Pitchfork

[Posted Tuesday, September 16th, 2003 04:00:00 Pitchfork Central Time]

The official Drag City website avers that U.S. Maple, Chicago's most deranged purveyors of art-damaged fury, are gearing up to release their fifth album, entitled Purple On Time. -- period included, to the chagrin of typesetters and copyeditors everywhere. On this, their follow-up to 2001's Acre Thrills, U.S. Maple is pulling out all the stops and packaging the vinyl in sleeves actually made from Al Johnson's solidified vomit-- um, ick. No. Actually, according to Drag City's website, the vinyl will be lavishly adorned in a combination of 21st-century graphics, die-cutting, 180-gram vinyl, photographic portraiture, and ruthless self-mutilation. And they will perhaps be lovingly hand-stitched by Black Forest Elves.

The vinyl edition is slated for an October 7th release, and features a bonus track that will be absent from the CD. Purple on Time. will be released on CD on November 4th, around which time the band should begin touring to support the new material, though nothing is firm as of yet. Except me! Tracklist:

01 My Li'l Shocker
02 Sweet & Center
03 Oh Below
04 I'm Just a Bag
05 Dumb in the Wings
06 Favors are Weird [LP only]
07 Whoopee Invader
08 Lay Lady Lay
09 Tan Loves Blue
10 Untitled
11 Touch Me Judge

For the uninitiated, a U.S. Maple album can be a daunting prospect-- a Beefheart vs. Pere Ubu tangle of mauled classic-rock riffs, Al Johnson's stomach-turning moans and mumbles, and vertiginously wobbling rhythms exploding into blood-soaked bursts of sonic confetti. Occasionally the songs phase into a brief and shining coherence, but inevitably someone hits a deliberately bad note and the upward struggle begins anew. The aggression barely sublimated on the records waxes into stark relief during their live set, as they push and pull one another like late-stage alcoholics at happy hour, whispering urgently, and detune each other's instruments mid-song. Johnson's incredibly intense stage presence, pneumatic throat and occasional elbow-length gloves must be experienced to be believed. In the meantime, check out the MP3 of "Dumb In The Wings" posted on Drag City's mainpage.