Article on Phono-Comb for the August, 1996 issue of Alternative Press.
COMB HEADS
Borne of some Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet comes the mighty
Phono Comb, whose Steve Albini-produced debut is scheduled for release
on Touch And Go's Quarterstick label later this year. "[Shadowy Men] took a year
off from Labor Day to Labor Day," explains drummer Don Pyle, who left the
Planet with bassist Reid Diamond, "and then after we finished that year
off, we did the recordings for Fred Schneider. And after that, I think we
all realized that it would be forcing things to continue Shadowy Men. We realized
through playing with other people that Shadowy Men was not operating at maximum
capacity." Phono Comb was initially formed to accompany Jad Fair for a release
on the Canadian label Shake! and a tour last year. Pyle, Diamond, guitarist Beverly
Breckenridge (Fifth Column) and bassist Dallas Good have other things in
mind, as exemplified by the new three-track EP The Crass And The Switchblade.
When asked how Phono Comb differs from SMOASP, Pyle commented, "The specific things
that we agreed upon were that things were not going to take a specific form. If we were
going to operate from one thing it would be that everything is possible." When asked
if the next record would be a death-metal release, Pyle laughed, "Well, we know what
we don't want to do!"
A note from your Shadowy Webmaster: Yes,
this writer has got Beverly Breckenridge and Dallas Good on the wrong instruments.
It's not a typo on my part. Same goes for the missing "-" in "Phono-Comb".
Back To The Words Page
