As much as I wish Maxwell “Mukqs” Allison and Ryley Walker were whipping up a totally legit and legal copycat batch of Little Caesar’s “Crazy Bread,” mostly because I haven’t eaten lunch yet but also because that shit is DELISH, they’ve instead eschewed the carbs and opted for the lean and the mean. The lean and mean music, that is, because their new tape on Astral Spirits, called Vocoder Divorce, is a sprint of an experience, a breakneck athletic display of improvisational fortitude. There isn’t a trans fat in sight, although these mad freestylers surely downed large amounts of Powerade Mountain Berry Blast during the recording process to maintain the energy level. How are you going to justify “no overdubs” if you don’t get it right in the first place?
Crazy Bread gets it right.
Just enough time in the oven. Just enough seasoning. Just enough marinara dipping sauce.
I don’t need these carbs, but I simply cannot resist.
You all know Walker as a guitar man, and you should have his many albums in your collection. I personally enjoy his collaborations with Bill MacKay, and I’m going to listen to SpiderBeetleBee just after I get through typing this out, so I should probably hurry. Maxwell Allison is a “computer man” (in the 1980s sense), known colloquially as “Mukqs,” and he is world famous for his work under that moniker and in Good Willsmith, and he helps run the massively influential Hausu Mountain record label. By “computers” I mean cassette decks and synthesizers and drum machines. I’ll probably listen to Walkthrough after SpiderBeetleBee.
Nothing is off limits for Crazy Bread, not Kraftwerk-inspired motorik or Guitar Hero histrionics; nor blinking digital refuse or malfunctioning jazz. Everything is in play — anything goes. This is what makes Vocoder Divorce such an intensely rewarding experience — not only is each note a complete surprise, but the paths trod veer off into some wild and psychedelic side quests. I wish I was in the room when they were recording this.
If YOU want to see these two in action, they seem to have a near-constant touring schedule, with every single Little Caesar’s pizza joint in the world on their itinerary.
Sorry, no, that’s my bad — that’s just the Little Caesar’s online menu. There’s no tour.
Check out advance track “Drug Facts” below, a little lysergic nibble to wet your whistle for the full album, dropping September 21.
More about: Crazy Bread, Maxwell Allison, Mukqs, Ryley Walker
