The Renderers - That Dog's Head in the Gutter Gives Off Vibrations (1995)

This album was Brian and Mayrose Crook's second full-length release as the Renderers, appearing four years after their debut, 'Trail of Tears.' The Crooks would produce their most lasting material with the Southern-fried, psychedelic twang of the Renderers, born out of the anarchic joy of the Max Block; 'The Dog's Head in the Gutter...' is undoubtedly their masterpiece. While 1991's 'Million Lights' 7" announced Mayrose Crook as the perfect vocal counterpoint to her husband, it is with this album that she truly comes into her own as a vocalist. The slow-burn of "So Blind," coupled with the quietly defiant resignation of Mayrose's vocal, punctuated by the piercing guitar tones of Brian Crook, achieves an escalating emotional intensity that sets the tone for the remainder of the album. Positioned after the ominous, dusk-tinged "Unforgiven," the two songs exemplify the weeping humanism at the heart of the Renderer's music, bittersweet yet tinged with the allure of misanthropy. Enjoy this one. - Ariel

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The Max Block - Self-Titled 12" EP (1986)

While the Max Block released only one EP on Flying Nun in the mid-eighties, their lasting appeal is due not only to an impeccable lineage--as the link between Scorched Earth Policy and the Renderers, their legacy is assured--but in their ability to transcend this context; simply put, the sounds contained on the Max Block EP are another beast entirely from the Crooks' past and future musical entanglements. As the swirling drone of Mayrose Crook's organ propels each song to the point of collapse, she is matched by the laconic snarl of her husband; along with Rebecca Shanahan and Robbie Stowell, the two play host to a delirious carnival of psychotic merriment. Play this one alongside the Garbage and the Flowers' 7" from December 8th. - Ariel

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