498 - Suicide (Suicide)
Explicit
498 - Suicide (Suicide)
Explicit

The Abraham Records by Abraham

Episode notes

#498: Suicide - Suicide (1977)

The Abrahams are back at it again with #498: the self-titled debut from the synth-punk duo Suicide. Abraham (Chenzie) and AbraHAM (Guy) brace themselves for a journey into the dark heart of 1977 New York, immediately questioning Rolling Stone's description of the band as "rockabilly" (spoiler: it sounds more like a broken vacuum cleaner than Elvis).

They dive into the duo's unlikely origins, a jazz pianist and a sculptor living in a museum, and how they built a "drum machine" out of junk from a furniture store. The hosts discuss the album's minimalist, "uncomfortable" sound, comparing Alan Vega's vocal performance to a "controlled chaos" art installation rather than traditional singing.

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Keywords
Rolling Stone 500 albumsalbum review podcastmusic history podcastemo or art rock?Rolling Stone 500 greatest albumsSuicide bandSuicide 1977synth-punkproto-punkAlan VegaMartin RevCraig Leon1970s punkelectronic punkminimalist musicexperimental rockart punkindustrial musicNew York punkavant-garde rocknoise rockFrankie TeardropGhost RiderDream Baby DreamDIY musichomemade instrumentsdrum machinecontroversial albumspunk riotsElvis Costello tourBrussels riot1970s New YorkCBGB erauncomfortable musicRolling Stone 500music historypunk originsart rockvisual art musicrockabilly debatePeter HammillPatricia TaxxonBruce Springsteen influenceRed Star Records
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