If you are not worried about what electronic messages hostile aliens in outer space are receiving from earth, you should be. For better or for worse, they are currently diagnosing the Cattle Decapitation and Burt Bacharach and Deer hoof musical offerings beamed off our planet, ala the opening scene in that old Jodie Foster movie, Contact. Out there, the leaders hover over some decoding instrument on some declining planet studying “Humanure”, “Do You Know the Way to San Jose”, and “Green Cosmos” and planning the invasion. We are not here saying Hong Kong Stingray will save the planet, but I like our chances better with the beaming of this intimidating collection of emotings.
My buddies and I first heard the demos of this offbeat Chet Delcampo musical excursion, as we exited yet another nameless U.S. city in our sister to the Wagovan. We were in the midst of our own invasion of sorts of the U.S. As thousands of miles had disappeared beneath our bald tires, we had sampled the best the art form could offer our tired ears. Oh, but what is this? From the opening Pere Ubu cover through “Crystal Decanter Train”, we searched each other’s eyes in surprise. Chet, what hath thou wrought?
I have told him before that he will never be without a lover, what with the soul-bared, sensual, ethereal ballads of his previous releases melting any heart within earshot. But this Hong Kong Stingray assault… Oh, certainly, the Chet we all know and love is gently waxing poetic, musically painting Monet’s garden on a warm spring afternoon. But on HKS, behind him at his easel, his evil twin, grinning mischievously, mercilessly jackhammers asphalt. What monster had Kid Congo (Chet’s producer/partner in crime on this blasphemy) conjured from our gentle friend? HKS is soft/hard; good/evil; right/wrong; yin/yang. Look at it as a sum of its parts.
This collection has ALL of the emotions you and I suffer and celebrate. From the wonderfully wrenching “India Paper” to the introspective pop meandering of “Don Pablo, Don Poncho” before it gets hacked by a cruel, disrespectful spitting guitar. “Wagovan” is the paean to a four-wheeled friend, which rescued a stranded us, at one time. We could go on and on about this wonderment, HKS. Get the thing and listen for yourself, dammit. Then YOU tell us.
Needless to say, this was the music of choice on that trip, and thereafter. Now, Chet’s gonna share; let you have a go at it. In a world of 99-cent downloads, this brings back a reason to buy one more CD to enjoy as a total experience of ALL of the emotions, all thirteen or fourteen of them. These songs are to be experienced not by unsuccessfully trying in front of your mirror to work your Soul Train groove moves, but by flailing naked in a joyful spasm of release in the midst of your messy bedroom. Wouldn’t hurt to have someone to love with you. And, let’s get Sirius. Hong Kong Stingray needs to be splayed throughout the universe. Those space aliens would think twice about picking our planet for a hostile takeover. They’d think that these damn humans are just too complex, you never know how they’ll act moment to moment.
Don't miss The Cinematics with The Changes / The Trolleyvox / Hong Kong Stingray at the Legendary North Star Bar in Philadelphia TONIGHT (May 10th, 2007)!
