"Two-Headed Fly" is Mental Insect's second CD, and third release. Mental Insect is "Cream meets Joy Division in a dark alley behind a Chicago blues bar." It is Frank Zirbel (vocals, electric bass, acoustic guitar, organ) with several guest artists. "Two-Headed Fly" is very blues oriented, featuring the legendary John Brim and his song "Tough Times." There is a track called "John Brim" wherein John talks about his original recording from 1954 and the musicians who played with him including Jimmy Reed and John's wife Grace on drums. John reveals that it was Grace who gave him the idea for the song. ("Tough Times" was written by Brim during the USA's early 1950's recession, very similar to what America is experiencing now.) On "John Brim" John's voice sounds rich with emotion, deep as the ocean. You can hear the whiskey and cigarettes. (Brim wrote the song "Ice Cream Man" which Van Halen covered and turned into a hit.)
There are two versions of "Tough Times" on the CD. The second version has a slide solo by Chicago guitarist, John Duich. This is edited out of the first with the idea that radio stations might prefer the shorter version.(Steve Cushing segued the original Brim recording "Tough Times" then my "John Brim" track then the long version of "Tough Times" on his "Blues Before Sunrise" NPR show back in 1996 -- one of the greatest compliments my recording has ever received as Cushing only plays classics from the history of recorded blues.) Duich also does all the guitar work on the MI interpretation of the children's song, "Three Blind Mice," with vocals by seven year old Amanda Yeo. (John toured with the Son Seals band and Muddy Waters post mortem band, The Legendary Blues Band. His own band was called The Blue Balls.)
The song "Her Kiss Of Hate," a string quartet piece, features violin and viola work by the very talented Johnny Frigo, Chicago's supreme jazz violinist. The cello is played by Michael Masters who toured with Harry Chapin. This may be the shortest string quartet ever recorded. The melody was written by Dan Plovanich who did the string arrangement as well. (It's really the extended ending to the long version of "Tough Times.")
Another classic tune covered on the CD is John Lee Hooker's. "Burnin' Hell." To keep my live chops together at this time in my life I regulary attended a monday night jam at the Chicago club, ROSA'S BLUES LOUNGE. The musicians on stage were invited by me. The saxophone player, Michael "saxophone" Jackson - tenor player, does an outstanding job and the track truly rocks. Recording date -Halloween 1994.
Other guest musicians on the CD include Eddi Yeo, guitar;
Tony Dimartino, drums, percussion; Evelyn Bremner, guitar and vocals.
The CD is really a 2-ep set. The blues tracks are under the title of "Blue Dwarf of Ruin." The other tracks are a revisit to the first Mental Insect release, a cassette titled, "Anatomy of a Pig."
"Pig" songs are not traditional blues, but the seventh and minor chords are in the music as in the British Invasion recordings. Guitar on these songs is by Rob Peebles, once a member of the Chicago speed metal band, The Corrosives.
"Two-Headed Fly" is about opposites, about a world gone mad, a schizoid nightmare where greed and war rule.
The cover photo by Stephen Deutch - of a young girl covered in dolls - says more than words can ever say about our world's bizarre and desperate situation. My photos of "Sid," a Houston Texas dog with three legs, span the inside of the jacket, adding an exclamation point to the multiple photos within the triple fold packaging.
I also wanted to note that the CD was recorded and mixed in Chicago at Streeterville Studios, the studio Alligator records used for many years for their many outstanding blues releases. It was mastered at Sterling Sound in NYC by Tom Coyne.
Reviews of "Two-Headed Fly"
Alternative Press (July 1996)- It's been way too long since Zirbel, a.k.a. Mental Insect, released his last EP, "Skull Tracks," a stunning mesh of industrial, blues and jazz. "Blue Dwarf" is essentially a blues-oriented rock work, featuring some very good guitar, saxophone, and Zirbel's Mancini-jazzed bass style. It centers around bluesman John Brim with two versions of his "Tough Times".... "Anatomy" is more experimental sounding like a cross between classic Snakefinger (the bizarre guitarist who worked with the Residents until his untimely death) and Robert Calvert (the late Hawkwind vocalist). "Clouds of Flies" is the best piece, sounding very much like the early Residents: a sustained ARP-synth pitch, holding steady like one of Robert Fripp's chords; with a Snakefinger bent guitar lead and a hard funerary beat that
that makes the whole thing come off like some obscene dance of death."
Option Magazine - Reviewing "Anatomy of a Pig"......
Imagine the mind of Jimi Hendrix as he was dying...convoluted with drugs and fading from this world. Dark, dreamy and twisted this music oozes over you and you submit.
Overdub - (Attiki, Greece 1996) - One excellent new beautiful release...big ideas without boundaries...out of the normal, special, unorthodox.
Nea Prooptiki - (Athens, Greece 1996) - Something special and different...Zirbel from Chicago, is one talented musician. Anything, anyone can imagine is on here...from new wave, industrial, jazz and blues.
Illinois Entertainer - (1996) - ...melodic and dark...discordant...I am mystified by it.
Gearhead Nation - (Ireland 1996) - ...starts with very early Ministry which then goes mad...I like it.
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