Listening to this album was like a nostalgic syringe being shot right into my lower left frontal lobe and I slumped over into a beautiful Columbus lost great shadow. I’m not saying Columbus, Ohio is missing anything short of great musicians but it has been awhile since I have heard a record that hits and cuts so deep. Straight to video is almost perfect from start to finish except for track 3 “Outside my scene” which was oddly enough the only song that was outside of my scene, their was something about it that really didn’t resonate with me. Mostly was the amplified dirty blues scale that was repetitive through out it and the vocals almost seemed unmixed like it was an early track from a previous 7 inch that was put in for filler.
“Secret Museum” I immediately was like goddamn I love the sound of that era and music will never be the same. Columbus, Ohio has its own style! I wonder if The Jeffs ever listened to this album or to a show and went yea that’s what we want to sound like. Hell by Track 2 I was like I want to get drunk in a dirty fucking alleyway right now. This is a testament to these musicians because I would never just immediately fall in love this hard over an album not written in ’79-’85 without prior knowledge or a well known legacy.
“Half Off” had me thinking that this was going to be a very relevant look at prostitutes in Columbus maybe on Sullivant Avenue but then no by the later half of the second chorus we have the narrative state something to the tune of “I whip out my dick because I need to piss, blood and piss in the woods mix.” Which was one of the craziest things I have ever heard and damn I want to be apart of that lyrical journey again! I could listen to this record once a week chilling with a cup of bourbon and a few beers and be completely fine with that being my evening.
“Whisper In Your Mouth” Was lyrically my favorite and in my opinion TJSA response to fuck Nirvana we would rather be compared to The Wipers, Seattle’s far better hometown heroes. I think the lyrics were “Baby what’s wrong with love; let me whisper in your mouth the wrong words, the answers on your tongue.” I will also say that I absolutely loved the titles to the songs on this album but by far my favorite was track 9 “Question Mark Curls” the title alone stopped me in my tracks. Ron House has a way with writing lyrics that are so seamlessly intertwined with sexual innuendos and raw genius that I can’t tell if he is writing from the heart or just to fuck with the listener.
Album grade: A-
It’s just shy from being a perfect album but that has nothing to do with the musicianship or lyrical content because that would be an A+, the marks down were from the poor mix and out of place nature of “Outside My Scene”. Thank you Straight To Video for finally putting this on vinyl and I have already preordered mine!
Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments – Straight to Video CD Review / 2015 Straight to Video / https://www.facebook.com/straighttovideo/ / http://straighttovideo.org/