Mouse Blood
Encyclopedia
Mouse Blood was intended to be Theatre of Ice
's final offering as brothers Brent and John Johnson moved to Utah
, Eric moved to Georgia
, and Mark moved to Connecticut
to attend different universities. Labeled as "A limited edition sampling of the works of Theatre of Ice as chosen by friends who hate the band" it included songs from their first three albums as well as a few new releases. The album, however, was heralded by the music press as one of the most innovative albums of the decade..
Theatre of Ice
Theatre of Ice were an early Deathrock band that formed in the Nevada desert in December 1978. Initially formed to record a soundtrack for a horror movie, the members instead evolved into what some claim was the first Deathrock band...
's final offering as brothers Brent and John Johnson moved to Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
, Eric moved to Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, and Mark moved to Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
to attend different universities. Labeled as "A limited edition sampling of the works of Theatre of Ice as chosen by friends who hate the band" it included songs from their first three albums as well as a few new releases. The album, however, was heralded by the music press as one of the most innovative albums of the decade..
Musicians
- Brent Johnson - Vocals, Guitars & Effects
- John Johnson - Guitar, Synthesizer & Keyboards
- Mark Johnson - Drums & Things
- Eric Johnson - Guitar, Continuity
Track listing
- It's All Over Now
- Driven
- Fox
- Just Let It Go
- A Cool Dark Place To Die
- The Burning Man
- The Last
- Starlight Drive
- Watch The Skies
- Chill Factor
- In The Burning Church
- One Two
- From the Ruins of my Mind
- Miron
- Beneath the Stones
- Life is a Circus
Reviews
- Alternative PressAlternative Press (music magazine)Alternative Press is an American music magazine based in Cleveland, Ohio. It generally provides readers with band interviews, photos, information on upcoming releases, and music charts. It was founded in 1985 by Mike Shea, who is the current president....
- If you’ve whipped through the art, music and poetry circles of New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
lately, you’ve probably caught wind that afoot the downtown scene is a new spirit of romanticism. The phrase “new romanticism” may strike the quick and dirty mind as meaningless hype, but this contemporary version, owing as much to BlakeWilliam BlakeWilliam Blake was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of both the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age...
and ShelleyPercy Bysshe ShelleyPercy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets and is critically regarded as among the finest lyric poets in the English language. Shelley was famous for his association with John Keats and Lord Byron...
as to BuddHarold BuddHarold Budd is an American ambient/avant-garde composer and poet. Born in Los Angeles, he was raised in the Mojave Desert, and was inspired at an early age by the humming tone caused by wind blown across telephone wires....
and EnoBrian EnoBrian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
, means that the content of any given expression again reflects an excessive, highly self-conscious moodiness, the result of man’s separation from nature and the beast. Today’s creative spirits are, in fact, seeking both meaning and hype where ever they may find it, whether that be un demanding theories of the sublime or in the narcotizing traps of mass media. Theatre of Ice is the most innovative band working in the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to deepen the meaning of gothic horror rock. The brothers Johnson have produced a remarkable limited edition album called Mouse Blood, a sampling of works “as chosen by friends who hate the band.” Coming from the west, Theatre of Ice senses the power of the death wish, and Mouse Blood bears the marking of the brothers Johnson former hometown, Fallon, NevadaFallon, Nevada-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 7,536 people, 3,004 households, and 1,877 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,474.1 people per square mile . There were 3,336 housing units at an average density of 1,095.2 per square mile...
– the site of a massive animal burial ground. Most reviewers tend to accentuate campy, grade b horror elements as the stuff of Theatre of Ice. But the band’s hunger for content is far deeper than kitsch. Think of PoeEdgar Allan PoeEdgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
’s Black cat as a reference point for Mouse Blood. As in Poe the suggestion of insanity always lays close to a formal artistic surface. Imagine Poe living in the contemporary family, and then you’ll since how Mouse Blood flows through the dark night of domestic horror. When a baby mouse crawled slowly across my living room floor recently I struck its head with a hammer, wiped the wall and realized that Mouse Blood plays on notions other than the sick and the tasteless. Theatre of Ice is in full control of concepts, influences and instruments on this fine album which focuses on pain, cruelty, death, and terror. Also evident is a good sense of humor that tilts toward gothic parody with ambient sounds. Simple pop lyrics about where to go are saturated in the echo chamber. At times the sound and structure of psychedelic pop is dragged and muffled to good effect. Transitions between songs flow nicely with effective tape effects. Dissonant rock elements, such as rolling percussion and crashing cymbals, and wailing guitars are embedded within strong, obsessive emotions. One reference point for the band’s progressive rock credentials is established with great guitar work, in a manner of, say, FrippRobert FrippRobert Fripp is an English guitarist, composer and record producer. He was ranked 42nd on Rolling Stone magazine's 2003 list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and #47 on Gibson.com’s "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time". Among rock guitarists, Fripp is a master of crosspicking, a technique...
on Eno’s Before And After Science. There’s a deep regard for particulars of a pop eschatology in Theatre of Ice’s vision of wildlife and the sexual life heard in a song such as "Fox". In a formal sense, Mouse Blood unwinds from a great American vision of animal flesh ravaged by insane youth. At each deadly curve on the journey Theatre of Ice deliberately paces its music so that the whole album moves, both musically and conceptually, with the listener. Theatre of Ice sounds far more uncompromising than BauhausBauhaus (band)Bauhaus was an English rock band formed in Northampton in 1978. The group consisted of Peter Murphy , Daniel Ash , Kevin Haskins and David J . The band was originally Bauhaus 1919 before they dropped the numerical portion within a year of formation...
or The CureThe CureThe Cure are an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976. The band has experienced several line-up changes, with frontman, vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter Robert Smith being the only constant member...
in the search for the sublime within the dark hidden regions of themselves. What stands revealed in Mouse Blood is the core connection between gothic rock and American Romanticism. Theatre of Ice is concerned not only with the geography of the soul but that of the American West. In this sense, their songs of premature burial take on a deep suggestiveness. The formal horror of Theatre of Ice is nothing less than the bizarre horror of the American West – a land of nuclear test sites, animal carcass dumps, and MormonMormonThe term Mormon most commonly denotes an adherent, practitioner, follower, or constituent of Mormonism, which is the largest branch of the Latter Day Saint movement in restorationist Christianity...
catacombs. -- Bag Worm.
- Sporadic Droolings - Of all the experimental bands I've heard, Theatre of Ice is undoubtedly one of my favorite and certainly on of the most interesting. This makes all previous horror rockHorror RockHorror Rock is a rock lying 3.5 nautical miles west of South West Point, Annenkov Island, South Georgia. Named by United Kingdom Antarctic Place-Names Committee from the circumstances of the rock's discovery by HMS Owen on February 21, 1961. The ship avoided striking the rock in rough weather...
efforts sound like the Bay City RollersBay City RollersThe Bay City Rollers were a Scottish pop band who were most popular in the 1970s. The British Hit Singles & Albums noted that they were "tartan teen sensations from Edinburgh", and were "the first of many acts heralded as the 'Biggest Group since The Beatles' and one of the most screamed-at...
. Superb packaging on the these (lyric booklets with each, laminated fold-outs...) and if this stuff does not give you the slightest willies as you listen in a pitch black room you must be a genuine creep (like a child molester or something like that). What this band seems to do is take traditional rock structures, and in some cases even poppy melodies and chord progressions and use and abuse them until they meet a sort of demented standard. What you receive is a thoroughly flaked-out listening experience where there is no possible way you know what is going to pop out of the next Jack-in-the-box. Thorough incorporation of insanely haunting background effects that prove to be quite the horror film soundtrack. But it'd surely have to be a top-notch scare flick. Johnson Brothers two are this era's Hudson BrothersHudson BrothersThe Hudson Brothers are an American music group formed in Portland, Oregon in the 1970s and consisting of Bill Hudson, Brett Hudson and Mark Hudson...
or maybe even Allman Brothers. Utterly and quasi-insanely intense and hypnotizing maybe. A Cool Dark Place To Die is their latest release of morbidly motivated meanderings. Mouse Blood is a compilation of their first three albums (selected cuts as chosen by friends who hate the band). I'm impressed. Nearly an hour of pleasurable terror. You had best be ready for this one boys and girls!.
- OPtion MagazineOption (music magazine)Option was a music magazine based in Los Angeles, California.-History:Originally called OPtion, it, along with Sound Choice, were the dual successors to the earlier music magazine OP, published by John Foster and the Lost Music Network and known for its diverse scope and the role it played in...
, Los Angeles - A sampling of four years of activity that shows Theatre of Ice to be above average purveyors of gloom rock. Titles like "A Cool Dark Place to Die" and "From The Ruins Of My Mind" should give you some idea of their lyrics' bent, usually sung with lots of echo. The music has plenty of guitar and organ (synthesizer?) over a recognizable pulse that is often slowly paced despite a few uptempo pieces. -- Lang Thompson.
- Gajoob, Utah - This album is a compilation of the songs of Theatre of Ice's earlier releases, "as chosen by haters of the band". Even though it is a compilation it seems much more focused than their first two albums... at least musically. The brothers Johnson have created an admittedly demented album that is, however, accessible in style and structure. This would be a good starting point to those who have yet to explore the shadowy reaches this band chooses to inhabit.
- Alternative Punk Revue, CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
- This is a limited edition sampling of the works of Theatre of Ice as chosen by haters of the band. This electro-psychedelic music seems to come from some haunted cemetery, somewhere... Visit at your own risk.
- N D, TexasTexasTexas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
- A sampling of tracks and some unreleased ones as well from 1982 to 1985. Excellent sound the whole way through. Sort of like a cult movie soundtrack. Good overview and great to listen to with all the lights out. Could be a good soundtrack for Andy Milligan's The Rats are Coming. Really love the range of sound and effects. Really beautiful in parts and the way it flows from track to track.
- Sound Choice - Four members (are they brothers?...is one a drum machine?) present a "limited edition sampling of the works of Theatre of Ice as chosen by haters of the band". Material is culled from three albums and unreleased sources of Theatre of Ice's dark, haunting music which they've created with fuzzed and echoed guitars, vocal, keyboards and the aforementioned drum machine. Bits of PsyclonesPsyclonesPsyclones is an experimental music industrial band started in 1980. Psyclones are a long standing band with a diverse sound, ranging from punk/post-rock/synth-pop to electronic industrial/ambient music. They released their Greatest Hits CD which spans over a decade of intensely rich, enthusiastic...
(fuzz guitar/drum machine). Bauhaus (Gothic gloom), early TuxedomoonTuxedomoonTuxedomoon is an experimental post-punk/New Wave group formed in San Francisco, California, consisting of core members Blaine L. Reininger, Steven Brown and Peter Principle....
and even a little of The ResidentsThe ResidentsThe Residents is an American art collective best known for avant-garde music and multimedia works. The first official release under the name of The Residents was in 1972, and the group has since released over sixty albums, numerous music videos and short films, three CD-ROM projects and ten DVDs....
style insanity pop up all over this tape of slightly campy but fun music. – Lawrence Crane
- Factsheet FiveFactsheet FiveFactsheet Five was a periodical mostly consisting of short reviews of privately produced printed matter along with contact details of the editors and publishers....
- This is a retrospective album composed of material from Theatre of Ice past releases, and serves as an excellent introduction to this horror rock band. Personal favorites include the guitar-laden, upbeat "Miron" – sort of Beach Boys gone Gothic – and "A Cool Dark Place to Die", title cut from their previous album, which is not for the easily depressed. – MG