Stephen in Japan has come through once again for Swan Fungus. The Godfather of this website, without whose contributions throughout the years so many posts would never have materialized, sent me a relatively-unknown and highly-unusual record a few weeks ago. I’ve played it for two of the most well-known record collectors in town and neither one has any idea what to make of it. It’s funny…When I showed the 7″ single to one person he claimed to have sold a copy of it to the other some years ago, but the second guy swears he’s never seen it nor heard it before. Although he did say it had a unique sound that — if I were to ever come across another copy — he’d be very interested in purchasing. I’m still not quite sure how Stephen procured this (he pointed me to a Facebook user who sold multiple copies, but I don’t know if any are left). It’s definitely worth a listen.
Although all record label (Paint Your Dog Records) and most of the text on the labels appears in English, one collector thought that the German text on the ‘B’ label — and the quality of the pressing — hinted that it might be an import. Alas, the guy who sold his copies of the 45 through Facebook says that he spoke to one of the original band members, and it’s most definitely a product of Ohio (Akron, I think?) that was recorded in 1979. There were rumors it might have been Devo related, but as far as I can tell those remain unsubstantiated.
All that said, the songs (in particular “I’m Turning Into A Fly”) are really good, and very far out there. So much insanity going on with all the sound effects drowning out the guitars, and those weirdly-effected vocals are ridiculous. Is it tamer than the Fireblood Angel Band? Definitely. Does that make it any less than an outsider gem? Not at all! Dig in, enjoy it. Maybe one of you intrepid readers can shed more like on the two songs, on the band, the record label, hell ANYTHING involving this record.
The Hors D’Oeuvres
The Marvin In Outer Space / I’m Turning Into A Fly
(Paint Your Dog Records, 1979)
MediaFire DL Link
A. The Marvin In Outer Space
B. I’m Turning Into A Fly [MP3]
