Looks like Kevin from Pink Reason decided to start his own label, Savage Quality Recordings which is news to me, but of course he would take control of the label side of his music, since he's been out there doing everything his way for years. There never seemed to be that much info about Pink Reason and I'm glad I came across the random single here and there which just made them seem even more shadowy and underground. Don't know why it took so long to finally get "Cleaning the Mirror" but there's really nothing like it...and not because it's some kind of extreme noise project that takes serious work to decode, but because it is so damn simple. They're pieced together tracks with a real head for melody and straight up songwriting. There's never any bullshit from this guy, he's been out there doing more than I'll ever do my entire life, touring and getting like minded people together to do something other than go to the strip mall. I can't support this enough, it's the kind of thing that reminds me why I started writing about music in the first place, I relate to this fucked up way of making your own path, in spite of everything. Kevin says, "Yeah life is tough...so what?".
On this single Kevin is joined by Matt from Psychedelic Horseshit, Shawn from TV Ghost and Rich from Eat Skull! A ridiculous collection of guys who have played through the roughest of recording setups, I remember that Eat Skull single really pushing the limits of fuzz...and it felt like a real conscious choice looking back to just get into that almost psych layering of hiss and overdriven sounds....the stuff you could come up with on your own added to the intention these guys had. I'm sure both of these tracks are covers, but they're credited to names I don't recognize and I can't find anything about them anywhere.
A-Side's "Ache for You" is that straight heavy rock sound, part garage, part early era punk and Kevin's singing with his weary, tested attitude in a tiny echoing cave. It's got sincerity written all over it and I keep wondering if it's just because I respect this guy so much already or would I hear that blind? I'm going to really be into this no matter what. It's got that live, raw sound from playing together in a room, that energy that keeps building, everyone trying to match these changes, like a buried, more ominous sounding Home Blitz. This deliberate solo up front electric mess echoing the breakdown of everything going on lyrically. Like that splitting moment of Cinnamon Girl, you don't need fancy skills to communicate that kind of isolation and dread with a single string.
B-Side's "Darken Daze" starts with probably a live sample of Kevin screaming at a live show right before this slow sort of blues groove winds up with the solemn tight crunch of an electric. Smooth bassline, and Kevin barrels right over this walk through the park, running right through the picnics, with this master plan that doesn't pay attention to the jazz groove. It's a kind of Iggy menace on the vocal here, this real dangerous character talking about broken glass and the crossroads. The rhythm balancing between being completely supportive and together and mischievously falling apart...sounds like any great relationship. A repetitive slow jam, meandering off the path into the dark for brief moments, but coming back around, unsettling and catchy. A tough Velvets sound, even in their heroin moments there's that tension that's going to break any moment. You don't get a chance to relax. Go get this from Savage Quality Records.
Check out this great interview with Kevin at Perfect Sound Forever. A-Side below:
Here's a great live version of the A-Side track from WFMU's free archives.
