Produced by Greg Freeman and X-tal
Recorded at Olde West and Soma Sync Studios, 1990
All songs © 1991 Undulant Rhetoric (BMI)
J NEO MARVIN: Vocals, guitars, keyboards, melodica
MICK FREEMAN: Vocals, drums, guitar
JIMMY BROUSTIS: Vocals, guitar, bass
ALLISON MOSELEY: Bass, vocals, piano
Guests: Mitzi Waltz: Bass (Old Colonial, Pablo)
Annelise Zamula: Tenor saxes (Old Colonial)
Patrick Smoot: Trumpets (Old Colonial)
Melanie Clarin: Accordion (O.C.), harmony vocals (Pablo)
Kim Osterwalder: Barely audible cello (Domino’s)
Carrie Bradley: Violin (AJR, White Rat)
Jeremy O’Doughaill: Mandolin (White Rat)
Slice-O-Life Pro-Choice Karaoke Ensemble: Vocals (Domino’s)
1. ZION (JUST A CLOUD) (Jimmy Broustis)
3. STEPFORD ROCKERS (J Neo Marvin)
4. AN OLD COLONIAL’S HARD LUCK STORY (J Neo Marvin)
5. AJR (Mick Freeman-Andrea Rice Freeman)
6. WHITE RAT (1979-1989) (J Neo Marvin-Maati Stojanovich)
7. DOMINO’S THEORY (J Neo Marvin; uncredited monologue by Jimmy Broustis)
8. PABLO (Jimmy Broustis)
9. CAPTAIN PLUS FOUR (J Neo Marvin-Alan Korn)
10. GOLDFISH BOWL (Mick Freeman)
11. FECKLESS (Maati Stojanovich-J Neo Marvin)
CMJ REVIEW: It’s a wiser and angrier X-tal that graces our stereo this year, these San Francisco-reared citizens matching a carnival of instruments with a torrent of well-enumerated opinions on everything from ganja to old, paunchy rock stars. Extinct is the sad-toned reflective X-tal of Reason Is 6/7 Of Treason, their arrangements and imaginations fired up by philosophical coffee-house brawls and an influx of Gaelic, African and Appalachian migrant musics, all brandished with a college student’s indignant gleam. Matching up snarl and swing, the band fits the Young Fresh Fellows’ whiny wit with a Mekons-tinged, violin-fortified ease of rhythm. Their pan-cultural instrumental smorgasbord stays fast and punchy, lest the verbal sentiments get too weighty and predictable, interchanging ska beats, Irish jigs and suburban twitch with tales of oppressor and oppressed. Oppression, ignorance and complacency are where X-tal’s lyrical lance is aimed, and with an equally provocative dancefloor bounce, Die Monster Die is first-class world punk music. Top Cuts: “Zion (Just A Cloud),” “An Old Colonial’s Hard Luck Story” and “Goldfish Bowl.” – : CMJ New Music Report Issue: 229 – Mar 29, 1991
MICK SAYS: “Grrrrrrrrr”
NEO SAYS: The band is making splendid progress, but I’m suffering from serious writer’s block. Somehow I pulled together a set of songs, some dredged from the past, some dashed off in the moment, that bring back a weird, turbulent period when everything was coming together and falling apart at the same time. Some of these lyrics are embarrassing for this writer to hear, but they paint a truthful picture of the mental state of Neo and Maati in 1990. The album SOUNDS terrific, with Allison’s great bass playing, all the loud guitars and a vast array of guest instrumentalists, and some people even seem to like it best. Mick and Jimmy take up the slack with two superb songs each. Carrie Bradley makes her first guest appearance playing violin with X-tal. And the album contains “An Old Colonial’s Hard Luck Story”, one of our most popular songs, which married Soweto township jive, punk attitude and Tom Lehrer sarcasm. I can safely say it’s the only specimen of its kind anywhere, and I’m proud of that.