4 out of 5

Label: Supermegacorporation

Producd by: Geoff Soule

I was already a longtime listener and fan of Fuck when I joyously stumbled across Geoff Soule’s Wild Man Brandishing An Uprooted Tree – a totally solo written-performed-recorded affair and the debut release on the Fuck-adjacent Supermegacorporation imprint – but it made me even a stronger appreciator of that band. Fuck’s rather purposeful insouciantness sometimes limited the impact of their music, but Geoff’s work felt so bare and primal that it kind of made me double down on finding further value in Fuck’s output. So not only did I luck into this awesome, limited, lil’ release: I sort of gained Fuck’s catalogue all over again.

And this record still seems so unique and powerful to me, even amongst Geoff’s additional solo releases. It taps into the core of Fuck’s slocore pop, but then willingly melds it to some wild hooks that are often more directly rocking than anything from that band’s catalogue. Geoff’s lyrics, while perhaps moreso poetic and personal than affecting, nonetheless are part of the disc’s primal feel: thoughts that are not filtered through the same veneer of sneer of some Fuck tunes, and sung, as with the music, a similarly pure emotiveness, either croaked out slowly or sung sullenly or calmly crooned. Mixed in with these rockers (and some very Fuck-y pop, like Monkey) are where Soule’s experimental side is blended in, via some recording manipulations and very odd bases for tracks (sped up pluckings; electronic clicking; odd pairings off flat and tuneful melodies) giving the album an overall rather alien feel – vibing with this being the product of some “wild,” otherwordly person.

Much of this experimentation being upfront does unbalance the CD a bit, making the first half feel much stronger than the more reserved second, but the full cycle of songs are absolutely worth a listen. They’re immediately recognizable to Fuck fans; they’re also some of the most striking and original pieces of which Geoff Soule has had a hand in.