Album Notes

History of Cortex Bomb:

Formed in 1992 and inspired by John Zorn, and other genre hopping cut-up bands, Cortex Bomb has aspired to create music that pushes the limit of combining instrumental chaos, and complicated structure. The band has toured the west coast, and continues to build a local following with the release of their second CD "Fist or Finger." The new CD trades the jazz saxophone sound of the first CD for samplers and violin, thus ends up sounding more like a modern day soundtrack for a film not yet released.

Instrumentation:
Jesus Contreras- Guitars, Keyboards, and Samples
Richard Swelling- Bass Guitar
Bryn Jones- Drums, Percussion
Sunshine Flower Bunny- Violin
Leo Schwamm- Guitar

Press Release: for CD Release Cortex Bomb "Fist or Finger"

Almost two years in the making, Mockbrawn Records is happy to release the sophomore effort from Tucson's explosive quintet Cortex Bomb. The CD "Fist or Finger," is an adventurous combination of musical styles all pieced together to form a complex yet fun musical landscape unlike any other. The future of the band was uncertain in 1999, when guitarist and co-founder Bill Sack decided to move to NY to pursue his musical education. Fortunately, Bill's rather LARGE shoes (13 to be exact) were filled by local music veteran Jesus Contreras (Psycho Farm). The compositional core of Cortex Bomb for "FoF" was shared by Eric Baldoni (Swelling), Contreras, and Ron Hiznay (DJ MUSH MUSH). The band was consciously trying to move away from the jazz orientated sound of their first CD, "Need to Scream...," and incorporate more modern technology via sampling and electronics, which had been experimented with a bit on the first CD, but takes center stage on "FoF."

Another element that steps up in the mix is the violin playing of Christine Scheer (SFB). Madame Scheer is a veteran of the Detroit punk rock scene, and stepped into Cortex Bomb in 1998 to fill the lead instrument position when saxophonist Dave Burke called it quits. Christine is also a talented graphic designer, and has created the fully interactive section of "Fist or Finger," which includes lots of fun areas to explore, along with band photos and artwork.

Swelling on FoF-

The "FoF" CD was definitely a growing experience for us as a band. Most of the songs were recorded in sections and then pieced together using various music programs on Apple computers. The recording sessions were held in the dead HEAT of summer here in Tucson at Waterworks with our favorite engineer Jim Waters. It was a hot sweaty grueling experience that at times tested all our skills and friendships, and helped us coin the term "Booch Juice" which is the sweat that collects in that special crack below the tailbone. We are glad the experience is over and the CD is finally done, it was definitely a labor of love(?), and we all survived...the band is even still together! We learned a lot from recording this CD together and have already begun writing songs for our next project, tentatively titled "Straight to Video."

Some of the highlights on FoF for me are the Hammond organ run through a Leslie cabinet that Jim let us use, what a great sound that old organ still has...can't beat it. Also, Bryn's marimba work on Ennio, and Beef curtain Vibrato really make those songs for me. I am really happy with the way the second generation of this band is sounding these days. We have a great line up now and have finally matured into a pretty solid unit. FoF reflects our love for movie soundtracks and our continuing ridicule of everything we believe you should find absurd and love...Keanue Reeves, Ahmet Zappa, Gerbils, Korn, Hello Kitty, and much more...Have a taste, and decide which you prefer...Fist or Finger!