Anyway, out of the slew of names that gained some sort of prominence following their association with the short lived No Wave scene, Glenn Branca might be one of the better thought of personalities, if not the most well known. But before he was Mr. Glenn Branca, avant garde composer and slick dude about town, he had to cut his teeth, as it were, in a few ensembles. But seeing as the entire No Wave thing was over pretty quickly, these groups didn't get too much of a shot at recording. Between the Static and Theoretical Girls, apart from some random live tracks that are probably sitting around in someone's closet, there aren't more than twenty songs. And through the wisdom of the folks over at Atavistic Records, they've compiled some of the Glenn Branca penned tunes in the form of Songs: Live & Studio Recordings (1977-'79).
If you've managed to read this far, you already understand that nothing that was part and parcel of No Wave was overly listenable - apart from some James Chance funk workouts. Even those tunes had an element of abrasive noise that really won't fly too many places. And this collection of Glenn Branca tunes isn't any different.
In contrast to his work on Lesson No. 1 and The Ascension, there's at least a bit of singing/talking on every track here. And while there aren't any less guitar related annihilations, some of these songs actually sound like songs - thus the title of the disc. It's still composerly, but not in the same way. Sonic Youth still, most likely, dug this.
The disc is split between works from each band. First, the Static spit out two tracks - both sitting more closely to what Branca would become known for than the latter tracks on this set. But it seems even a few years prior to his recording those career defining albums that Branca already had nearly figured out his entire approach. "My Relationship," even with its brief vocal sections easily approximates what would follow in tone, volume and sheer aggression.
The tracks from Theoretical Girls vary in comparison. And "TV Song" is almost a straight punk track - that's not necessarily bad. The constant key line and chunky guitars layered behind some screaming almost makes the band sound like a weirdo version of the Adverts - who I suppose were already weirdos.
Songs: Live & Studio Recordings (1977-'79) certainly isn't for mohawked punkers who've spent hours adorning their leather jackets in some vein attempt to pretend that it's 1978. But those of you who consider yourselves reformed punkers, replete with the ability to digest enough abrasive noise as any other pseudo intellectual, indulge. It won't hurt.