| 2 1/2 Creatures review "This is music for people who want to be more than just entertained. This is the affirmation of the thesis that music can indeed be art. The trio can’t be put into a drawer no matter how wide. Sometimes they combine polka rhythms with mad guitar work, sometimes they sound like the soundtrack to a film noir whose scenery is laid in a circus. The organ sounds really spooky sometimes and the lyrics seem to be almost as weird as the music. I think this is the closest I can get to a description, but I can assure you that at least to me seeing them live was close to a revelation. " |
| 2 1/2 Creatures review
Oakland's Experimental Dental School come crashing in with their latest twisted concoction. They've done split releases with Japan's Limited Express in the past, and that entirely makes sense as they're very much of the same imaginative art-rock ilk. Their music also brings to mind the rollercoaster-y quirks of Melt Banana and Deerhoof -- actually the latter band's Greg Saunier makes a guest appearance on a few songs. Drawing influence from both the carnivalesque multi-personalities of Mr. Bungle and the dissonant angst of Sonic Youth, 2 1/2 Creatures confirms that E.D.S. are more than capable of making themselves equally at home in indie post-rock and no wave basements, jazz joints and circus tents. The first song sprints out of the gate with some very frantic organ playing that sounds like a disjointed "Flight of the Bumblebee". Their effected high trebly vocals, pinchy electric guitars and keyboards balance precariously atop the loosely strung bass and thick synth lines. Very cool! |
2 1/2 Creatures review 2 1/2 Creatures’ opening song "Our Blood is Laughing" introduces all the hallmarks of the EDS sound: herky-jerky tempos, led by a dancing, loopy calliope organ with a crunchy rhythm section in support, and a mid-song diversion into dissonant samples and noise. Scratchy, distorted vocals act much like another rhythm instrument. Fast-paced and driving, it could be the soundtrack to a careening car chase in a slapstick silent movie. The next track, "Be Nice to Mankind," introduces more guitars into the mix, which in this case results in a great, early-new-wave sound in the vein of Thomas Dolby or the Buggles. Tossing these basic elements together with trumpet, banjo, tape-loop samples and found-object percussion, the album traipses wildly through a creepy funhouse nightmare like a Frank Zappa circus sideshow, mashing punk energy with jazz structures and gypsy polka melodies with funk noise experimentation. Like each turn of the corner in the funhouse, what comes next from moment to moment is frequently a complete surprise. Some songs, like "Spring has Sprung" or "Bermuda Triangle Mind", have a spooky movie-soundtrack flavor, while others suggest the exciting, oversized carnival experience of a slightly intimidated, wide-eyed child. Though the limited range of the calliope organ can sound repetitive from one song to the next, the frenetic energy and sheer unpredictability of the songs more than compensates. The mish-mash of sounds often feels on the brink of complete mayhem, but rarely loses sight of an underlying structure. Vocal-oriented songs like "Poison Reverb" and "A Seal is a Shark's Meal" stay close to a standard verse/chorus/verse construction, and even the purely instrumental piece "Looks Like Noize" maintains a sense of organization and purpose. |
2 1/2 Creatures Review
Many terrible rock records have been released in the name of art. But
for every such failure there emerges a record by a band, such as Experimental
Dental School, that creates music filled with vision, wit, and vitality.
Alex K. Fong, SF BAY GUARDIAN |
2 1/2 Creatures Review "Nocturnal neo no-wave that parallels their debut, Hideous Dance Attack! These highly theatrical art-punks relish rhythmic calamity as much as melodic structure with peculiar verse, for example, Your Tears Are My Ice Cream or a Seal Is a Shark's Meal. What’s really fascinating is that 2 1/2 Creatures spawns intimidating chilly experimental music, laced with surreal samples, trumpet and even banjo, epitomizing weirdness and a keen sense of cool in one fell swoop!" Eli Ellsworth, http://www.agoutimusic.com |
2 1/2 Creatures Review This three-piece noise outfit offers
an abrasive atmospheric punch to the temple – a little dancy, a lot noisy, but most definitely
a party. The drums and keyboard noises are some of the most creative combinations
I’ve heard in a long time" |
2 1/2 Creatures Review Rather amazing art-rock a bit like Deerhoof or the Mae Shi I guess. This album is so much fun, I discover new parts of it every time I listen. Equally danceable and difficult but never losing focus, this is one of those records that I want to put on tape for people and say hey, listen to this! Distorted talky vocals, lyrics about animals, the odd awesome trumpet blast, quirky keyboards and other such stuff that Tony Era would probably laugh at me for listening to. It's an acquired taste, if I put it on at work people would probably call it 'weird', which it is, to an extent, but that is the beauty of it; it never goes where you expect and never lets you relax. 'A Seal is a Shark's Meal' is probably my favourite track but every one is a winner really Gareth L, www.collective-zine.co.uk |
2 1/2 Creatures review "Excellent stuff really. All these songs are so
good and you could say weird too, but everything just fits. And that's
the beauty of this band. Nothing is too fabricated or done with a big
plan (at least it doesn't sound like it) to be the strangest band around
the block. I really dig these cats yeah, and you should too." |
Best of The Bay 2004 -SF BAY GUARDIAN |
"providing the evolutionary link between
Deerhoof and Devo, sweeping up Tom Waits and the Talking Heads in the
process, eds kick up a furious racket over the 10 tracks of hideous dance
attack!!!. Equal parts sci-fi skonk, avant-garage and spazz funk, the
oakland trio's second full-length finds them perched atop a precariously
chruning wave of careening and churning organ, rolling drums jagged guitar-o-bass".. |
"XDS did their homework on noise music
and the history of the avant-garde, and it shows. Rather than drown in
the cauldron, XDR bubbles to the brink of unrestrained experimentation
while holding onto the last few hairs of conventional pop music, writing
songs that are both cohesive and unpredictable." |
Hideous Dance Attack review: |
"Like many, if not most bands from the
area, Oakland's Experimental Dental School don't quite fit in with any
other bands. This guitar-drum-organ trio uses a wide variety of samples
and strange objects turned into musical instruments to create their sound,
to surprising and pleasing effect. The band's full-length debut, Hideous
Dance Attack!!! was recently released to excited, if not baffled critical
acclaim." more... |
"it's is easy to understand why the
band's music sends their fans into hysterics at their live shows." |
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-Noella Marie, KUSF review |
| "Seeing them is like being transported to some brothel in the 70's in New York's underground tunnel/ art rock scene. You feel very special and content watching this debaucerously freaky circus rock show amalgam. This is the cream of the crop in rock show hooliganism." -Travis Wuerthner, N x N Review |
"I was so amazed by their creativity; singing though
walkie talkies into guitar pick-ups, or playing guitar with a vibrator.
I wish I could have been there when he had to ask his girlfriend if he
could borrow her pleasure toy for the evening... "its for our rock and
roll show I promise." Think a very creative circus rock band a la the
first Mr. Bungle album." Brian Shevlin- Heckler Magazine Portland OR http://www.heckler.com |
"The band's vibe was cohesive and entirely unique. Unfortunately,
I think they blew out a P.A. speaker, the result sounding like a tuba
set on fire." "Not only does he [Hall] create extravagant sound through
the use of delays and whammy pedals, he uses a barrage of gadgets to mess
with his pickups including a megaphone, walkie-talkie, hammer, "Dynamic,"
vibrator, and hand-held tape recorder playing Orson Welles' War of the
Worlds. The daytime soap opera organ backdrop provided by Shoko is also
an integral part of the XDS sound. Absolutely alive and amazing." Spencer
Telleman- the synthesis.net http://www.synthesis.net/music/feature.php?pid=1880 |
"Next up was a personal favorite of this reviewer, Experimental
Dental School: featuring the mutant guitar antics of Jesse Hall and the
carnival keyboard shenanigans of Shoko Horikawa, supplemented by the fluid
hammerings of a new, genuinely awesome drummer whose name I unfortunately
didn't catch. Adding to the fun and weirdness was that, due to the lack
of carpeting on the Senator stage, the bass drum had to be held in place
by a series of congenial audience participants, who had to lie on the
floor to hold the errant drum in place with their feet. Genuinely great.
Cary Wilson- Chio News and Review http://www.newsreview.com/issues/chico/2002-03-14/review.asp |
"it had a playful, yet hard quality. Speed lyrics and
a tight connection betweeen band members and electronics. Most songs had
a fast drumbeat and a simple keyboard melody- interlaced with samples.
I later learned that some of the samples were from various Gypsy circus
records they had found at a thrift store. Another signature feature of
the group was the use of small electronics to disrupt the signal of the
guitar. Hair clippers, walkie talkes, and even dildo's were used to strum,
if you can call it that, and produce an array of screechy noises. " Niki-
Inner Zine site Santa Cruz |
"definatley the most unpretentuosly bizarre band we
saw over the four day event" "the guitarist on distorted vocals was like
a Jad Fair/Carney barker playing a broken down slurpie machine. keep an
eye on this band with the Butthole surfer side project sound and cool
posters" Cary Wilson- Chico News and Review |
| Artical Ran 11-27-2002 Dark Carnival Throw more oddballs on the fire: Experimental Dental School. BY "Experimental Dental School subverts garage rock not unlike the Cramps, only instead of sleazy horror flick and Russ Meyer fetishes, XDS takes its cues from absurd carnivals and sci-fi, cobbling together campy sounds, onstage antics, gloomy disco, and intense time changes like three mad-scientist carnies huddled together in the back room of a record store. " " danceability is interrupted often, and complicated by layers of noise, ingenious samples, and mysterious sound sources processed through Rube Goldberg effects. Despite her solemn stage demeanor, Shoko Horikawa's organ stylings lean toward the whimsical, sounding at times like the folk music from some unnamed Eastern European nation, and at others like the theme from The Munsters. There's a strong Tom Waits effect to the XDS sound, but Waits has never rocked as convincingly or consistently as XDS does on its debut full-length, Hideous Dance Attack. " -Stefanie Kalem, East Bay Express More.. |
| "At times, the real show is stranger than the dreams that they weave. Take, for example, the skill with which Mr. Hall wields a small silver dildo against his six-string, only to drop it to the floor a moment later. It vibrates all the way across the room into a neglected corner, while he turns to sing into a bullhorn aimed at the guitar's pick-ups. Shoko stares ahead like a marionette, striking organ keys with Houdini-precision and ritualistic cadence. Behind her, Ryan grins wickedly and tweaks his moustache. --Nathan Carson, Portland Mercury |
| The Noise Parade Ex-Chicoans Experimental Dental School
return with more mutated circus dance noise--- --Chris Baldwin, Chico News & review |
| Duct tape, knives, strange electronic boxes and mustaches.
With a sound reminiscent of some ranchy, street carnival, Experimental
Dental School's stage show is aestheticlly true to it's name. Inspired
but Torerro bullfighting and other type of carnival type music, they ended
up with a haunting waltz/polka sound with bits of noise intermingled.
The guitar, vocals and organ are all pleasant and harmoniously distorted.
Hall plays his "guitar-o-bass" (a custom built low tuned guitar with bass
strings and angled pick-ups) with various foreign objects ranging from
knives to dildos to walkie talkies. The band's album Hideous Dance Attack,
is composed of love songs and snap shots of society. For example, the
song KKKFC Serves Sparkily Squirl Meat was inspired by Wilhelm Rich, a
phycologist who was exiled from Germany and came to the U.S. Rich wrote
books that concerened a theory about sexual freedom being the ultimate
freedom and were publicly burned by the CIA. The resulting sound combined
with these witty and spastic lyrics is nothing short of casual, dancable,
musical stroll through the mind of a twisted genius. - City on a Hill Press, Santa Cruz, Judy Bulme |
Hideous dance attack http://www.mashnote.net |
| You're tossing and turning in your sleep. A nightmare. You're in your bed, in your room. But it's not your room. It's a carnival fun-house. A band is playing the most beautiful music ever heard...in a nightmare. The singer sounds like Jello Biafra, but it's not Jello Biafra. Dreams are like that. http://www.3hive.com/archives/experimental/index.html |
| With a mini-megaphone, a hat-mounted knife and other ways of making his guitar sing, Experimental Dental School singer Jesse Hall took his instrument to creative heights. Who said punk has to be in mindless 4/4? With a variety of waltzes and 6/8 rhythms, and a range of dynamics that included quirky Casiotone polkas to downright raw punk anthems, there was not a dull moment in this set. North East Observer LA, CA |
| "I cannot impress upon you how important it is that next time experimental dental school is playing, you go see them. imagine if john spencer had elected to explode pirate music instead of the blues. that's kind of what's going on here." |
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7_inch_review-split w/ Limited Express "Each of the bands' offerings makes for a good introduction. Experimental Dental School's "Poison Reverb" is a jaunty organ romp with distorted vocals that'll have you bouncing around like mad" |
| Interview with The Synthesis magazine |
Germany EXPERIMENTAL DENTAL SCHOOL-HIDEOUS DANCE ATTACK!!!-LP |
Germany |
croatia... 13.04.04 . Å~ TRANS AM (Washington SAD) / EXPERIMENTAL DENTAL SCHOOL (Oakland SAD) Nakon vis¼e od c¼etiri godine jedan od najvaz¼nijih americ¼kih underground rock bendova nam se vrac´a. Nakon s¼to smo totalno naivno te dvijetisuc´ite godine koncert organizirali u Tvornici, i u nadi da c´emo tako omoguc´iti vecem broju ljudi da ih vidi zanemarili upozorenja da se ne upus¼tamo u bilo kakve poslove s ljudima koji taj klub vode, iz svega smo i Trans Am i mi kao organizatori izas¼li kratkih rukava. Bend je na svu srec´u shvatio da smo i jedni i drugi bili prevareni tako da smo i dalje ostali prijatelji, a sada smo konac¼no dos¼li u priliku da im se time s¼to c´e otvoriti peto izdanje Z¼edno Uho festivala revans¼iramo za sve neugodnosti koje su onda pretrpjeli. Tako c´e ova trojka koja nas jos¼ od sredine devedesetih odus¼evljava svojim miksom Kraftwerk elektronike i gitaristic¼kog rocka, predstaviti svoj novi album “Liberation”, njihovo prvo politic¼ki angaz¼irano i potpuno beskompromisno antibushovski i antiratno nastrojeno izdanje. Grupa se tako jos¼ jednom zaputila u nesigurne vode i nakon koketiranje sa synth popom osamdesetih koje je rezultirao predzadnjim “TA” albumom, iliti njihovim jedinim dosadas¼njim promas¼ajem, snimila emotivnu, energic¼nu i americ¼kom crnom politic¼kom stvarnos¼cu inspiriranu ploc¼u. Kao predgrupa c´e im nastupiti mladi kalifornijski bend Experimental Dental School, kojeg vam predstavljamo u suradnji s Moc¼varom, a c¼iji nas je miks utjecaja Captain Beefhearta, Tom Waitsa i americ¼kog indie lo-fi punk-rock zvuka i vis¼e nego ugodno iznenadio. Ulaznice u pretprodaji 45kn, a na ulazu 55kn. Ulaz se otvara u 20 sati, a koncert poc¼inje u 21 sat |
| ITALY... Experimental Dental School - Hideous Dance Attack!!! (The Company With
The Golden Arm, 2003) |
| In French... Experimental Dental School Hideous Dance Attack!!! - CD The Company With The Golden Arm 2004 Ca commence par un hennissement de cheval. Ca embraye par un drÙle de son de claviers (un Casiotone 1000 pour les puristes), le tout dans une ambiance de fÍte foraine dÈbile. Le nom de ce trio de San Francisco aurait du nous mettre la puce ý l'oreille. Experimental Dental School est une drÙle de monture. Le genre en bois que l'on trouve sur les manËges et qui tourne en rond au plus grands plaisirs des petits et grands. Mais il est fortement conseillÈ de bien s'y accrocher sous peine de se retrouver Èjecter sur le grand huit d'ý cotÈ. Rythmes de valse ý quatre temps et moteur ý explosion, voix systÈmatiquement trafiquÈe, des sons tour ý tour Ètrange et marrant du clavier de Shoko Horikawa, charmante japonaise qui se croit au cirque. C'est pas non plus Bouglione. La base est punk-rock. Largement dÈviante certes mais avec une Ènergie de bon aloi et totalement "freak-out" comme diraient les ricains, ý faire p’lir un arracheur de dents. Dance-punk-circus, Áa vous branche comme Ètiquette?! Une Ècole dentaire des plus attrayantes. SKX (01/05/04) http://www.perteetfracas.org/zine/kros2004/kros_e/experimental.htm |
