Go On…..I Feel Your Pain…..You Are Mentally Challenged……Go On……

Meeting Petey was one of the highlights of my weekend at the WFMU record fair. For those of you who are not regular listeners of The Best Show On WFMU, Petey is a regular caller who has managed to insinuate himself into the fabric of the show itself. He’s a precocious and deeply weird 12 year old boy who often speaks with a cartoonish affectation and is obsessed with the show’s host, Tom Scharpling. Petey is a busy lad – in addition to making short films, video games, animations, and running his own website, he has been recording homemade records at a pace which might humble the likes of Bob Pollard and Acid Mothers Temple.

I bought two cds from Petey at the fair, one being a special bonus compilation of oddities and cover versions called Sub Cuts: Covers And Qui Heads, and the other was his latest full-length, Undermining The Probalities. They are both extremely weird records. Imagine Jandek mixed with the Animal Collective and Spongebob Squarepants. The music is basically the kind of thing you would expect of avant/noise groups who are fueled by psychedelic drugs and whose records are mostly only available at Other Music and are only ever played by the most adventurous freeform DJs. It makes me wonder if Petey is making the music of arty adults, or if his older peers are adults making the music of hyperactive little boys.

Suburbanal Cuts “Tom & Tom Catching Bounties” – This is probably the catchiest song on the entire record, and one of the tunes which makes me wonder how this record would be received by someone who is unaware of the Best Show. This is a song about Tom Scharpling and another regular caller, Officer Tom, and their imaginary adventures as bounty hunters.

Suburbanal Cuts “Hate Is A Strong Word” – I’m not sure what kind of equipment Petey is using, but he frequently uses severe effects on his vocals and loops some sounds, so I’m guessing that he may be doing all of this on Protools or something similar. I wonder what that odd squealing sound that comes and goes in the background of this song is – it could be guitar feedback, or possibly some kind of strangely miked percussion or horn sound.

Suburbanal Cuts “Automated Psychiatrist Service” – This is one of several skits from the record. It sort of speaks for itself, really. I love that Petey plugs his website at the end of this track.