Kreamy 'Lectric Santa
Operation Spacetime Cynderblock: "Four Riddles of the Spheres"
(Starcleaner Records)
It has been a very long time since the Kreamies have graced us with a full-length effort and what an incredibly delicious piece of wax it is. And though it has been ages, the spirit of this outfit permeates every aspect of this release. For the uninitiated: Kreamy 'Lectric Santa bridged the awkward end of the '80s and the massive untamed wilderness of Miami's '90s underground music. This band helped cement the kitschy über-coolness of Churchill's Pub as the real musical hub of South Florida and send a couple of record nerds out to track down many cassette and 7" releases from fledgling local labels.
But life is not perfect. A spinal injury, relocation, deaths and
dwindling finances in a world that does not justly reward creative
genius have been key factors for limited commercial output. This here
record is but a glimpse of the work that Robert Price (guitar, vox,
beeps, loops) and Priya Ray (violin, vox, extras) have been making. On
these nineteen tracks they are joined by frequent collaborators
drummers Ricky Pollo and JP Burns, bassmen Andre Powell and Ian Billet
and Jan 9 on keys. Joining them throughout the record is a list of
twenty-two other musicians including local fave Dino Felipe; this ad
hoc army lends vocals, technologies, percussion and brass to the effort.
As much as I'd like to sit here and point out the awesomeness of a
carefully placed cover of an '80s sitcom song or how much ass certain
songs kick, I'll come clean -- the album works as a whole. It builds
around itself without sacrificing the integrity of the individual
tracks. The album's price includes the wax, a CD version, great cover
art by Harumi Abe and forty downloads. That's a great deal. Their next
effort will be a collaborative album with musicians across the United
States and it will rely on snail mail for completion. Let's pray to all
the gods we don't have to wait too long for it.
