Dicky Dahl, Joe Fiorentino, La Calista, Artanker, Chris Seeds, Dan Brown, Yvan Pilette, Matt Vanella
Influences
Iggy and the Stooges. Can. Captain Beefheart. T. Rex. Black Oak Arkansas. The Guess Who
Sounds Like
Stratotanker has got starpower it doesnt mind burnin, whether anybodys paying attention or not. Spin.
Stratotanker abruptly changes direction like a crazed fugitive, but the ride is never sort on excitement. CMJ.
This is the hot action, January 5, 2000
Reviewer: Alex Chilton (New Orleans)
I'd heard about this band before, when they came through New Orleans. Made it to the bar too late, they'd already finished. But the crowd was hot and bothered. Dizzy with excited hyperventillation, glassy eyed and smiling. They were humming new tunes to themselves, smiling shyly at me, and giggling. I picked up this record at a friend's request and it blew my mind. Every song sounds like it was recorded at a different place, almost like different people played it. But there is this thread of intelligence that goes through the whole thing, connects it all, you know its 1 mind (shared by 4 guys and a woman). The music is jacked up like an old AMC Javelin, with this crazy bug eyed guy at the wheel. But he's not screamin (at least not always), more often he's crooning to somebody in the deep back seat, who's riding so low and stoned that you can't even see them. There is so much variety on this record, high powered punk, groovin sex music, avant garage jazz that the band's known for, and highly charged pop thats been left out in the sun too long (maybe that's just my copy) and so is slightly warped. This record is just about 40 minutes, (lmtd so it could also come out on vinyl), and leaves me wanting the other records they've made. Its dizzying music for a hot summers day riding in the Javelin, or walking the frigid ice covered tundra. I'm sure that's how these songs were written.
Baby, Test the Sky is astounding not only for the fact that its Stratotankers debut LP, but also for the fact that theres still a band around willing to completely abandon genre in favor of making a record that encompasses jazz (as well as jazziness), avant-rock, punk, blues, and most importantly, flutes! Magnet.
Dont bother trying to pin down the acid-eaters in Stratotanker. Just adjust your seatbelt, grab a handful of honey-roasted peanuts and prepare to have your brain fried and your pupils dilated. Tip of the Week, New City.
This record just plain rocks like no tomorrow. Check it. Gavin Report.
Stratotanker doesnt neglect shit-kicking. Art projects rarely turn out this listenable. Time Out New York.
Imagine if a bunch of lounge lizards stumbled upon a sacred Native-American ritual that involved enough peyote to fuel your next family reunion. The digestion of the cacti button and the ceremony had enough influence on the martini buffs to acquire a bunch of instruments, ransack some sort of A.M. radio station, set up and play live on the air in order to get this message that dripped from the sky in these cube-shapes with every answer to every question in Smoke Language. This is what Stratotanker is all about: Free form, lo-fi and spiritual. Etch.
the drummer muttering, yeah, yeah uh-huh, thats right, baby (like that sexy, velvet-suit wearing voice in your head that cheers when youre getting laid), cause hes got the goods. Hes smacking the skins with a beat he knows the kids ill love, Daddy-O. (The Beastie Boys visit Manchester). Plazm.
"See lead singer Dicky Dahl -- part performance artist, part trickster -- shimmy and shake; his crumpled suit having an argument in body language; his voice like the difference between you and me, like melted cheese on a sandpaper sandwich. He is the antithesis, the doppleganger of every 1950s pretty-boy icon . . . Is this what they call the birth of cool? Stratotanker: lounge meets art school."
- David Lanfair, Plazm
If Jon Spencer ditched his white-boy minstrel shtick, joined the B-52s and started imitating Captain Beafheart covering the Fleshtones, he might give New Yorks Stratotanker a run for the money. As it is, theyve got no equals. Winnipeg Sun.
Artanker and La Calista started sitting arund and writing music shortly after the self destruction of The Jinx Clambake Explosion. Artanker borrowed a guitar from Jinx's guitar player James Murphy (LCD Soundsystem), tuned it to an open E, and they were off. Yvan Pillette came to lay down bass on weekends while his explosion models were being executed on a supercomputer at UMass, and Dicky Dahl rolled in from the mountains of Guatemala to write lyrics and sing just 2 days before their first show. Backstage at the first show, they stood in a circle smoking reefer and mushrooms, doing whippits until someone yelled, "What are you guys doing down here, you're on!" They hit the stage, missed the first change and never looked back. Yvan split the band after the first recording sessions, and Joe Fiorentino from Jinx showed up and learned all the bass parts in an hour. They all moved to NYC and became a quick hit after opening for Sleepyhead and Murphy's band Pony. Murphy also recorded most of Stratotanker's records, including the obscure gem "Miracle of Flight" at Nicholas Verhne's Rare Book Room. Matt Venella lent percussion for a few months. For a year, Dan Brown of Hall of Fame played a second drum kit. Chris Seeds brought piano to the band for its heyday, the highwater point of the band which has to this day, not been released on record. In the last year, the band members picked up the old mixes and have been at Hot pie studios with Jerry DiRienzo, mixing the last record.
JFJO returns to Boston on October 10th with a LATE night at the Blue Note! This is JFJO's last trip east in 2008. Right after the show the guys head for a plane to Europe where they will travel to England, Ireland, Scotland, Netherlands, Germany, and Sweden!
See you there!
So it's a capital 'T' that's been hanging you up? Don't worry, it's only paint. And paint is easy to remove. If I was your mother and you were my daughter, you would be sleeping already. I wear these pajamas only on weekends. And you think that's healthy? People don't listen to their body until it's too late. I am not dramatic, I am merely being practical.
After last night's lecture, someone commented to me that I must be an army brat because I had such fantastic teeth. Such teeth, he said, could only be the result of good breeding and access to the finest dental care. I explained that though I descend from a long line of Bulgarian nobility, when I was a boy people were still having infected teeth removed by a donkey tied to a rope. Happenstance, I explained to him, is the main reason behind Mustafio's distinguished countenance.
Hi Stratotanker, Just saying hello happy new year and check our new demos (not in the myspace player but the black one just below)
I hope to hear from you soon!
