by tmidgett on Fri Sep 21, 2007 7:37 pm
I absolutely love this band.
I don't think it matters even a little bit if they understand into what context their music might fit.
1. They know what they are doing. What they are doing is DETERMINEDLY weird. It is NOT an accident. You cannot do that shit accidently. You don't write songs that brutally stripped down by accident.
You don't play two-note bass parts that are bent that out of tune for five minutes w/o knowing you are doing it. You don't play drums like that for five minutes etc.
2. Listening to them talk about what they do, they know they're doing something unusual. That they don't realize it's completely fucking otherworldly is no crime.
3. The fact that they have probably never heard Beefheart or the Shaggs or Royal Trux or whatever is irrelevant. In fact, it makes their music _better_. There is ZERO ironic distance between what Complete is doing and what they intend to do. They probably don't even know what irony is. They're not winking at anyone or trying to taunt anyone or frustrate people's expectations of what a rock band is or any of that bullshit. They're channeling their shit into this totally fucked-up, crazy music.
4. No one I know could play music like that. They could try for months and not do it. US Maple is the closest thing I could think of, but they could never unhinge to this degree. They sound schooled next to these guys.
Of course, all this can be true and still result in bad music.
I think this shit is smashing. I have watched each of these songs many times since being hipped to them. I have probably watched "Beautiful Sunrises," i dunno, a dozen times? it's phenomenal.
The dipshit who made that documentary making fun of them is a douchebag dipshit. I understand not liking it, thinking it's stupid, no problem. I get it. But to waste so much of one's time running down completely obscure music is the hallmark of a serious loser if there ever was one.
This is the kind of band that I would love to play live with, but even if they still existed, I wouldn't know how to explain to them why I wanted them on the show.
The only band I have ever seen who was anything like this in totally straightfaced, unironic, isolated weirdness was the August Sons, from Mississippi. Those guys were truly and utterly weird. And great. And more typically competent than Complete by a long shot, so maybe some of you might wanna chk out August Sons, if you sorta like the idea of Complete but cannot get with "dunnnn-durrrr-darrrrrn-durrrrr" bass parts for five or six min at a shot.
