Hailing from the northern California town of Davis,
Thin White Rope was initially pegged as a proponent of the
paisley underground movement. Such labeling, however, tells half the story at best. The list of bands the group went on to cover over the course of their ten-year career is actually more revealing. Songs by
Suicide,
the Stooges,
Lee Hazlewood,
Marty Robbins,
Bob Dylan,
Can, and a
James Bond theme have all been rendered by the band in the studio and on-stage. That list goes a long way in explaining the mixture of raw, angular riffs, southern twang, and icy
psychedelia that characterizes
Exploring the Axis, the group's 1985 debut. What it does not convey, perhaps, is the relative bleakness of
Thin White Rope's music. Frontman
Guy Kyser, guitarist
Roger Kunkel, bassist
Stephen Tesluk, and drummer
Jozef Becker outline a series of barren landscapes, their instruments kicking up clouds of dust from the parched earth like a rollicking, rickety ghost-train headed south. At times
Jeff Eyrich's productions approach the wintry heir of
Martin Hannett's work with
Joy Division. This climate is ideal for
Kyser, who delivers tales of isolation, allusion, and death; his voice a perpetually unsteady quake. Unfortunately, he hadn't yet learned how to pace himself, continually reaching for the drama inherent in the songs at the expense of lyrical nuances. Though subsequent releases would see a maturing of the band's sound,
Exploring the Axis would remain the blueprint. ~ Nathan Bush
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