Dark Passengers (LCR077-1)

Protons and Electrons Atom 11 is now up for listening and pre-order: It’s Conan Neutron & the Secret Friends (Conan Neutron, Tony Ash, Dale Crover) with The Vig, and Cartographer with Turnip, The Cloth Clown.

I believe this is the first Cartographer release in 8 years. So there you go!

Cartographer is very closely tied to the NeutronFriends mythos, by nature of Conan being bandmates with Ben and Chris in Replicator, and with Chris and Andre in Mount Vicious. Without Replicator (and to a lesser extant Mount Vicious), there would be no Conan Neutron & the Secret Friends in any capacity.

Cartographer is burly, aggressive and uncompromising noise rock. While the band members don’t take anything too seriously, the music is serious as a heart attack. Pummeling drums, jagged guitar and bass that evokes pure sleaze and menace make a fully formed package of Noiserock(TM) delivery. I believe their song is about a birthday clown that wants to have sex with a young Ben Adrian’s mom.

The Neutron Friends tune is an homage to a classic gambling term. The Vig (short for vigorish) is interest principal amount owed on a debt or loan, always at a usurious rate, with the idea being that the borrower never ends up paying down the principal and is indebted to the lender by just just covering the interest. The conceit of the song is applying those principles to psychic costs, but it probably works as a more dead on interpretation too.

The EarthQuaker Devices Bit Commander, features prominently in the “proggy” chorus bit. While, I think the guitar sound in the verses are just straight into a cranked Bassman.

Anyway, vinyl ships in September but you can listen to the tunes on bandcamp now.

Conan Neutron & the Secret Friends – Atom 2 is available to listen to and purchase!
Secret Friends is Conan Neutron on guitar and vocals / Tony Ash on bass and Dale Crover of the Melvins on drums. Toshi Kasai engineers and produces. This song trends towards the poppy/hooky side of the band and is called “Hate Secretary”

Atom 2 of 12 in the Protons and Electrons split single series.
Side B is the excellent rock band Quivers from San Francisco, California

“Although nobody in Quivers has yet played in Conan Neutron & the Secret Friends, all members of Quivers have been playing together in some capacity before coming together in this Voltron like formation of excellent rock.

As one continues “in the game”, more and more people fall off or become a soft parody of what they once more. These rockers have doubled down and are doing some of their most interesting work. It’s a delight to have played with these fellas and their irresistible hooks in any permutation over the past 18 or so years, and I look forward to doing so for years to come!”

In any case, check it out. They don’t ship until the 1st… but the SF Secret Friends show will be the 7″ release show as both bands are playing. here it is:

https://neutronfriends.bandcamp.com/album/protons-and-electrons-atom-2-hate-secretary-quivers-master-of-dirt

artwork by Rick Froberg.

credits