Telephone Man, The / Telephone Man, The
Album: Telephone Man, The   Collection:General
Artist:Telephone Man, The   Added:Jan 2013
Label:Temporary Residence Ltd.  

A-File Activity
Add Date: 2013-02-16 Pull Date: 2013-04-21
Week Ending: Apr 14 Mar 31 Mar 24 Mar 17 Mar 10 Mar 3 Feb 24
Airplays: 1 2 1 1 2 3 4

Recent Airplay
1. May 11, 2020: Best Of Everything - hr1 Clapton TBS 5-12-18 - hr2 NWTS 2-18-13
Castner
4. Mar 24, 2013: Minding The Store
Kelly
2. Apr 11, 2013: The Sunset Life
Kelly
5. Mar 21, 2013: Daydream Disaster
Muldoon
3. Mar 25, 2013: Ninety Point One Degrees Fahrenheit: Cold Blood
Muldoon
6. Mar 10, 2013: Minding Something or Other...
Grandfather

Album Review
Grumpy Sean
Reviewed 2013-02-15
For me (and likely many others who came of age through underground/college radio of the early-to-mid 90s), this music on this release typified the "midwest" -- angular guitars, equal parts frailty and catharsis, mumble-to-a-scream vocals, off-kilter time signatures and start-stop moments but not entirely "math rock," emotionally charged without being "emo." Records were released on Touch & Go or its Quarterstick subsidiary or a hometown DIY label (Peas Kor, Slamdek). Bands hailed from cities or college towns in Ohio and Kentucky and Illinois and Pennsylvania.

The Telephone Man was little-known outside of its hometown of Louisville, KY and deeply indebted to its hometown predecessors / contemporaries like Slint, Rodan, and Crain. Guitars alternate between "shimmer" and "crunch," vocals are often buried, rhythm sections are generally 3x as proficient as the rest of the band. This release is not quite a "complete discography," but it captures most of their recorded work occasionally released on limited run, hand-distributed cassettes and 7"s. Songs are arranged in reverse chronology (tracks 1-6 are from 1994 single and unreleased cassette, 7-10 are from 1993 cassette, 11-15 are from 1992 demo with drum machine). It gets a little same-y when consumed all in one sitting, but would have been killer to see live and works fine for radio play.

RIYL: Codeine, Don Caballero, Rodan, Bitch Magnet, Slint, Crain, Speaking Canaries, etc.

FCC: 11, 15

1. dn / builds, moody/dark, spoken/sung vox are barely discernable
2. dn, mixed male/female vox
3. varies from med+ to dn (and back), broad but unfulfilling journey
4. * dn->med, intro apes Rodan ("Bible Silver Corner") big time, then female spoken vox lead into the crunchy, raging portion which fades out in feedback squall
5. varies (dn -> med), ends loud, meanders a bit in the slow parts, false end after first loud bit so wait for it to fade back in
6. * med+, straight-ahead rawker with a little bass breakdown, frigidly cold end
7. * builds to med+, loping guitar lines, false end around -1:30, shouts but no lyrics, quick end
8. med+ /dn and back, some lurching start-stop action.
9. med+, dn bridge, false end, sing-song male vox over growling guitars
10. * varies, approaches the Platonic ideal of the "Louisville style"
11. FCC (multiple f-bombs); med(+), a boy, his fuzzbox, and his drum machine
12. * med+, shouty distorted vox and guitar
13. med(+), reminiscent of early Big Black minus Albini's acid/crystalline pdxn, or Jesus and Mary Chain's wall of distortion
14. med, a weakly-done Billy Idol cover
15. FCC ("fucked up dollar"), up, shouty, aggressive

Track Listing
1. Automatic Pilot   8. Whole Man, Half Man
2. Castner   9. I Will Follow You
3. Douglass Boulevard   10. Grandfather
4. Let Me Tell You How Much I Love You So You Can Treat Me Like Shit   11. Camaro
5. Rain = Flood   12. Inspector 29
6. Kelly   13. Nothing
7. Muldoon   14. Rebel Yell
  15. Dollar