First release from Pushovers, a three man improv group from the Alma/St. Louis, Michigan area. This is just the kind of refreshing recording that brings hope back to the sound world. An eclectic mix of free jazz/noise from three 17-year olds who are in no way just wagging their fingers. The sometimes haunting, sometimes hilarious and always engaging tracks call to mind what John Zorn at 17 was doing in his bedroom with a fat stack of Albert Ayler records and a 4-track. The tools of their trade are electric jew harps, junk percussion, woodwinds, harmonicas, guitars and post-Casio keyboards, but their vocals and keen sense of space vs. screams is breathtakingly awesome. Keep an eye out and both ears wide open for Pushovers.
"This album proves that the kids aren't all huffing paint thinner while Fred Durst shows them what beards are in style and Carson Daily tells them what records to buy. Nope, the kids are alright." -Joezef K
"The Pushovers, from mid-Michigan, start with some assumptions about free improvisation that would make most "serious" exponents of this genre blanche in horror. For instance, a sampler is used. Presets on keyboards (what would the neighbors think?). Harmonica. Electronic drum pads. A sense of humor (NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!). It’s the kind of free improv album that could bring those of us that burned out on the form years ago back into the fold. Also recommended to fans of present-day Crawlspace, which shares a similarity of sound AND of a desire to make new music that is blissfully ignorant of the "right" way to do it. Sell your Emanem collection and buy real estate in both Slippy Town and Uranium City! Oh yeah, and a gold star for the dual-layered meta-Pettibon styled artwork." -C.M. Sienko, The C.M. Sienko Foundation (see the full review at the C.M. Sienko Foundation Corporate Web Presence)
"I don't know what's going on, and that's the way I like it. No dry/pristine recording fetish, no scale-chasing tail-chasing improv games. Pushovers keep things mysterious." -Larry Dolman, Blastitude Magazine
