"Junta" is the (double) debut album of the band from Vermont and, without a doubt, it turns out to be an excellent musical potpourri, although at times it can seem oxidizing. Written and produced by themselves, it was initially distributed after concerts even before having a music contract; and it is precisely the live dimension that will give, especially in the U.S.A., a vast and loyal following for the group.
The album begins with "Fee" which is a fun and mischievous track, developing on an almost Caribbean base. The cabal is refreshed in the next two songs, but it is with "Golgi Apparatus" that the record transforms into a synallagma. The courtyard windows are all closed and then it is possible to see Anastasio (the Pope, the Byzantine Emperor, or the guitarist?) intent on descending the stairs. "Dinner And A Movie" is a lanky tableau vivant, while "David Bowie" (the song) takes on the appearance of a raspberry.
The second disc sometimes positions itself as a typo or like a cold cut platter. "Fluffhead" starts from the beginning but arrives too soon, while "Fluff's Travel" allows us to enjoy a polite and satisfying appetizer.
Tracklist Lyrics and Samples
01 Fee (05:24)
In the cool shade of the banana tree
On the rugged trail toward the balcony
A child of the twentieth century
A dried up Goliath and a weasel named Fee
Far away in another place
A fading beauty named Milly Grace
A gospel singer with pox on her face
And a bamboo cane to help her keep the pace
Fee was a Buddhist prodigy
Long past the age of maturity
Someday he knew it would set him free
Like it did for Floyd, the chimpanzee
Whoa, Fee
You're trying to live a life that's completely free
You're racing with the wind, you're flirting with death
So have a cup of coffee and catch your breath
Fee first met Milly in a bar in Peru
His heart was jumping like a kangaroo
Like a beast in a cage in an old Dutch zoo
It was hopping and jumpin' in wooden shoes
But Floyd was jealous and alone
He wanted Milly for his own
A desperate craving in his bones
"Their love," he said, "I will not condone"
Then one day on a ship to Quebec,
Floyd found Fee and Milly on a lover's trek
He picked up a bottle and broke off the neck
It sliced through the air, and Fee hit the deck
Whoa, Fee
You're trying to live a life that's completely free
You want to stay with Milly until you're dead
But you just got a bottle upside the head
Milly turned and began to scream at Floyd
She said, "You think you're pretty mean"
And though she was as thin as a small string bean
She slammed him in the face with a nectarine
Floyd fell back over the edge of the ship
'Till he hung from the rail by his fingertip
Milly said, "Floyd, I'll make you lose your grip,
With this tiny piece of paper I can make you slip"
So Milly took that paper and did the deed
Floyd hit the water with astonishing speed
And as the sharks circled in and began to feed
Milly knew her weasel was finally freed
Whoa, Fee
You're trying to live a life that's completely free
Floyd is dead, he's nothing but a ripple
'Cause Milly took that paper and sliced him on the nipple
Whoa, Fee
You're trying to live a life that's completely free
You're racing with the wind, you're flirting with death
So have a cup of coffee and catch your breath
03 Esther (09:24)
It was late one fall night at a fairground near town
When Esther first saw the Armenian man
Who groveled toward her and stood by her side
With a bucket that swung in his hand
His grin stretched the folds of his pasty white cheeks
And his lips hurled a dollop of murk on the curb
And the lights from the rides showed a mischievous sparkle
That flashed in his hollow eyed stare
He said "Little girl, you can chop off my legs
And then peel off my socks if you want to.
But I'd rather you took this old puppet from me
That I hold in my pail as we speak."
And he stood looking down at the innocent girl
And she stared at the bucket bewildered
Til he lifted the doll for the young girl to see
And a giant smile grew on her face
She saw the doll's eyes and she couldn't resist
And she thanked the man quickly and ran to the church
And she burst through the door with puppet held high
And a hush filled the chapel, and the people looked mean
Esther tried in vain to pacify the mob
Quibble grew to spat, to wrangle, then to brawl
The frenzied congregation struggled desperately to fetch
The pretty puppet snugly nestled deep in Esther's leather sack
Through the window of the church a storm began to rage
And Esther knew the time had come to flee
She scurried down the aisle toward the doorway in the distance
And out into the rainstorm where she felt she would be free
But the wind was blowing harder
And her skirt began to billow
Until finally her feet began to lift
And she rose above the houses and the people
and the chimneys
And Esther and the doll were set adrift
Floating higher over the hills, and the valleys and treetops
they'd flutter and glide
Soaring and turning suspended on air
With the earth far below them they'd tumble
And dive through the clouds
And she began to plummet earthward till she
Landed in the nasty part of town
She glanced about the village sure to find the evil men
Who rob and pillage in the darkest hour of night
Nervously she fumbled for the pouch that held the
Puppet on her rump.
Feeling quite outnumbered Esther hid behind
A nearby pile of lumber, where she waited
Till the dawn
Cause it would have been a blunder to
Succumb to a hoodlum on the prowl
When the morning came, she wandered through the streets
Along the chilly lake that lay beside the town
At last a peaceful moment, but she thought she heard a sound
It was an angry mob of joggers coming up to knock her down
As Esther stood and shook her head
The joggers were approaching
And she knew she had no choice left but to swim
As the frosty water sank its bitter teeth into her hide
She tried to slide the heavy clothing from her skin
Naked now she made her way toward the shore
When suddenly she felt a tiny tugging at her toe.
And the puppet she'd forgotten wrapped its tiny
Little arms around her ankle and wouldn't let her go.
The waves seemed to open and swallow her whole
As the doll pulled her down through the eerie green deep
And the sound of the laughing old man filled her ears
As she drifted away to a tranquil
And motionless sleep.
04 Golgi Apparatus (04:39)
I look into the finance box
Just to check my status
I look into the microscope
See Golgi Apparatus
Golgi, oh, woe is me
You can't even see the sea
Golgi, olgi, oh ooo olgi
Golgi
Golgi
They call him Lysasome
Cause he runs so fast
Runs like a junkyard dog
With a brain of brass
I saw you
With a ticket stub in your hand
Under the light
Middle of the night
Couldn't get it wrong
So I had to
05 Foam (06:50)
I'm looking through
And it all would be
So crystal clear
If it wasn't for the foam
But the foam keeps getting thicker
And it just keeps getting harder
And I'm falling
Into a deep
Well
06 Dinner and a Movie (03:42)
Let's go out to dinner and see a movie
Let's go out to dinner and see a movie
Let's go out to dinner
And see a movie
Let's go out to dinner and see a movie
07 The Divided Sky (11:56)
Ahhh!
Divided sky, the wind blows high
[The divided sky chant is part of an ancient ritual dating back to the
pre-Wilson years of She purity in Gamehendge. After listening to the
sacred sounds for a sloping lawn, three chosen subjects eat a special
root collected at the base of the enormous mountain that rises in the
center of the forest. The root is believed to contain the spirit of
Icculus, who lives at the top of the mountain. After eating the root,
they venture into a vast field at sundown. The field is deep green,
and stretches as far as the eye can see in all directions. In the
center of the field stands an enormous black rhombus. They climb the
rhombus and begin to sing, paying homage to the gods of the night
sky.]
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