CAVEMAN SHOESTORE

Master Cylinder 1992

Flux 1994

The band's first full-length CD as a trio, Master Cylinder, was released by Tim/Kerr Records in 1992, and has since been described by album producer Alessandro Monti as influenced by everything from Conlon Nancarrow to Black Sabbath and from grunge to prog rock. Some tracks might also lead to comparisons with Discipline-era King Crimson -- although overall the record seems designed to be played at parties in which guests could be asked "what instrument do you think that was?" in reference to the apparent predominance of electric guitar played in a metal-grunge style. Surprise: "NO GUITARS!" exclaim the liner notes...the speaker-busting sound in question came from Chalenor's fuzz bass. Coupled with Franzoni's sometimes pounding rhythms on the "membranophones," the Caveman Shoestore of Master Cylinder could be a heavy item indeed, but the band's sound was balanced by diFalco's enjoyably rich yet never histrionic vocals, often in multi-tracked harmonies, as well as her solid electric keyboard work.
In 1994 the second Caveman Shoestore album on the Tim/Kerr label, entitled Flux, was released; the album found the band expanded to a quartet including Amy DeVargas on vocals, second bass, and cello -- indeed, DeVargas was a somewhat more prominent vocal presence (and more assertive in the higher ranges) than diFalco, and wrote or co-wrote five album tracks. Guest Jen Harrison was also featured on French horn. The album had a more diverse sound overall than Master Cylinder -- without the heavy metal masquerades prominently featuring Chalenor's fuzz bass disguised as a roaring guitar -- and placed considerable emphasis on Chalenor/DeVargas interlocking bass parts, tribal-flavored rhythmic undercurrents, and diFalco's keyboard work often emphasizing the Hammond organ, although her synth and piano were featured as well. In an interview with Allen Huotari on the /All About Jazz website, Chalenor notes that on the first two Caveman Shoestore CDs, the band explored "really crazy" polyrhythms in the context of "sick" pop tunes.

All Music Guide

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Master Cylinder

Tracklist 

  1. Spill
  2. Pencil Sharpener
  3. Big Slow Melvin
  4. Flying
  5. Tractor Beam
  6. Secret Doorway In Nevada Leading To Monster Truck At The Bottom Of The Ocean Where 
       Elvis Lives
  7. An Angel Flew By
  8. Tractor Pulling A Clown
  9. Flattened Doggies
10. I Just Might
11. Lost Horizon
12. When Rome Burns, Read The Sports Page
13. Information Overload


Flux

Tracklist

  1. Knife Edge
  2. The Pond At Night
  3. Actualize
  4. Four Years Old
  5. Ticket To Obscurity
  6. Kurtain
  7. All This Air
  8. Lightning
  9. Henzyme
10. Underneath The Water
11. Underneath The City
12. Cold