Bazooka Joe were a Baltimore contingent that never really tried to make a break for the mainstream, and I like to think the droney sonic aplomb they steeped these six songs in went a long way in illuminating their integrity. More along the lines of say, Band of Susans, Mission of Burma and the Embarrassment then Husker Du, Joe' scuzzy post-punk excursions could have still found a suitable home on imprints such as SST and Homestead.
K "Stork" Bauer's throbbing bass lines are especially prominent in the mix on
Two Thirds, making this threesome stick out like a sore thumb for all the right reasons, yet the persistent undercurrent of
Jeffrey Caplin's crackling, buzzing guitars lends Bazooka Joe an almost surreal penchant that the bulk of their contemporaries lacked. An almost ten year's belated follow-up,
Imbalance, arrived in '98. My copy of
Two Thirds is somewhat blemished due to it's former inclusion in a radio station library.
01. Basement Celebration
02. Can Opener
03. Car Acrobatic Team
04. Train Room
05. Stephen
06. (She's) Just Like May West
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