im joel fri

My mom used to teach "pre-first grade." The kindergarten class at the soon-to-be-cult-run school was too large and the kids who, when interviewed, didn't respond to "What do you do when you're hungry?" with "go to the garage and get my dad's chainsaw..." made it to "pre-first grade." She (mom) taught the alphabet and it's many English-imposed intricacies. Part of her curriculum was an explanation of the letter Q's dependence on the otherwise least used vowel, which she did by staging a faux wedding. Two students donned foam-made Q's and U's and then said their vows; obviously the latter's speech would have been called the vowel's vows, which is just fun to say.
What, dear sweet cable-knit sweater, what is the point?!
Well, mom was wrong and Q and NOT U works just as well. Though their non-union is sometimes chaotic and off-the-wall it still brings joy and a very danceable feeling. I'm not-so-vaguely talking about the D.C. Dischord dance-punk (if you will) three-piece Q and not U. The recently disbanded seven-year-old trio released just three full length albums but has a legacy all their own. It's interesting to note that drummer John Davis (NOT Jonathan Davis of KoRn) played with Corm, whose only full-length, "Audio Flame Kit" was just repressed by (who else?) Polyvinyl Records.
The voice of Q and not U is Christopher Paul Richards and he has recently created his own label, Academy Fight Song, and released a solo CD. His new moniker is Ris Paul Ric and "Purple Blaze" is a chilled-out QANU dinner-party centerpiece.
That's all I'm giving you today. I'd talk at more lengths about the delicateness of this album, but I'm eager to spend some "quality" time with Ashley. I give you two standout and album-defining tracks from "Purple Blaze."



Ris Paul Ric's "Purple Blaze"
&
"I Wish You Love Me"

THE MAPS THE RAIN THE PILLS THE BLAZE
THE HEARTS THE FINCH THE MOON THE HAZE
THE SMOKE THE SYRUP THE CLOUDS THE YOUTH
THE ROBES THE RICHES THE ORDINARY TRUTH