punk-funk to avant-garde rock.
****
- Sarah-Jane
Dusted magazine –
No Wave from Then...Now
The
Theoretical Girls were previously known mainly as a footnote in rock history. A
band better remembered for launching Glenn Branca’s career than for a scant
musical output of one single in 1978, the Theoretical Girls shared with many
other bands in the No Wave scene a tendency to dissolve quickly, leaving as
little recorded legacy as is humanly possible from a working band (another good
example being Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, whose entire works wouldn’t fill an
entire LP). With the release of a new CD comprised of previously unreleased
Theoretical Girls recordings, along with that one single, “US Millie”, the
band will probably remain a footnote, though a better documented one.
Although
Branca is the best known member of the group (having recently raked in mad cash
and blown the tops off a nation’s boomboxes with his contribution to the
soundtrack of the Richard Gere blockbuster “The Mothman Prophecies”), it’s
evident that guitarist Jeffrey Lohn, who helped to spur the current reissue, was
its heart (the liner notes take pains to note that “All music, lyrics and
instrumental parts” were written by Lohn). Also members were keyboardist
Margaret Dewys (who continues to be active in avant-garde art) and on skins
Wharton Tiers, who is currently a producer and long-time Sonic Youth associate.
The music they created is more “listenable” than that of many of their
contemporaries; their music stays closer to the pop/rock underpinnings of
original punk and new wave than the work of No Wave artists, who made a
conscious effort to start at the point were those genres left off, taking from
them their volume and attitude and refining it to produce music requiring an
effort from the listener to penetrate an often structureless aural assault. The
Theoretical Girls theme song, the aptly titled “Theoretical Girls” (or
it’s possibly a joke of a theme song, considering that most of it is just a
count-off dragged out to two minutes) recalls the fast chug of the Ramones;
“US Millie”, their single, barely even features guitar, and is dominated by
martial drums and pulsing keyboards. Some of the songs, such as “No More
Sex” and “Mom and Dad” could be taken for products of the artier strand of
original
Despite
these ear-bruising moments, the Theoretical Girls are ultimately most memorable
for their loopy sense of humor and the playfulness of their music (not that
other No Wave bands lacked a sense of humor; sometimes it’s hard to detect it
in music that often sounds as if it’s trying to harm you). “US Millie”
might be a dig on American sexual mores, but it’s difficult to be sure exactly
what Lohns is about when the absurd lyrics veer into pure dada, concluding with
a list of items that offers “Jews for Jesus” and “Danon Yogurt” as a
counterpoint to “Ms. Magazine” and “Scientology.” “Computer Dating”
addresses its subject mainly by recreating a dating questionnaire in musical
form. It doesn’t hurt their cause that the band was a gifted musical unit;
although the playing is often primitive and amateurish, it’s also uniformly
precise and effective. If they had released an album, the Theoretical Girls
would probably have been one of the more fondly remembered No Wave bands; this
posthumous compilation establishes their reputation, but two decades after it
was truly deserved.
-
Mark Hamilton
Logo-magazine
–
'The
most influential group you've never heard' trumpets the press release for this
first sighting of recordings from New York No-Wavers Theoretical Girls. It's
undeniably true. The line-up (guitarist Glenn Branca, classically trained
composer (and plumber) Jeffrey Lohn, Margaret DeWyss and Wharton Tiers) won't
mean much to the man on the street, but to the nascent Sonic Youth they were
Gods. For the uninitiated, the No-Wave movement arose from the NY underground
after the first wave from CBGB's went international, seeking to reclaim the
energy and danger that had marked the Ramones. Due to external politics and
internal pressures' no officially recorded works of Theoretical Girls has ever
emerged until now, yet here are the seeds of Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Junior;
draw a line from The Velvet Underground and the work of John Cale through to
today's Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Liars and you'll find Theoretical Girls sitting
squarely in the middle of it. If the current NY revival is floating your boat
you're advised to seek this out forthwith it's the real thing.
- Michael Ornadet
Other
music – October 16th
Theoretical
Girls has always been a name that is mentioned when talking about no wave, and
yes, Glenn Branca was a member of the band, but until now there was very little
recorded evidence to merit anything more than a mere footnote. Acute Records,
with the help of T-Girls (primary songwriter and vocalist) Jeffrey Lohn, have
assembled a collection of recordings that could possibly be the evidence needed
to prove that they were the most influential band of the era. Providing the best
possible link between the no wave movement and what would become the '80s
downtown music scene, it takes only one listen to recognize that Sonic Youth
have not stepped far from what Lohn had already created with the T-Girls. Like
many people my age, those SST recordings by Sonic Youth were a launching point
into a larger world that for me quickly included Lydia Lunch, DNA, and Mars.
This CD just makes it that much harder to comprehend how Theoretical Girls were
not asked to be on the "No New York" compilation. These songs are
every bit as essential toward understanding what the no wave movement was, and
even though this release only offers the Jeffrey Lohn written material (Glenn
Branca "Songs 77-79" on Atavistic offers 5 Branca penned T-Girls
tracks), it does serve as the most complete and in my opinion, best collection
of their recorded work.
-
andy giles
Tandem
news –
Thanks
to enterprising music fan Dan Selzer we have another previously unheard piece of
- chris twomey