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New Cooters CD shows off
Southern Punk Rock Style
by A. J. Mull
from The Daily Mississippian Tuesday, September 10, 1996
If you aren't tuned in to the underground punk scene that exists in Oxford, then you may be forgiven for not knowing about the Cooters.
However, if you don't avail yourself of the opportunity now, you will have to answer to the Supreme Cooter later. So take note, punk veterans and newcomers alike, The Cooters are on the scene with their new CD, "Invasion of the Cooters."
This CD, in the works for about a year, has been fashioned by three lovable Southern malcontents who are decidedly not interested in preserving the status quo. Neuter Cooter is on superfuzz space bass and knocks out the vox while Raw Cooter abuses a six-string guitar, and Judas Cooter thunders on drums. Home-grown Oxford locals all, these fine gents formed the Cooter Estate in 1993, but have known each other for more than 10 years.
According to Neuert Cooter, "When people think of punk rock, they don't think of Mississippi. The general idea (from those outside the South) of a person from Mississippi is some sort of barefoot redneck who wears overalls and sits on his porch alot drinking iced-tea." This common cliche the Cooters have happily claimed.
In addition to adopting (and evolving) cliches about their native state and region, the Cooters have been busy in the past few years honing their skills to bring the Cooter invasion to life, and this is now being accomplished via their debut CD with its eyepopping artwork and unusual sound.
On many emerging bands' first CDs, the artwork appears to be almost an afterthought, but not so on "Invasion of the Cooters." The images on the pullout CD sleeve could be characterized as "futuristic space punk meets Southern Gothic" and these images come directly from the local Cooter mythology.
The visuals that you will find on the CD include a threatening looking scarecrow holding a cooter (a Southern variety of turtle) that has just beamed down to earth, the trio sailing through outer space on their spaceship of choice (not the flying saucer but the flying tractor, of course), and various photos of the band.
The Cooters have been using these symbols for some time now, and their scarecrow image is particularly provocative, especially in some of the line drawings they have displayed on slides during their multimedia shows.
This image appears to be a Southern variation on a theme lately running through American pop-culture having to do with supernatural animation of inanimate, or once animate, objects for the purpose of exacting vengeance for wrongs that have been committed. National examples of this can be seen in The Crow (both I & II) as well as other movies and comics.
Though you will find strong artwork on the Cooters' CD, these images don't make a promise which the music can't keep. All of the elements present in the visuals are also present, to varying degrees, in the music. The Southern Gothic and outer space themes reside along with punk, heavy metal and rap undertones forming the experimential dimension of the Cooters' hardcore sound.
From their punk roots, the Cooters' music inherits a liberal helping of frustration with injustice yet because of the music's experimental side, it is seasoned with more than a sprinkling of humor. If you miss the key fact that a fair amount of their image and music is tongue-in-cheek, then you will probably never be able to fully enjoy or understand it. But don't make the mistake of thinking that when their delivery is playful that the issues aren't dead-on serious. In fact, the lyrics on this CD range from police brutality to blind obediene, but it is not an "issues" CD per se.
A whimsical brand of humor is evident on many of the tracks, starting with track one called "Get the Gun, Maw!" On both this track and the last track you will find them using the outer space theme, but on this first track it is combined, for great effect, with the Southern theme. Only 60 seconds long, it opens with sinister monster movie music punctuated with the sounds of nervous dogs barking and howling along with various other farm yard noises and sonic distortions. Over this you hear a very Southern voice: "What in tarnation? ... Get the gun, Maw, it's an invasion from outer space!" Then the distinctive sound of a gun being cocked is heard followed by the crack of a shot the last sound on the track. It is evocative of the radio broadcast of "The War of the Worlds" which, earlier this century, caused such a panic.
Track two, "Do the Zombie," sounds very Metallica-esque in places. Track three, "The Gooch," opens with a sample of a prank phone call (a la The Jerky Boys), but the song paired with this sample is pretty much a straight-ahead, hardcore punk song.
The fourth song, "Wheels in Motion," has a feel to it which is not unlike Rage Against the Machine's "Bulls on Parade." Track five, which also opens with a sample, begins the musical portion of the song "Crusty" with very heavy 'space" rock overtones which eventually transitions into crustcore.
Track eight, "Kill Them with Kindness," has a very traditional punk sound, somewhat evocative of the style of the Sex Pistols, and track nine, "I Don't Know," one of my personal favorites, has a very definite funk groove twining through the punk lines being laid out on guitar. The vocals on this track are reminiscent of rap, again in the vein of Rage Against the Machine, but much more humorous than what's been seen from Rage so far. Also on this track, many wacky questions are interspersed with more serious ones ("Why does Uncle Sam have a goatee? / Why does this shit always happen to me? / Where's my apple pie? / Am I gonna die? / I don't know oooooh, I don't know!"), but somehow the overall effect is just funny, maybe because it's easier to deal with tough issues when you can laugh.
The 14th and last track on this approximately 60 minute disc is called "A Cooters' Lament" and is very experimental. It uses samples to the exclusion of all else, and could perhaps best be described as transmissions from space. A most interesting track.
One should expect great variety from a CD of experimental hardcore punk influenced by Southern Gothic and outer space themes, and this CD delivers the goods. Its rapid-paccd, evolving sound and heavy use of samples should keep you entertained if you like diversity in music. Check it out. Invasion, indeed!
Reprinted with permission.
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