REVIEW by Jerry Kranitz
R.S.V.P. were the Memphis trio of Chris Phinney, Mike Jackson, and Dave Peterson. They only released this one tape, though Phinney considers this the precursor to the Phinney/Jackson duo Cancerous Growth, which would release many tapes on Harsh Reality and other labels.
The set opens with ‘Madman Rules’, which right out of the chute is rocking hard in lo-fi experimental psychedelic space. It’s a space rocking brain-on-drugs fest with fuzzed out guitars and wailing riffage, wigged out alien electronics, and a steady drum beat. Cosmic stoner and brain fryers step right this way for some mind-warped, industrial strength space ritualism.
The electronics on ‘Walk Down A Dark Street Late’ are like oscillating and wildly bubbling alien bee swarms, making for a space invasion vibe that is tempered by the overall stoned atmosphere and rhythmic pace. ‘Killer Cop’ is some crazily rocking shit, and I mean that in the BEST possible way. Totally hair down experimental space rock. There’s a droning melody that sounds like an electronic accordion, accompanied by fuzz/drone industrial bass or electronics, madman organ runs, and unintelligible efx’d psycho vocals. And there’s an 80s video game soundtrack and toy instrument quality to ‘Box Of Cereal’ that is all part of the electroshock charm of this set.
The insanity continues on Side B. BUT…. Standing in front of the crowd we have pleasantly tinkling yet offbeat melodies that provide a creepily strange, noisily cosmic edge to the proceedings. Next we get wild, lo-fi prog keys, yelling vocals, and bashing rockin’ percussion which creates a hip hoppy, industrial dance floor grooving, rock ‘n’ outer space soulful mish-mash of punked out rock collage fun.
I thought the Eternal Concessions tape (HR017) that preceded this was anarchic, but DAMN… R.S.V.P. is some seriously avant punked out space rock!
R.S.V.P. were the Memphis trio of Chris Phinney, Mike Jackson, and Dave Peterson. They only released this one tape, though Phinney considers this the precursor to the Phinney/Jackson duo Cancerous Growth, which would release many tapes on Harsh Reality and other labels.
The set opens with ‘Madman Rules’, which right out of the chute is rocking hard in lo-fi experimental psychedelic space. It’s a space rocking brain-on-drugs fest with fuzzed out guitars and wailing riffage, wigged out alien electronics, and a steady drum beat. Cosmic stoner and brain fryers step right this way for some mind-warped, industrial strength space ritualism.
The electronics on ‘Walk Down A Dark Street Late’ are like oscillating and wildly bubbling alien bee swarms, making for a space invasion vibe that is tempered by the overall stoned atmosphere and rhythmic pace. ‘Killer Cop’ is some crazily rocking shit, and I mean that in the BEST possible way. Totally hair down experimental space rock. There’s a droning melody that sounds like an electronic accordion, accompanied by fuzz/drone industrial bass or electronics, madman organ runs, and unintelligible efx’d psycho vocals. And there’s an 80s video game soundtrack and toy instrument quality to ‘Box Of Cereal’ that is all part of the electroshock charm of this set.
The insanity continues on Side B. BUT…. Standing in front of the crowd we have pleasantly tinkling yet offbeat melodies that provide a creepily strange, noisily cosmic edge to the proceedings. Next we get wild, lo-fi prog keys, yelling vocals, and bashing rockin’ percussion which creates a hip hoppy, industrial dance floor grooving, rock ‘n’ outer space soulful mish-mash of punked out rock collage fun.
I thought the Eternal Concessions tape (HR017) that preceded this was anarchic, but DAMN… R.S.V.P. is some seriously avant punked out space rock!
INTERVIEW with Chris Phinney by Kranitz
JK: Like Eternal Concessions that preceded it in the catalog. R.S.V.P. was a one-shot with only one full length tape. It was you, Mike Jackson, and who you explained to me in an email was somebody named Dave Peterson.
CP: He was the guitar player for Jackson’s punk band Severed Justice (on ‘Spit On It’ compilation, HR014). Jackson brought him over.
JK: You have described this as a precursor to Cancerous Growth. Was it out of R.S.V.P. that you and Mike found a synergy and moved on to Cancerous Growth?
CP: Dave Peterson was a one shot. Mike had done a little bit with (Viktimized) Karcass. I’d done some Severed Justice. And we both hung out and listened to records all the time. So we recorded.
JK: I had told you I thought the Eternal Concessions tape that preceded this was anarchic. But THIS is some seriously avant punked out space rock. I really like this.
CP: Me and Jackson gelled real well playing synth on that tape. So we decided we were going to start something of our own. I had been in New York recording with Al Margolis (Sound of Pig label). I stayed with him, then with Doug Walker recording with Alien Planetscapes, and Carl Howard in Jersey City. I headed to Boston after that to record with Mike as Cancerous Growth. We recorded ‘Growth On The Beach’, put out on Sound of Pig as a C-90 tape (SOP 170). We also recorded ‘Here Lies Buried’ for Harsh Reality (HR060). ‘Growth On The Beach’ has the microphones hanging out the window recording the rain and ambience as part of an electro-acoustic track. we had microphones running outside, hanging microphones 30 feet down the building.
JK: It sounds like there’s real drums on this album. Is there?
CP: There might have been a little bit. I had a set in the studio.
JK: One of the interesting things about going through all the tapes in your catalog is, when it comes to Viktimized Karcass and Cancerous Growth, those bands weren’t just on Harsh Reality, there’s tapes on lots of other labels.
CP: Yeah, they were all over. There were various incarnations of people’s labels. But everybody quit.
JK: Like Eternal Concessions that preceded it in the catalog. R.S.V.P. was a one-shot with only one full length tape. It was you, Mike Jackson, and who you explained to me in an email was somebody named Dave Peterson.
CP: He was the guitar player for Jackson’s punk band Severed Justice (on ‘Spit On It’ compilation, HR014). Jackson brought him over.
JK: You have described this as a precursor to Cancerous Growth. Was it out of R.S.V.P. that you and Mike found a synergy and moved on to Cancerous Growth?
CP: Dave Peterson was a one shot. Mike had done a little bit with (Viktimized) Karcass. I’d done some Severed Justice. And we both hung out and listened to records all the time. So we recorded.
JK: I had told you I thought the Eternal Concessions tape that preceded this was anarchic. But THIS is some seriously avant punked out space rock. I really like this.
CP: Me and Jackson gelled real well playing synth on that tape. So we decided we were going to start something of our own. I had been in New York recording with Al Margolis (Sound of Pig label). I stayed with him, then with Doug Walker recording with Alien Planetscapes, and Carl Howard in Jersey City. I headed to Boston after that to record with Mike as Cancerous Growth. We recorded ‘Growth On The Beach’, put out on Sound of Pig as a C-90 tape (SOP 170). We also recorded ‘Here Lies Buried’ for Harsh Reality (HR060). ‘Growth On The Beach’ has the microphones hanging out the window recording the rain and ambience as part of an electro-acoustic track. we had microphones running outside, hanging microphones 30 feet down the building.
JK: It sounds like there’s real drums on this album. Is there?
CP: There might have been a little bit. I had a set in the studio.
JK: One of the interesting things about going through all the tapes in your catalog is, when it comes to Viktimized Karcass and Cancerous Growth, those bands weren’t just on Harsh Reality, there’s tapes on lots of other labels.
CP: Yeah, they were all over. There were various incarnations of people’s labels. But everybody quit.