saccharine
trust article
the pulse of portland (1997)
Back in the days before punk rock
became a cute commodity hawked by corporate clowns, the center of the indie
universe- or at least one of it's brightest stars- was SST Records. Started
by Black Flag guitarist Greg Ginn, the label put itself on the map not just
for releasing Black Flag albums, but for pushing the boundaries of
underground rock music, bringing the world bands like Sonic Youth, The
Minutemen, The Alternatives, Blind Idiot God, Slovenly, and Saccharine
Trust. On their first record, Pagan Icons, released on 1981,
Saccharine Trust blew the punk world away by mixing elements of jazz into
their ear pummeling assault. Frontman Jack Brewer's barked rantings were
hammered home by the precise, powerhouse punctuation of the band, a formula
which was further refined by the classic second record, Surviving You,
Always. Later records led the band down even jazzier paths, largely
fueled by the guitar genius of Joe Baiza, who would later go on to form The
Universal Congress Of. He has also sat in with another SST act, The Sort Of
Quartet, and instrumental combo that uses guitars, horns, and keyboards to
assemble it's quirky, bluesy latin-jazz numbers. They should offer a
welcome respite from the more strident tones of this line-up, which most
importantly, offers us a chance to catch a legendary and pioneering band for
the first time in a decade.
