VENUS BOGARDUS - MOTORMAN
Described by The Wire magazine as ‘literate post-punk’ artrock contrarians Venus Bogardus present ‘Motorman,’ their critically acclaimed fusion of no wave, riot-grrrl, dada experimental literature and killer riffs. From the pounding noise poetry of the title track, through the danse macabre of ‘Birds,’ to the elegiac Billy the Kid/Burroughs torch song ‘Quien Es?’ and beyond, Venus Bogardus prove themselves to be one of the most intriguing, independent and radical bands in the UK.
The album was recorded in collaboration with avant-garde writer David Ohle, author of the fantastic cult novels Motorman, The Age of Sinatra, and The Piss Town Chaos. Ohle recorded spoken word material from his novel Motorman onto a cassette and mailed it across the Atlantic to the band who integrated his eerie, provocative readings by backing him with minimalist no wave riffs (The G-Boys) and improvised noise and soundscapes (Mr. Bunce’s Jellyhead Agent, and Take Wing, Moldeke). David Ohle is also the editor of Cursed From Birth –the Short Unhappy Life of William Burroughs Jr., and was the custodian of the dreams of William Seward Burroughs for a time in Lawrence, Kansas. This is their third release from their DIY label Patchogue Records.
“I can’t tell you how much I love this band’s new album, they sound like all of my favourite bands rolled into one. Think Mission of Burma, fIREHOSE, Husker Du, Sonic Youth, Yo La tengo, madder Rose, Throwing Muses and X…a glorious noisefest of wailing guitars, intense song structures and forward driven indie rock…ridiculously good…I could go on and on about this band, but the best thing for you to do right now is go listen to ‘em.” (Motorman, Album of the Week) -Just Gimme Indie Rock
"Motorman, the album, is a wired up rush of post-punk swirling energy...sliced to hell glam-slammed psychedelic punk rock...sleep is no longer an option …layers of acid-pop grunge-art psychic TV intensity and oh look just go explore and taste for yourselves." -The Organ
“Artrock epitomized…suffocatingly intense…bloody brilliant!” –Drowned in Sound
"Layers of noise-making... grunge meets art meets rock meets art." –Artrocker
“Artful pop-punk shards linked together by snippets of pseudo-pulp dialogue…like a caffeine-driven narrative of wired hipster poetry…summoning up shades of Blank Generation angst with pedal-on-the-gas nuggets such as Birds, Autoclave, Analog Underground and The Age of Sinatra, the latter of which has to be a hit single waiting to happen.” –Hugh Gulland, BucketFull of Brains
“Venus Bogardus are something special…No Wave jamming with classic pop harmonies…Art, noise, heavens above something to write home about.” –Tony Heywood, Clash magazine, Music OMH, Highway 5, etc.
“Venus Bogardus just bring post-punk, grunge, fuzz pop, metal, and poetry to a standstill. Cool as f*ck!” -Decode Magazine
“I have tried and failed at not talking about this band!! Venus Bogardus are the definition of CBGB's circa 1977 with a smoking mix of early 90's grunge texture…Theirs is a sound that insists and persuades at the same time as rocking and thrashing! Guitar harmonics, killer riffs, big bass lines, pink hair, cardigans, and lyrics so good you can see them. These guys 'spit it out' so to speak, and they do so in a literary punk way! Yes that CAN exist and does in Venus Bogardus- get listening!” –Miss Gardiner, Live Review, Moles Club.
“Call it art rock or call it popular music. It delivers the powerful vibration of the heart, and the exquisite passion of the mind...I want Venus Bogardus on every radio station and disc player on Earth!” –Owen Ames, poet, Austin, TX
Formed by writers James Reich (guitars,vox) and Hannah Levbarg (bass, vox) and joined by drummer Obaro Evuarherhe, Venus Bogardus are a seduction riot between diffident no wave noise and radio-burning new wave style, something like X, The Psychedelic Furs, Sonic Youth, Richard Hell and the Voidoids, The Velvet Underground, Television, Destroy All Monsters, The Only Ones, Roxy Music, Peter Gabriel, The Runaways, Teenage Jesus and the Jerks...Venus Bogardus is named after a character in a classic work of late-fifties lesbian pulp fiction by the author Ann Bannon (who endorses the band). James and Hannah met as fans of Richard Hell, on his web forum. Hannah eventually moved from Texas to Bath, UK, where the two married and opened a nationally acclaimed, but now closed, bookshop. She has been Richard Hell’s forum moderator since 2003.
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