As well known as SST may be in America courtesy of releases by the near unswayable Black Flag and underground rock staples Minutemen, Meat Puppets and Sonic Youth, much of their roster still goes unnoticed. And even when Saccharine Trust got name-dropped by Kurt Cobain they still managed to slip into the ether.
Not that SacTrust really made it easy on themselves; their brand of rock isn’t as dope-smoking friendly as their more popular San Pedro brethren or the Puppets. Their first release “Paganicons” is actually about as conventional as it gets for them, and it’s still a challenge; but this EP is also tight interplay, great changes and aberrant lyrical prose from front to back.
Vocalist Jack Brewer comes across as if he’s just breaking through pubescence (that would change), or belting out his voice for the first time in his life, and his way of delivering just-so stories differs greatly from any other known punk rock affiliate of the day. And accompanied by a killer rhythm section, one of the final guitar heroes of our age, Joe Baiza, really trucks along with lines that would evolve into some of the most inventive playing put on disc, or on stage for that matter.
Going track by track would really be redundant, since each one is a great story or feeling conveyed. The voices at work are really unlike any other outfit before or prior, and their touring reactivation in the U.S. and Europe has finally gained them much deserved attention in recent years. – Wade
