Poem Rocket
Encyclopedia
Poem Rocket is an experimental U.S. art rock
/ noise rock
band based currently in rural New York
, originally hailing from New York City
.
) and musician/author Ian Christe
. Other drummers auditioned for the band, including author Paul Collins
, who performed with the band in 1993 at CBGB
. Drummer Andrew Nelson joined in late 1993, completing the early Poem Rocket sound. The band started off by releasing a few 7" singles and a 10" EP; many songs from these were compiled on the Felix Culpa
compilation CD in 1995. Proper debut album Infinite Retry On Parallel Time-out was recorded in 1996-1997 at The Funhouse with William Weber, and was mixed by Wharton Tiers
; it was released in early 1998 by PCP Entertainment, a daughter label of Matador Records
. After heavy touring in 1995-1996, Bass departed in late 1996, leaving the band as a three-piece. Nelson stayed until 1998, after he threw his drum kit into the audience at the end of a set in Atlanta, GA. Peter Gordon of Gapeseed then replaced Nelson on drums. Poem Rocket began working with Atavistic Records
, releasing the concept album
psychogeography on Atavistic Records
in 2000. Sometime in the next few years (ca. 2002 or 2003), Adam Cooke of Baltimore rock band Roads To Space Travel briefly replaced Gordon on drums. In 2002, based now primarily on a mountainside in upstate New York, the band began work on a double album, titled Invasion! The album was completed in 2006 and released in 2007. A 1999 recording, made at Six Finger Satellite
's studio in Providence, RI, remains unreleased. Peters is also a member of the experimental literary collective Be Blank Consort, and has been working on a biography of French architect
Fleury Colon. As of 2007, Poem Rocket's full-length CDs remain in print, but their EPs have been out of print and scarce for years. (None of their CDs were apparently ever released on vinyl.)
, Suicide
, Can
, Live Skull
, Bauhaus
, The Church
, Fugazi, Talking Heads
, Pixies, The Ex, Band Of Susans
and Gang Of Four
. My Bloody Valentine, The Birthday Party
, The Stooges
, Slint
, Unwound
, and Siouxsie And The Banshees seem to have informed Poem Rocket's sound as well. Some less rock-music-based influences include the "guitar orchestras" of Rhys Chatham
/Glenn Branca
, ambient soundscapes of Brian Eno
, and pulse compositions of Steve Reich
.
They also draw from conceptual art
, situationism, and varied literary inspirations. Their 2000 album was titled after Guy Debord
's concept of Psychogeography
, which is the study of how the geography and architecture of environments shape the behavior and thought processes of their inhabitants. Sample lyrics from "Reurbanization Of The Space" read, "Here is the new trend, examine the implications in the public and the private sectors... You're creating the mythology of the Great American City... The space around the buildings is the soul of the city." Peters generally sings an a careening, animated, androgynous voice, while Gardner uses more of a controlled, breathy purr. Themes of existentialism
, architecture, alienation, outer space, and biology crop up frequently, though the lyrics are open-ended enough to warrant multiple interpretations. Peters and Gardner can often be found harmonizing sweetly while atonal squalls of noise and throbbing basslines churn around them, leading to a disorienting, kinetic overall sound. Key examples of songs in this style include "Small White Animal," "Appeal To The Imagination," "Box: Tallow, Felt And Ice" and "Blue Chevy Impala." They have had a few acoustic numbers, such as "God Damn Alien Sundial" and the sexually-suggestive love ballad "Milky White Entropy." They have a song named after Dutch painter Karel Appel
. Subdued travelogue "Budapest" features reversed cymbal and guitar loops. The twelve-minute "Levy 9 R.S.V.P." appears to be about the collision of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9
into Jupiter in 1994; the line "If it hits us, say I told you so/ No regrets" is repeated several times with increasing urgency. After an extended crescendo, it concludes with a whispered line about "fragmentary guests... deep in the dense layers of hydrogen." "Bataille" is apparently about controversial philosopher Georges Bataille
.
, and probably CBGB's. They are known to have played live with Blastula, Wharton Tiers Ensemble, Mecca Normal
, labelmates Slug (rock band, not rap group), Tono-Bungay
, Bride Of No-No, Pilot To Gunner, Sweep The Leg Johnny
, and Hippopotamus http://www.gigposters.com/band/5272_Poem_Rocket.html. They are believed to have played live with their recording partners Six Finger Satellite.
rights, the band has no relation to the original Poem Rocket.
Art rock
Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the 1960s, with influences from art, avant-garde, and classical music. The first usage of the term, according to Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, was in 1968. Influenced by the work of The Beatles, most notably their Sgt...
/ noise rock
Noise rock
Noise rock describes a style of post-punk rock music that became prominent in the 1980s. Noise rock makes use of the traditional instrumentation and iconography of rock, but incorporates atonality and especially dissonance, and also frequently discards usual songwriting conventions.-Style:Noise...
band based currently in rural New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, originally hailing from New York City
New York City
New 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...
.
The Real Periphery: Biography
Formed in 1992, the band consists of Michael Peters (vocals, guitar, songwriting), Sandra Gardner (vocals, bass, songwriting), and Peter Gordon (drums). Peters and Gardner were married in 1997; they had a child in winter of 2003. Originally a four-piece with Dennis Bass also on guitar, Poem Rocket had a string of (often short-lived) drummers, most notably William Shin (SeamSeam
Seam may refer to:* Seam , the line where two or more layers of fabric are held together by stitches* Seam , a stratum of coal or mineral that is economically viable; a bed or a distinct layer of vein of rock in other layers of rock...
) and musician/author Ian Christe
Ian Christe
Ian Christe is an author, disc jockey and publisher. He attended The Clarkson School's Bridging Year and Indiana University....
. Other drummers auditioned for the band, including author Paul Collins
Paul Collins
-Athletes:* Paul Collins , American football player* Paul Collins , Canadian long-distance runner* Paul Collins , Australian rugby union international...
, who performed with the band in 1993 at CBGB
CBGB
CBGB was a music club at 315 Bowery at Bleecker Street in the borough of Manhattan in New York City.Founded by Hilly Kristal in 1973, it was originally intended to feature its namesake musical styles, but became a forum for American punk and New Wave bands like Ramones, Misfits, Television, the...
. Drummer Andrew Nelson joined in late 1993, completing the early Poem Rocket sound. The band started off by releasing a few 7" singles and a 10" EP; many songs from these were compiled on the Felix Culpa
Felix culpa
Felix culpa is a Latin phrase that comes from the words Felix and Culpa , and in the Catholic tradition is most often translated "happy fault."...
compilation CD in 1995. Proper debut album Infinite Retry On Parallel Time-out was recorded in 1996-1997 at The Funhouse with William Weber, and was mixed by Wharton Tiers
Wharton Tiers
Wharton Tiers is an American audio engineer, record producer, drummer and percussionist.- Biography :Diplomed from Villanova University , he moved to New York City in 1976 and was part of the No Wave scene.As an audio engineer and record producer, he has worked on projects such as Sonic Youth,...
; it was released in early 1998 by PCP Entertainment, a daughter label of Matador Records
Matador Records
Matador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of indie rock artists and bands.-History:Matador was started by Chris Lombardi in 1989 in his New York City apartment. The following year, Lombardi was joined by former Homestead Records manager Gerard Cosloy, and the two of them have...
. After heavy touring in 1995-1996, Bass departed in late 1996, leaving the band as a three-piece. Nelson stayed until 1998, after he threw his drum kit into the audience at the end of a set in Atlanta, GA. Peter Gordon of Gapeseed then replaced Nelson on drums. Poem Rocket began working with Atavistic Records
Atavistic Records
Atavistic Records is an American rock and jazz record label based in Chicago, Illinois, known particularly for its No Wave and free jazz recordings. It has released albums by Glenn Branca, Nels Cline, Lydia Lunch, Peter Brötzmann, various Ken Vandermark projects, Pinetop Seven, Swans, Elliott...
, releasing the concept album
Concept album
In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...
psychogeography on Atavistic Records
Atavistic Records
Atavistic Records is an American rock and jazz record label based in Chicago, Illinois, known particularly for its No Wave and free jazz recordings. It has released albums by Glenn Branca, Nels Cline, Lydia Lunch, Peter Brötzmann, various Ken Vandermark projects, Pinetop Seven, Swans, Elliott...
in 2000. Sometime in the next few years (ca. 2002 or 2003), Adam Cooke of Baltimore rock band Roads To Space Travel briefly replaced Gordon on drums. In 2002, based now primarily on a mountainside in upstate New York, the band began work on a double album, titled Invasion! The album was completed in 2006 and released in 2007. A 1999 recording, made at Six Finger Satellite
Six Finger Satellite
Six Finger Satellite are an American synthesizer-based post-hardcore band, based in Providence, Rhode Island.- History :The band formed in 1990 around a line-up of J. Ryan , John MacLean , Peter Phillips , Chris Dixon , and Rick Pelletier...
's studio in Providence, RI, remains unreleased. Peters is also a member of the experimental literary collective Be Blank Consort, and has been working on a biography of French architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
Fleury Colon. As of 2007, Poem Rocket's full-length CDs remain in print, but their EPs have been out of print and scarce for years. (None of their CDs were apparently ever released on vinyl.)
Hip Pharmacy: Sound and influences
Poem Rocket, while in most respects a visceral rock band, draws upon a broad palette of influences, both musical and otherwise. Being originally immersed in the New York City music/art world exposed them to myriad creative stimuli. Rock influences include Throwing MusesThrowing Muses
Throwing Muses is an alternative rock band formed in 1981 in Newport, Rhode Island, that toured and recorded extensively until 1997, when its members began concentrating more on other projects. The group was originally fronted by two lead singers, Kristin Hersh and Tanya Donelly, who both wrote the...
, Suicide
Suicide (band)
Suicide is an American electronic protopunk musical duo, intermittently active since 1970 and composed of vocalist Alan Vega and Martin Rev on synthesizers and drum machines. They are an early synthesizer/vocal musical duo....
, Can
Can (band)
Can was an experimental rock band formed in Cologne, West Germany in 1968. Later labeled as one of the first "krautrock" groups, they transcended mainstream influences and incorporated strong minimalist and world music elements into their often psychedelic music.Can constructed their music largely...
, Live Skull
Live Skull
-Overview:Live Skull created abrasive no wave music not unlike their 1980s contemporaries Sonic Youth, Swans, Rat at Rat R, The Chameleons, Mars, Teenage Jesus and the Jerks and Band of Susans. Their music featured angular guitar parts interspersed with bleak, quieter passages, for a haunting...
, Bauhaus
Bauhaus (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...
, The Church
The Church (band)
The Church is an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1980. Initially associated with new wave and the neo-psychedelic sound of the mid 1980s, their music later became more reminiscent of progressive rock, featuring long instrumental jams and complex guitar interplay...
, Fugazi, Talking Heads
Talking Heads
Talking Heads were an American New Wave and avant-garde band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991. The band comprised David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth and Jerry Harrison...
, Pixies, The Ex, Band Of Susans
Band of Susans
Band of Susans was a noise rock band formed in New York City in 1986. It originally consisted of Robert Poss , Susan Stenger , Ron Spitzer , with Susan Lyall , Susan Tallman , and Alva Rogers . However, the band would undergo several permutations over the years, usually involving guitarists...
and Gang Of Four
Gang of Four (band)
Gang of Four are an English post-punk group from Leeds. Original personnel were singer Jon King, guitarist Andy Gill, bass guitarist Dave Allen and drummer Hugo Burnham. They were fully active from 1977 to 1984, and then re-emerged twice in the 1990s with King and Gill...
. My Bloody Valentine, The Birthday Party
The Birthday Party (band)
The Birthday Party were an Australian rock band, active from 1973 to 1983.Despite being championed by John Peel, The Birthday Party found little commercial success during their career...
, The Stooges
The Stooges
The Stooges are an American rock band from Ann Arbor, Michigan first active from 1967 to 1974, and later reformed in 2003...
, Slint
Slint
Slint was an American rock band consisting of Brian McMahan , David Pajo , Britt Walford , Todd Brashear and Ethan Buckler...
, Unwound
Unwound
Unwound was a United States post-hardcore band based in Tumwater/Olympia, Washington. Formed in 1991, the band consisted of Justin Trosper , Vern Rumsey , and Brandt Sandeno , all of whom had previously been in a band called Giant Henry. Brandt Sandeno quit Unwound in 1992 and was replaced by...
, and Siouxsie And The Banshees seem to have informed Poem Rocket's sound as well. Some less rock-music-based influences include the "guitar orchestras" of Rhys Chatham
Rhys Chatham
Rhys Chatham is an American composer, guitarist, and trumpet player, primarily active in avant-garde and minimalist music. He is best known for his "guitar orchestra" compositions...
/Glenn Branca
Glenn Branca
Glenn Branca is an American avant-garde composer and guitarist known for his use of volume, alternative guitar tunings, repetition, droning, and the harmonic series. In 2008 he was awarded an unrestricted grant from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts.-Beginnings: 1960s and early 1970s:Branca...
, ambient soundscapes of Brian Eno
Brian Eno
Brian 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,...
, and pulse compositions of Steve Reich
Steve Reich
Stephen Michael "Steve" Reich is an American composer who together with La Monte Young, Terry Riley, and Philip Glass is a pioneering composer of minimal music...
.
They also draw from conceptual art
Conceptual art
Conceptual art is art in which the concept or idea involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic and material concerns. Many of the works, sometimes called installations, of the artist Sol LeWitt may be constructed by anyone simply by following a set of written instructions...
, situationism, and varied literary inspirations. Their 2000 album was titled after Guy Debord
Guy Debord
Guy Ernest Debord was a French Marxist theorist, writer, filmmaker, member of the Letterist International, founder of a Letterist faction, and founding member of the Situationist International . He was also briefly a member of Socialisme ou Barbarie.-Early Life:Guy Debord was born in Paris in 1931...
's concept of Psychogeography
Psychogeography
Psychogeography was defined in 1955 by Guy Debord as "the study of the precise laws and specific effects of the geographical environment, consciously organized or not, on the emotions and behavior of individuals." Another definition is "a whole toy box full of playful, inventive strategies for...
, which is the study of how the geography and architecture of environments shape the behavior and thought processes of their inhabitants. Sample lyrics from "Reurbanization Of The Space" read, "Here is the new trend, examine the implications in the public and the private sectors... You're creating the mythology of the Great American City... The space around the buildings is the soul of the city." Peters generally sings an a careening, animated, androgynous voice, while Gardner uses more of a controlled, breathy purr. Themes of existentialism
Existentialism
Existentialism is a term applied to a school of 19th- and 20th-century philosophers who, despite profound doctrinal differences, shared the belief that philosophical thinking begins with the human subject—not merely the thinking subject, but the acting, feeling, living human individual...
, architecture, alienation, outer space, and biology crop up frequently, though the lyrics are open-ended enough to warrant multiple interpretations. Peters and Gardner can often be found harmonizing sweetly while atonal squalls of noise and throbbing basslines churn around them, leading to a disorienting, kinetic overall sound. Key examples of songs in this style include "Small White Animal," "Appeal To The Imagination," "Box: Tallow, Felt And Ice" and "Blue Chevy Impala." They have had a few acoustic numbers, such as "God Damn Alien Sundial" and the sexually-suggestive love ballad "Milky White Entropy." They have a song named after Dutch painter Karel Appel
Karel Appel
Christiaan Karel Appel was a Dutch painter, sculptor, and poet. He started painting at the age of fourteen and studied at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam in the 1940s...
. Subdued travelogue "Budapest" features reversed cymbal and guitar loops. The twelve-minute "Levy 9 R.S.V.P." appears to be about the collision of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9
Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9
Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 was a comet that broke apart and collided with Jupiter in July 1994, providing the first direct observation of an extraterrestrial collision of solar system objects. This generated a large amount of coverage in the popular media, and the comet was closely observed by...
into Jupiter in 1994; the line "If it hits us, say I told you so/ No regrets" is repeated several times with increasing urgency. After an extended crescendo, it concludes with a whispered line about "fragmentary guests... deep in the dense layers of hydrogen." "Bataille" is apparently about controversial philosopher Georges Bataille
Georges Bataille
Georges Bataille was a French writer. His multifaceted work is linked to the domains of literature, anthropology, philosophy, economy, sociology and history of art...
.
Blue Chevy Impala: Touring
Poem Rocket's national (and/or international) touring history is uncertain, though they were known to play frequently around the New York City area in the 1990s at avant-garde music clubs such as The Knitting Factory and The CoolerThe Cooler
The Cooler is a 2003 romantic drama film directed by Wayne Kramer. The original screenplay was written by Kramer and Frank Hannah. In gambling parlance, a "cooler" is an unlucky individual whose presence at the tables results in a streak of bad luck for the other players.- Plot :Unlucky Bernie...
, and probably CBGB's. They are known to have played live with Blastula, Wharton Tiers Ensemble, Mecca Normal
Mecca Normal
Formed by Jean Smith and David Lester in 1984, Mecca Normal is a two-piece indie rock band from Vancouver, Canada. Smith writes lyrics and sings in a style that is often confrontational and laced with feminist themes; Lester's melodic yet dissonant guitar swirls and loops around her vocals...
, labelmates Slug (rock band, not rap group), Tono-Bungay
Tono-Bungay
Tono-Bungay , by H. G. Wells, is a realist semi-autobiographical novel. It is narrated by George Ponderevo, a science student who is drafted in to help with the promotion of Tono-Bungay, a harmful stimulant disguised as a miraculous cure-all, the creation of his ambitious uncle Edward...
, Bride Of No-No, Pilot To Gunner, Sweep The Leg Johnny
Sweep the Leg Johnny
Sweep the Leg Johnny was a Chicago-based math rock band in existence from 1996 till 2002. The name is a reference to a line in the film The Karate Kid....
, and Hippopotamus http://www.gigposters.com/band/5272_Poem_Rocket.html. They are believed to have played live with their recording partners Six Finger Satellite.
Virus: Recent usage of name
A band in the U.K. formed in early 2005 under the name Poem Rocket, even boasting a similar sound and set of influences as the U.S. Poem Rocket. Despite the plagiarism and/or general violation of intellectual propertyIntellectual property
Intellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law...
rights, the band has no relation to the original Poem Rocket.
Albums
- Infinite Retry On Parallel Time-out CD (recorded in 1997) (PCP, 1998)
- psychogeography CD (Atavistic, 2000)
- Invasion! 2xCD (Atavistic, 2007) ["Ileah" mp3 excerpt: http://www.atavistic.com/items/ALP133IleahEDIT.mp3]
EPs
- Into The Aether (a.k.a. "Blue Chevy Impala") 10" (Bear/ Carcrashh, 1995)
- The Universe Explained In Six Songs CD EP/ mini-album (in oversized clamshell case) (Secret Eye, 1999)
- Lend/Lease CD-R EP (unreleased thus far; recorded in 1999)
Singles
- "Period (punctuation or the amount of time required for a cyclic movement to occur)" b/w "Flaw" 7" (Bear, 1994)
- "Small White Animal" b/w "Milky White Entropy" 7" (PCP, 1995)
- "Desire Illuminated" b/w "Electronimo" 7" (Magic Eye Singles, 1997)
Various-artist compilation tracks (ca. 1995-97)
- "Deus AbsconditusDeus otiosusDeus otiosus or "idle god" is a theological concept used to describe a creator god who largely retires from the world and is no longer involved in its daily operation, a central tenet of Deism....
," "The Animal Planter," "Begging To Please You," "Pretty Baby," "Return In Disarray" (never formally released; full mp3: http://www.originalmonochrome.com/pcp/pcp_mp3/pr-disarray.mp3), "The Path Of Coterminous Crescendoes"
Music videos
- "Small White Animal" (Directed by Poem Rocket and Peter Gordon) (MPG video excerpt: http://www.poemrocket.com/video/small_2.mov)
- "Box: Tallow, Felt, And Ice" (Directed by Elizabeth Bustamante; cinematography by Dave Anderson)
- "Ka-boom" (Directed by Poem Rocket and Peter Gordon) (MPG video excerpt: http://www.poemrocket.com/video/kaboom_1.mov)