Soul Asylum A&M JAMES2.JPG (22628 bytes)Biography 1988:


Dirty old Chuck Taylor high tops. Guitars. Lots of
volume. A twisted trail of broken vans left crumbling coast to
coast. Plaid on plaid. Pfeiffer .Sweat. More volume. More
Pfeiffer. Welcome to the wonderful world of Soul Asylum.

With the release of their new Twin/Tone-A&M albulm
'Hang Time', Dave Pirner(Vocals,guitar), Dan Murphy
(Guitars,vocals), Karl Mueller(Bass), and GrantYoung(Drums) are
once again ready to blow the cobwebs from rafters everywhere.
Produced by Lenny Kaye, ex-guitarist for the Patti Smith group and
compiler of the legendary garage-rock collection 'Nuggets', and Ed
Stasium, who has worked with suck master noise-mongers as the
Ramones and Living Color, 'Hang Time' hits your head like a saturn
rocket lifting off in your forelobes.

The new albulm should draw fresh praise from critics
around the country,who have stomped, whistled and cheered since
the release of the group's debut EP on Twin/Tone in 1984. Since
that debut, Soul Asylum has been called: " The best live band in
the country"(Village Voice),"A young foursome with the makingsof
an Eighties punk rock Who"(Rolling Stone),"The guys to watch from
the Twin- Cities"(Musician), and even"The greatest band on the
face of the planet earth" (Good Times). And that's just a sampling
of the mash notes.

'Hang Time' will cement Soul Asylum's towering reputation
as rock's most ardent chroniclers of life in the teenage
wasteland. The albulm's 12 original songs combine bursts of
furious perception with twisters of boiling high energy. Soul
Asylum's material touches all points of the emotional
compass;their songs can be stingingly accusatory:(" A little too
clean", "Beggars and Choosers"), mournfully introspective("Endless
Farewell"), wryly observant"Ode") , even a taste
paranoid("Standing in the Doorway"). Raw Power is the band's
signature, but they also take five here to let their amps cool off
on the country styled romp "Twiddly Dee", which is perhaps the
first Soul Asylum song to feature a jaw harp.

Soul Asylum has always favored the powerhouse approach; in
fact, they bagan their musical life under the monicker Loud Fast
Rules, with original drummer Pat Morley in tow. The quartet
recorded and released 4 songs on Reflex records, an independant
Minneapolis label operated by Husker Du guitarist Bob Mould.

Relizing that there was little to be gained by being Loud
and Fast,( and knowing that they didn't care about rules), the
band renamed themsleves Soul Asylum, and entered the studio in
1983. The resultant EP,"Say What You Will.." had writers
mentioning the group in the same breath as Twin Cities
contemporaries; the Replacements and Husker Du, but when drummer
Morley left the band, Soul Asylum took a break for most of 1984.

Down but not defeated, Soul Asylum rebounded in May of
1985, after meeting drummer Grant Young in a friend's basement.
The reconstituted line- up went on to record two LP's that
solidified their scorched-earth sound: 1986's "Made to be
Broken", produced by Mould, and "While You Were Out", produced by
Chris Osgood, former guitarist for Minneapolis' Suicide Commandos.
The same year, the band also found time to assemble "Time's
Incinerator", a cassette only potpourri of outtakes from "Say What
You Will..." and "Made to be Broken", White-hot live shots and
slightly sodden tomfoolery.

Since their reformation, Soul Asylum has barnstormed
around the country , in a parade of thunderous, bone-rattling club
gigs as headliners and as the opening act for such bands as Husker
Du and X. Always unpredictable, the live shows have been known to
include covers ranging from "Bad Moon Rising" and "Sweet Home
Alabama" to "Cocaine Blues" and "Chevy Van". And the bands
affinity for bizarre off-the-cuff medleys has miraculously wed
Prince with Buffalo Springfield and the Velvet Underground, Wild
Cherry to Ted Nugent and Sly Stone,and Iggy Pop with the Cars.

Scooping up a diverse assortment of heartland musical
influences and pureeing them into an overwhelming hard rock hot
sauce, Soul Asylum has created a sound that is at once forceful
and insightful. You'll agree that "Hang Time" is an exciting new
chapter in the still-evolving legacy of this uncommon American
Rock'n Roll band.

A&M Press Release 1988


from Al Wirtes via Steven Alexander Farkas

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