Monday, April 11, 2011

Wobble Test - trixinickybambibo tape (1990)

This turned out to be one of my best $1 Ebay finds in quite some time.  Regarded by some to be one of the finest bands to come out of Milwaukee, WI, Wobble Test's discography apparently consisted of merely this cassette and a compilation appearance.  V-Fib Recordings website summarizes up their career better than I ever could:

Three teenagers from New Hampshire meet a boy from Milwaukee and decide to take their high school diplomas to the middle of nowhere to create rock 'n' roll in an absolute vacuum. Sound like a recipe for disaster? Yeah, well, kinda. . . but the tunes, man! Milwaukee's Wobble Test were a full throttle mix of Big Star, Jane's Addiction and The Knack. It's what's parked at the intersection of pop genius, depression, acid, amateur enthusiasm and beer. What The Replacements might have sounded like if they really partied.

The band consisted of Mike DeVogel (v, g), Tim Buckley (v,g), John Daniels (b), and Stevo (d). "Rewind" was the first tune off a brilliant 1989 cassette-only release called Trixybimbosomething (the combined names of Wobble Test's childhood dogs). The fellas in this band went on to play in other favorites Maki, Soda, Bi-centenial Drug Lord and Koester.They're kinda V-fib's "Patient X". The disease started here.

In addition to some of the aforementioned comparisons, I'm picking up trace elements of Pure Joy, The Senseless Things, and Soul Asylum (not as if this Brew City quartet had actually been familiarized with those first two).  My only hesitation in sharing trixinickybambibo is that the audio quality of the last two tracks gracing side one (esp "Bells") ironically hold true to the band's moniker, sounding unnaturally wobbly and warbly, most likely the byproduct of an aging cassette.  Architectural Dance Society blog posted a nice write up on the band a few years ago, discussing among other things unreleased Wobble Test recordings (though all audio links are presently broken).

After W/T called it a day, Tim Buckley and John Daniels would later move onto the Blow Pops.

01. For Reasons I Have 9
02. Rewind
03. Daze
04. Bells
05. The Charm & the Strange
06. Verse Me
07. That One/Standing Fair

Hear
at

15 comments:

  1. staceyApril 11, 2011 at 8:55 PM

    THanks very much!

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  2. bglobe313April 12, 2011 at 5:44 PM

    If you tell me that tonight you are retiring this site, then I'm ready to quit and I think it's all a big conspiracy.

    Ace K.

    P.S. As usual, an interesting post that makes me want to hear it for myself.

    ReplyDelete
  3. spavidApril 12, 2011 at 8:12 PM

    Me retiring. Ummm...must be wishful thinking on your part. If you're curious,. don't be afraid to take the plunge. MP3s are pretty harmless.

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  4. JohnnyHankApril 13, 2011 at 7:59 PM

    There must have been at least one more Wobble Test release somewhere along the line (probably a self-released cassette or something). Did you notice the links to Maki, Soda, and Wobble Test albums at the bottom of the Blow Pops page over at Power Pop Criminals? There are 11 different songs on the Wobble Test.

    Thanks for adding these to my collection!

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  5. spavidApril 15, 2011 at 2:21 PM

    Yeah, I discovered the link over at PPC as well. Thanks Johnny!

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  6. AnonymousApril 18, 2011 at 7:42 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  7. AnonymousApril 18, 2011 at 7:43 PM

    My favorite band of all time...Only rivaled by Grand Champeen. They had this cassette & a split 7" (I'm not sure about the compilation track you mentioned). They had a very low-fi demo before this & 2 more cassette that they handed out to friends after this. I have it all. Let me know.

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  8. spavidApril 19, 2011 at 8:19 PM

    Hey Bedazzler. Would love to hear those tapes or whatever else you have. Thanks!

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  9. TimJuly 6, 2011 at 9:51 PM

    Wow...haven't heard this name since 1990! I saw Wobble Test open for Soul Asylum at Milwaukee's Shank Hall when SA were working the bugs outta their "And The Horse they Rode In On" record. Wobble Test impressed the hell outta me but I never heard of them again after that night. Thanks for this! And if a better copy comes along I'd love a chance to grab it. :)

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  10. PackersXLVAugust 12, 2011 at 2:43 PM

    And before they were "Wobble Test", they were "the Five O'clock heroes"!

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  11. Mar10December 15, 2012 at 10:32 PM

    Hello. Great site and thanks for writing about WobbleTest & posting their cassette! It's awesome to hear their sound after so many years.

    I can shed a little light on the compilation mentioned above:

    In the early 90s I was in a band called dog-swing from Detroit that had the good fortune of playing with WobbleTest one night at the Unicorn in Milwaukee. (One of our pals had a friend who knew one of the WobbleTest guys, I believe.) Anyway, we struck up a friendship with WobbleTest, and later they came to play with us in Detroit.

    I also ran a little record label with a friend out of Ann Arbor called Uprising Records. WobbleTest agreed to be on the first of three 7" compilations we released. It was called Resist and also included cuts by The Nervobeats (Detroit), Crankpin (Muncie), and The Glenrustles (Minneapolis).

    One interesting note, I recall thinking how WobbleTest had a much harder edged sound live than they did recorded. Either way - good music and good times!

    Here's a link to pics of the the Resist 7" Comp.
    https://www.dropbox.com/sh/0qg7j0mpxtwyazv/sdsoDs0QXD

    - Greg Marten

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  12. UnknownJanuary 22, 2014 at 6:27 PM

    WOW!..google the name of a band you used to be in and you get all kinds of nice comments from strangers!...Thanks to all who listened from far and wide...and anybody still listening, I have some more gems from our late period, right before Wobble test broke up..

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  13. spavidJanuary 23, 2014 at 6:27 PM

    Hey Michael. Thanks for checking in. A guy named Dan set me up with pretty much everything else Wobble Test did. I have several demos, "Tea Town," etc. Fine stuff. When did Wobble Test break up btw?

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  14. AnonymousDecember 4, 2020 at 8:44 AM

    Reup?

    ReplyDelete
  15. pauldrewryMarch 2, 2024 at 7:51 AM

    Members of Wobble Test along with members of Blow Pops, had a group called Soda. Never released any of it. I made a page a downloadable file containing 19 songs by Soda. http://www.drewryphoto.com/soda.html

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